Two weak supermarket chains merged. As part of the merger, they had to divest some of the stores where the former chains had competed in the same neighborhoods. Sounds like it worked out pretty well for the merged chains if some of the divested stores are being shut down, decreasing competition. The combined chains were number 2 behind Kroger in number of stores even after the divestures.
Albertsons itself almost failed in 2006 (a series of poor management decisions came home to roost), and shed a lot of stores at that time before being bailed out by a private equity firm.
Safeway was known for being overpriced with poor customer service.
Doesn’t bankruptcy mean the rest of us pay?
Safeway is union, IIRC. I know of Albertsons in Right to Work States, which are non-union.
I can attest to both Albertson’s and Safeway.
Our area had an Albertson’s, for years, that was awful. Terrible smell at entrance and near the meat dept.
Finally, thankfully, years later it was replaced/bought out by Randall’s. Great store, higher prices, but worth it for the selection and customer service. Randall’s was then bought out by Safeway. Same high standards were kept, and we had the great addition of Lucerne dairy products, and lately, Open Nature organic products. Life was good.
Now, with this Albertson’s merger (groan), I’ve already noticed less variety/selection and less of the O/Open Nature products :( We shall see how it ends up, but we are disappointed at the thought of having to go back to an Albertson’s level, after being *spoiled* by Randall’s.