Western Slope grocery stores would be sold under proposed Kroger, Albertsons merger
Chris Dillmann/Vail Daily archive
Kroger and Albertsons announced Tuesday a list of 91 Colorado stores, including several on the Western Slope, that they would sell if a merger between the two is approved by regulators.
The two grocery giants announced their $25 billion merger in 2022 but have since faced roadblocks since.
In February, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission sued to block the merger, saying it would create a lack of competition, resulting in higher grocery prices and decreased wages for workers.
The companies’ plan to sell 579 stores nationwide to C&S Wholesale Grocers, which is a grocery store supplier and operator, is part of an effort to satisfy regulators. C&S runs 160 retail locations including all Piggly Wiggly stores, a southeastern grocery chain that once operated in Colorado.
Some of the stores on the Western Slope that would be sold under the plan include:
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- Safeway — 40 County Road 804, Fraser
- Safeway — 1008 N. Summit Blvd., Frisco
- Safeway — 37500 E. U.S. Highway 40, Steamboat Springs
- Safeway — 2131 N. Frontage Road West, Vail
- Safeway — 2901 F Road, Grand Junction
- Safeway — 681 Horizon Drive, Grand Junction
- Safeway — 2512 Broadway, Grand Junction
- Safeway — 112 S. Spruce St., Gunnison
- Safeway — 1550 Colorado Highway 92, Delta
- Albertsons — 311 W. College Drive, Durango
C&S has said no stores will close as a result of the merger and all frontline associates will remain employed, according to the announcement of the plan. All existing collective bargaining agreements will also continue.
In announcing its lawsuit over the merger, the FTC criticized the merger’s initial divestiture proposal, calling it “a hodgepodge of unconnected stores, banners, brands, and other assets that Kroger’s antitrust lawyers have cobbled together and falls far short of mitigating the lost competition between Kroger and Albertsons,” according to the news release.
Kroger and Albertsons then announced this revised plan.
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser also filed a lawsuit in February to halt the merger.
“After 19 town halls across the state, I am convinced that Coloradans think this merger between the two supermarket chains would lead to stores closing, higher prices, fewer jobs, worse customer service, and less resilient supply chains,” Weiser stated at the time.
