FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — Four Safeway stores in the Prescott area and three in Flagstaff will be sold to C&S Wholesale Grocers if the proposed $24.6 billion merger between Kroger, owner of Fry's Foods supermarkets, and Albertsons, which has owned the Safeway supermarket chain since 2015, is approved by the Federal Trade Commission.
C&S Wholesale Grocers is an American national grocery wholesaler based in Keene, New Hampshire. In 2021, the company was the eighth-largest privately held company in the United States, according to the Forbes magazine list, and includes Piggly Wiggly Supermarkets and Grand Union Supermarkets under its umbrella.
Kroger and Albertsons announced a list of hundreds of stores that would be sold if the merger goes through on July 9. The list includes 101 stores in Arizona, 77 more stores in the state than originally planned for sale. Four of the Quad Cities stores added are Safeways at 1031 N. Highway 89 in Chino Valley, 1044 Willow Creek Road in Prescott, 450 White Spar Road in Prescott and 7720 E. Highway 69 in Prescott Valley. The three Flagstaff stores include Safeways at 1500 E. Cedar Ave., 1201 S. Plaza Way and 4910 NUS Highway 89.
Williams' location is not on the list.
Two of the largest grocers in the U.S., Kroger and Albertsons, have agreed to merge in October 2022. The companies say the merger will help them better compete with larger rivals like Walmart, Amazon, and Costco. Kroger and Albertsons will together control about 13% of the U.S. grocery market, while Walmart will control 22%, according to JPMorgan analyst Ken Goldman.
But Arizona Attorney General Chris Mays joined a bipartisan coalition of state attorneys general and the Federal Trade Commission in April to file a lawsuit to block the proposed merger of the nation's largest grocers.
The lawsuit alleges that the merger violates the Clayton Act, which prohibits the acquisition of assets whose effect is likely to substantially lessen competition or create a monopoly.
Mays responded sharply to the announcement of the revised sale list on July 10. “We do not like the shenanigans that Kroger and Albertsons used yesterday to publicly announce for the first time the exact store locations on their sale list,” he said in a statement.
“If their goal was to make it look like this merger went through, nothing could be further from the truth. I am proud to join the FTC and other Attorneys General in filing lawsuits to stop this anti-competitive, anti-consumer and anti-worker merger.”
“The merger with Kroger will increase competition, lower prices, increase wages for our employees, protect union jobs and improve the shopping experience for our customers,” Albertsons said in an April statement.
