Kroger and Albertsons are trying to win regulatory clearance for a proposed $24.6 billion merger.
If the Kroger-Albertson's merger goes through (late August 2024), then the OC Albertson's and Safeway stores would be sold to New Hampshire-based C&S Wholesale Grocers (Piggly-Wiggly, Grand Union).
So in my area, I think it will result in more competition because the C&S brands are not common here or non existent, so a bunch of the Kroger stores (which is basically all of our traditional grocery stores currently, I'm not even sure there are Albertsons anywhere near) are going to be taken over by these "exotic" PigglyWigglies and such. I could be wrong because I don't really know who owns all of the brands.
Oh you're right, we do have a lot of Safeways. For some reason I thought they were Kroger. I guess that's the trade, then. I don't care for Safeway, so I'm still optimistic