Albertsons To Shutter 26 Stores In 8 States
By Kara Murphy, contributing writer, Integrated Solutions For Retailers
$23 billion chain store sheds itself of underperforming stores in time for acquisition of large Texas chain
Albertsons will close 26 of its stores in February. A spokeswoman for the Boise, ID, company told the Supermarket News the affected stores under the Albertsons banner include:
- 11 in California
- Five in Washington
- Two in Las Vegas
- Two in Oregon
- One in Albuquerque, NM
- One in Phoenix, AZ
In addition, two stores under the Acme Markets banner in Pennsylvania will close after their leases expire, and two stores under the Shaw’s banner in Massachusetts will close.
“To ensure the overall strength of the entire company, it is occasionally necessary to close stores that are not meeting company goals in order to reinvest in the remaining store base,” Lilia M. Rodriguez, a spokeswoman for Albertsons LLC’s Fullerton-based Southern California division said in a statement to the California newspaper The Press-Enterprise. “While the decision to close a store is difficult — given the impact on associates and customers — Albertsons has a responsibility to do what is best for the long-term growth and success of the company as a whole.”
Most of the affected stores are part of a company called Albertsons LLC. That company was formed in 2006 when the company was split between Supervalu and a group of private investors (led by New York-based Cerberus Capital). Supervalu sold the remainder of its stores, which operated under the name New Albertsons Inc., to Cerberus and private investors in 2013. The 2013 sale made Albertsons the largest company in Idaho in terms of revenue.
The sale also means the Albertsons banner is united again, just in time for the company’s 75th anniversary in 2014. It now has about 1,100 stores and sales estimated at $23 billion. Those numbers were compiled before the company completed a planned $385 million purchase of United Supermarkets Inc., a 50-store chain in Texas. The companies are still waiting for FTC approval before closing the deal.
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