Grocery giants Kroger and Albertsons announced Tuesday a list of 35 Illinois stores, most of them owned by Mariano’s, that they plan to sell in hopes of winning federal approval for their proposed mega-merger. Eight of the stores slated for sale are in Chicago.
If Kroger and Albertsons, which have announced plans to merge in 2022, get approval for the deal, the listed stores would be sold to C&S Wholesale Grocers for $2.9 billion. Most of Kroger’s-owned Mariano’s would be divested under the plan, which calls for the sale of 31 of the company’s 44 stores. Kroger also said it would sell the Mariano’s brand to C&S.
Only four of Albertsons’ Jewel-Osco locations are part of the planned divestitures.
In an initial divestiture plan announced in September, the companies said they planned to sell more than 400 grocery stores nationwide, including 14 in Illinois.
Facing federal scrutiny over their planned $24.6 billion megamerger, the companies increased the number of planned divestitures to a total of 579 in April, with 35 planned divestitures in Illinois, though they did not specify at the time exactly where those stores would be located.
It’s not yet clear whether the plan will satisfy federal regulators. The Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit to block the merger in February, saying it could lead to higher prices for consumers and lower wages for workers. A trial in the case, joined by several states including Illinois, is scheduled to begin Aug. 26.
The merger has also come under scrutiny from unions and elected officials. When Illinois joined the FTC’s complaint in February, Attorney General Kwame Raoul said the planned merger “would significantly reduce competition in the grocery market while resulting in fewer choices for consumers and higher grocery prices at a time when many families are struggling to keep up.”
On Tuesday, a coalition of United Food & Commercial Workers local unions issued a joint statement pledging to continue their opposition to the merger, saying it would harm workers, buyers and suppliers.
“Today’s announcement changes nothing,” the statement from the coalition of locals, all located outside Illinois, said. “The merger is not a done deal, far from it.”
In a press release in April, Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen said all frontline grocery store workers would keep their jobs and their existing collective bargaining agreements would be honored.
“Our proposed merger with Albertsons will bring lower prices and more choices to more customers and secure the long-term future of union jobs in the grocery industry,” McMullen said in a statement at the time.
In the divestiture plan announced Tuesday, the Chicago grocery stores to be sold are:
- Jewel-Osco — 87 W. 87th St.
- Marianos — 3350 N. Western Ave.
- Marianos — 5353 N. Elston Ave.
- Marianos — 1800 W. Lawrence Ave.
- Marianos — 5201 N. Sheridan Road
- Marianos — 1500 N. Clybourn Ave., Ste. 104
- Marianos — 3030 N. Broadway, Ste. 100
- Marianos — 3857 S. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive
The stores scheduled for sale elsewhere in the state are:
- Jewel-Osco — 12001 S. Pulaski Road, Alsip
- Marianos — 802 E. Northwest Highway, Arlington Heights
- Marianos — 144 S. Gary Ave., Bloomingdale
- Marianos — 105 Northwest Highway, Crystal Lake
- Marianos — 2999 Waukegan Road, Deerfield
- Marianos — 10 E. Golf Road, Des Plaines
- Marianos — 678 N. York St., Elmhurst
- Marianos — 21001 S. LaGrange Road, Frankfort
- Marianos — 6655 Grand Ave., Gurnee
- Jewel-Osco — 1537 N. Larkin Ave., Joliet
- Marianos — 1350 E. Route 22, Lake Zurich
- Marianos — 345 W. Roosevelt Ave., Lombard
- Marianos — 1300 S. Naper Blvd., Naperville
- Marianos — 784 Skokie Blvd., Northbrook
- Marianos — 1822 Willow Road, Northfield
- Marianos — 11000 S. Cicero Ave., Oak Lawn
- Marianos — 9504 142nd St., Orland Park
- Marianos — 545 N. Hicks Road, Palatine
- Jewel-Osco — 12803 S. Harlem Ave., Palos Heights
- Marianos — 1900 S. Cumberland Ave., Park Ridge
- Marianos — 950 Brook Forest Ave., Shorewood
- Marianos — 3358 W. Touhy Ave., Skokie
- Marianos — 1720 N. Milwaukee Ave., Vernon Hills
- Marianos — 3020 Wolf Road, Westchester
- Marianos — 4700 Gilbert Ave., Western Springs
- Marianos — 150 W. 63rd St., Westmont
- Marianos — 625 S. Main St., Wheaton
News Source : www.chicagotribune.com
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