Major Grocery Chain Getting Rid of Over 130 Stores in Idaho & Washington State

Depending on how long you’ve lived in the area, you may have shopped at the same grocery store for decades. You’ve been there so many times that you really feel like the cashiers and the people who work behind the deli, seafood, bakery and meat counters are friends. How bummed would you be if that store as you knew it was gone? 

Because, that could be a very real possibility in several states including Idaho and Washington.

Updated on the Kroger and Albertsons Merger

Albertsons has been a household name in the Boise area since Joe Albertson opened his first supermarket in 1939. According to his bio on the City of Boise’s website, the three most important principles at that first store were quality, good value and excellent service. Staying true to that mission really helped Joe and his team connect with the community, which is why they were able to expand to Nampa and Caldwell the next year. 

Kroger’s not an unfamiliar name in Boise. The Ohio-based company is the parent company of Fred Meyer, which is why you see Kroger branded foods on the shelves there.

Back in October 2022, the two grocery giants announced plans to merge. Many believed that the plan would create a monopoly that would negatively impact consumers and lead to higher prices, despite the grocers saying the opposite. They also feel like the mega chain would have too much leverage over its employees and unions. 

READ MORE: 21 Boise Area Businesses That Have Already Closed For Good in 2024

Despite trying to calm critics of the deal by agreeing to sell more than 400 stores to another company, the Federal Trade Commission sued to block the $24.6 billion merger from happening. The FTC said that the number was “inadequate” and may actually make things more difficult for C&S Wholesale Grocers, the company that would acquire the stores. 

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So the two companies went back to the drawing board and recently proposed increasing the number of stores they would sell to C&S. They now plan to divest 579 stores if the merger is approved.  

According to USA Today, both companies are committed to not closing stores or laying off workers but they’re washing their hands of the locations. That means the store that you’ve come to know, will be gone as new leadership takes over. They’ll rebrand and probably adjust the layout of the stores to match the standards of the new ownership. This would be similar to what Albertsons did with the Paul's Market stores on Lake Hazel and in McCall when they took over in 2016.

C&S operates stores at Grand Union, Southern Family Markets, Piggly Wiggly, Nell’s and Olean Wholesale Grocery. They already have a warehouse located in the Pacific Northwest. They opened the facility in Troutdale, Oregon in 2020. The city is about 20 miles from Portland. 

How Many Stores Will Be Affected By the New Plan?

If you’re an Albertsons shopper in Idaho, this is sort of good news. Under the original plan, they planned to divest 13 locations. Under the new plan? That number has dropped to 10. In Oregon, the number jumped from 49 Albertsons and Kroger stores to 62. 

Like they were under the first plan, Washington state will be the most impacted by the merger. Originally, the merged companies planned to divest 104 Albertsons and Kroger stores in the Evergreen State. Under the new plan? That has jumped to 124.