FOLLOWUP: While grocery-store megamerger makes its way through courts, three local stores’ prospective new owner is preparing for potential takeover

A notable sight in one of the public-records sets we check daily for potential news, the list of King County liquor-license applications, which is often the first place a new business, or existing business’s new owner, will surface. Starting last week we noticed a raft of applications for specific stores around the county, mostly QFCs and Safeways, to transfer their licenses to entities with 1918 Winter Street in their names. That’s an entity of C&S Wholesale Grocers, the third party to whom more than 400 stores are to be sold if the Kroger-Albertsons merger goes through. The proposed license transfers have been appearing in the daily reports in batches; today is the first time we’ve seen any of the local stores that are part of the potential deal, per the list we reported last month: Westwood Village QFC and Admiral Safeway are now on the license-transfer list (the third local store proposed for sale to C&S is the Junction QFC). The license filings don’t mean anything operationally for now, but notable nonetheless. We double-checked with C&S to be sure they weren’t closing the deal in advance of the merger, and spokesperson Lauren La Bruno replied, “The transaction is not final and C&S’s agreement is subject to Kroger and Albertsons resolving the pending cases in court.” The newest court case is a counter-offensive by Kroger, seeking to stop the Federal Trade Commission‘s review of the merger.

RickB August 20, 2024 (4:53 pm)

I sure hope this merger gets blocked. Terrible for shoppers, especially around here.

Gaslit August 20, 2024 (6:10 pm)

Explain how. Costco, Amazon & Wal Mart control most grocery shopping in the US including here. Why do you think this merger is bad for shoppers when those options exist?
- Al King August 20, 2024 (6:42 pm)
  
  Gaslit. So you believe fewer choices makes for better selection and lower prices? Tell us how.
  - Gaslit August 20, 2024 (10:42 pm)
    
    I don’t believe you have fewer choices. More people are choosing Costco, Amazon & Walmart than Kroger or Safeway. The representation of Kroger & Safeway in West Seattle are understaffing, out of stock and out of date items, shoplifting and waste. The model of these stores is outdated and unsustainable. The idea of fewer choices is hard to accept as reality.
    - Al King August 21, 2024 (9:02 am)
      
      Gaslit. As a frequent Admiral Safeway and occasional QFC shopper I’ve NEVER noticed them understaffed. I’ve NEVER seen empty shelves or out of date items. Please share what you’ve seen and what store. As far as shoplifting….name the store (of any kind) that has NEVER been shoplifted from.
    - SlimJim August 21, 2024 (10:26 am)
      
      I don’t think Gaslit understands the word “fewer”. If there are 6 megachains and then there are 5, there are now fewer grocery chains. It’s math.
  - SlimJim August 21, 2024 (9:30 am)
    
    I don’t think Gaslit understands the word fewer. When you go from 6 to 5 megachains or 10 to 9 megachains, you have *fewer* choices. It’s math.
- Juno August 20, 2024 (7:00 pm)
  
  I don’t shop at Walmart, CostCo or Amazon for my groceries. I shop at Safeway and QFC because they are the only reasonably priced grocery stores around here (I love Thriftway but it is pricey, so is Whole Foods, Metro Market and PCC). Getting rid of the cheaper mainstays is bad for consumers and will only drive prices up.
  - West Seattle Mad Sci Guy August 20, 2024 (8:21 pm)
    
    I agree with you however you should give whole foods another look. Their prices have come down over the years since Amazon bought them. I still do 99% of my shopping at Trader Joes, QFC and Safeway though.
- 1994 August 20, 2024 (10:55 pm)
  
  I do appreciate having the grocery stores in my neighborhood where I can walk to versus needing wheels to get to Costco, Walmart or having Amazon deliver…..also the merger consolidation game in the name of lowering prices for consumers often backfire on the little people. For example, hospital mergers and medical clinic mergers have not resulted in lower costs for those needing care. In fact our choices for care have become more limited due to mergers. Better to have options and choices for our food and medical care.
- Frog August 21, 2024 (9:50 am)
  
  The nearest Walmart is in Renton. Costco is member-only, bulk oriented, and not necessarily appealing for small households — great for a year’s worth of toilet paper but not for fresh vegetables today. Amazon (WholeFoods) is expensive with limited selection. As a regular patron of both Admiral Safeway and Junction QFC, I can assure you they get lots of business. It matters that these two stores are currently competitors. If they become one company, they might as well raise prices to match Met Market, PCC, and Wholefoods. Whatever you want to say about the merger on a national basis, it’s a disaster for the northern half of West Seattle.
  - Gaslit August 22, 2024 (8:05 am)
    
    The nearest Walmart is the same place as the nearest Amazon/Whole Foods. On your computer or phone. The CEO of Kroger has gone on record saying that if it weren’t for Instacart/online deliveries, they may not exist today. The point being made that “fewer is worse” or monopolies etc aren’t seeing that the model that most Americans use to buy groceries has changed. There isn’t a need for a qfc, Safeway and three other physical stores in a 2 mile radius. Met Market, PCC, Thriftway etc are more expensive because that’s the cost to operate the stores. Claiming that the north part of West Seattle is affected rather than the affluent, privileged residents get with progress shows provincialism and little else. If the QFC’s and Safeways of the world are what you want, order your groceries online and find ways to support the business that’s sustainable for the business, even if it isn’t what you’ve “always done”.

star 55 August 20, 2024 (10:35 pm)

This idea hurts all of us. I shop Safeway mostly and once in a while QFC. Price fixing is bad enough without adding this merger and closing stores. I hope the US Government stops this monopoly from taking our local stores away.

Bradley August 20, 2024 (11:53 pm)

Wait, I thought I heard some politician thinks they can fix groceries prices Good luck with that.

Alex August 21, 2024 (8:21 am)

The PR for this deal has been abysmal. C&S is obviously looking to expand into retail groceries. It owns a few Piggly Wigglys and franchised the rest in the midwest. Their main business is supplying wholesale groceries to retail groceries and one has to wonder if in that model, they would sell more competitively to stores that they own, which could be good news for consumers. The concern that they close stores is real but if they don’t think the stores can be profitable, than the stores are on the chopping block at some future time regardless of who owns them. The Piggly Wiggly weekly flyers have some good deals but they are not operating in an area with a $20 hour minimum wage and high gas/carbon taxes.

Sorry, comment time is over.