MegaMerger Kroger-Albertsons, Multi-Brand Grocery Monopoly - 85M Hsholds, Raise $$, Pay Workers Less

[jmowreader]

7. While out here in the flyover states...

In the Coeur d’Alene-Hayden, ID, metro area, we have:

One Kroger-owned store, Fred Meyer, in Coeur d’Alene
Two Safeway stores, one south of I-90 the other north of it, both in Cd’A
One Winco, in Cd’A
Two Albertsons, one in Cd’A, one in Hayden
One regional chain, Harvest Foods in the bad part of Cd’A
Two regional chain, Super 1 foods, one in each city
One Walmart in Hayden

For this discussion we will ignore everything except the three chains at the heart of this discussion.

Of those five stores, Fred Meyer has the lowest prices, the best selection, the most employees, the happiest employees, and their store doesn’t resemble a dungeon. The south-of-90 Safeway and the Hayden Albertsons creep me out. Very dimly lit, weird configuration and very few employees in the building. The north-of-90 Safeway also doesn’t believe in lights, but there are a few more employees in there. The same-brand stores in Spokane are similar - Fred Meyer stores are better staffed, have more stuff and the workers don’t see you as an affront. (Having said that, I don’t know what the Spokane Albertsons looks like - it’s in a part of town I don’t go to. It is on the edge of the city, where it’s convenient for all the people who live south of town. The Spokane Safeway stores, on the other hand, are awful.)

Normally I would say competition is good and the two companies should stay separate, but in my part of the world Kroger is so vastly superior to Safeway it’s hard to think that way.