Kroger buys Albertson's Co (including all related chains - Acme, Shaws, Safeway, etc)
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Going to liquidate my Jewel/Albertson’s GC today.
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@sonofzeus not necessary, this isn’t a going out of business situation. simply a merger, they will continue to be honored. will take months or a year to finalize a big merger like this anyway, and they may keep the operations seperate for a time once they do merge.
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@mistercheap Ms SOZ got her flu shot today at JewelOsco and received the 10% off coupon. Boneless skinless chicken breasts are 99 cts/lb. It was a good time to use the GC.
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@sonofzeus said in Possible Albertsons Chains/Kroger merger in the works:
@mistercheap Ms SOZ got her flu shot today at JewelOsco and received the 10% off coupon. Boneless skinless chicken breasts are 99 cts/lb. It was a good time to use the GC.
Wow, here at an Albertson’s family store boneless skinless chicken breasts are on sale this week for $2.99/lb. Anyone wanna move to California and pay three times the price? You can fill your gas tank with $6.50 a gallon gas while you are here.
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If the Feds approve this deal, this is bad news for consumers in our neck 'o the woods. We currently enjoy very strong price/sku competition among WM, WF, ALDI, Marianos/Kroger, Jewel/Albertsons, and many regional chains. We’ll never see 99 ct/doz eggs again! https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/14/business/kroger-albertsons-merger/index.html
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bumpy
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@mrvietnam said in Kroger buys Albertson's Co (including all related chains - Acme, Shaws, Safeway, etc):
@sonofzeus said in Possible Albertsons Chains/Kroger merger in the works:
@mistercheap Ms SOZ got her flu shot today at JewelOsco and received the 10% off coupon. Boneless skinless chicken breasts are 99 cts/lb. It was a good time to use the GC.
Wow, here at an Albertson’s family store boneless skinless chicken breasts are on sale this week for $2.99/lb. Anyone wanna move to California and pay three times the price? You can fill your gas tank with $6.50 a gallon gas while you are here.
That’s how much chicken is here in KY too. Way too expensive. Our gas is not that high, thankfully.
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@sonofzeus said in Kroger buys Albertson's Co (including all related chains - Acme, Shaws, Safeway, etc):
If the Feds approve this deal, this is bad news for consumers in our neck 'o the woods. We currently enjoy very strong price/sku competition among WM, WF, ALDI, Marianos/Kroger, Jewel/Albertsons, and many regional chains. We’ll never see 99 ct/doz eggs again! https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/14/business/kroger-albertsons-merger/index.html
They may have to sell off a % of stores in areas where they’d run afoul of anti-trust issues. That’s happened with many retail mergers. We don’t have Kroger in my area, so likely only a wash or improvement since there’s a TON of grocery competition around here.
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https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/kroger-vows-lower-food-prices-170619410.html
Reaction in Calfornia @MrVietnam
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@mistercheap said in Kroger buys Albertson's Co (including all related chains - Acme, Shaws, Safeway, etc):
https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/kroger-vows-lower-food-prices-170619410.html
Reaction in Calfornia @MrVietnam
Ralphs owner vows lower food prices in Albertsons bid. Consumer advocates are doubtful
I am one of the doubtful ones.
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Magic 8 Ball says: They might reduce prices from painful to simply annoying levels.
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@sonofzeus who “they”? The CA grocers?
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A newish analysis of this pending deal.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/17/business/kroger-albertsons-merger-groceries/index.html
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An article I read said the merger wouldn’t likely go through until 2024. In the meantime, we’ll see what happens with possible antitrust concerns and who knows what else.
Presuming it does all go as planned, I wonder what will happen specifically in my town. We already have two Jewel stores literally less than a mile apart. One has been here for many years, the other came to be after taking over what used to be Dominick’s before that chain closed several years ago. On the other side of town is a Mariano’s. Surely we won’t have three same-branded grocery stores in our modest, suburban zip code.
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@sonofzeus said in Kroger buys Albertson's Co (including all related chains - Acme, Shaws, Safeway, etc):
Magic 8 Ball says: They might reduce prices from painful to simply annoying levels.
The big supermarket chains have made billions in record breaking profits (after costs) by using the pandemic and ensuing inflation as excuses to price gouge consumers. They’ve raised prices much higher than their actual costs increased. For example: …“little of that seems to have harmed the company’s bottom line. In the most recent quarter, which ended Aug. 13, Kroger’s operating profits grew 13.7 percent from a year earlier, allowing it to boost its dividend to investors by 24 percent. It has also repurchased $975 million of its own shares this year.” https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/14/business/kroger-albertsons-merger.html
Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen (who would take over as CEO of the combined company) recently said “a little bit of inflation is always good in our business” because “customers don’t overly react to increases in prices.” Albertsons CEO Vivek Sankaran made similar comments. https://prospect.org/power/proposed-kroger-albertsons-merger-would-create-grocery-giant/
Kroger CFO Larry Millerchip told shareholders in October: “We’ve been very comfortable with our ability to pass on the increases we’ve seen at this point. And we would expect that to continue to be the case.” https://www.fastcompany.com/90797301/kroger-albertsons-deal-antitrust-grocery-merger
They have one narrative for the regulators and consumers. and a different (more candid) one for their shareholders. For the sake of consumers, I hope this merger is blocked, like they blocked the merger of Office Depot and Staples.
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Kroger and Albertson’s make their case to approve their deal before Congress today. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/29/kroger-and-albertsons-executives-defend-proposed-merger-at-hearing.html
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IF this goes through I see prices going up even more than they went up before.
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@mrvietnam said in Kroger buys Albertson's Co (including all related chains - Acme, Shaws, Safeway, etc):
IF this goes through I see prices going up even more than they went up before.
You don’t believe a CEO when he says they will go down?
At the hearing Tuesday, McMullen said that the combined company could help lower food prices
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@mtnagel said in Kroger buys Albertson's Co (including all related chains - Acme, Shaws, Safeway, etc):
@mrvietnam said in Kroger buys Albertson's Co (including all related chains - Acme, Shaws, Safeway, etc):
IF this goes through I see prices going up even more than they went up before.
You don’t believe a CEO when he says they will go down?
At the hearing Tuesday, McMullen said that the combined company could help lower food prices
His nose must be growing!
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@mistercheap https://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-kroger-still-top-grocer-challengers-amazon-gopuff-2022-2
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I was going to buy a Safeway GC from Amazon and found that it’s no longer available, not even the eGC.
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@c3 said in Kroger buys Albertson's Co (including all related chains - Acme, Shaws, Safeway, etc):
I was going to buy a Safeway GC from Amazon and found that it’s no longer available, not even the eGC.
Good catch, Albertson’s is gone too, I purchased an Albertsons Family of Stores GC after Thanksgiving. page for the item has been removed.
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@c3 There are new plastic g.c. in the stores and the old designs were pulled. I last bought Shaw’s gc from Amazon on Dec. 17. I wonder if people like me are why they are no longer available on Amazon. 🙄
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@my4mainecoons said in Kroger buys Albertson's Co (including all related chains - Acme, Shaws, Safeway, etc):
There are new plastic g.c. in the stores and the old designs were pulled.
Are you referring to Safeway/Shaw selling Amazon GC? There are plenty of Amazon GCs at my Safeway. Now I’m stuck with more Amazon GC balance than I want.
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@my4mainecoons said in Kroger buys Albertson's Co (including all related chains - Acme, Shaws, Safeway, etc):
@c3 There are new plastic g.c. in the stores and the old designs were pulled. I last bought Shaw’s gc from Amazon on Dec. 17. I wonder if people like me are why they are no longer available on Amazon. 🙄
Seems to be a trend, another chain I typically bought GC’s for on Amazon was Giant/Stop and Shop, did so in December 2021. When I went to buy them at the holidays in 2022 they were gone, so I got Acme (Albertson’s family) instead. But now, that’s gone too.
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@c3 Last January I bought $600 Amazon gc at Shaws with 5% back on Discover. Earned 12 j4u Rewards (redeem for $20/$20) and 2% iBotta. Used the Amazon gc to buy Shaw’s eGC. Used the Shaw’s eGC to buy Amazon gc. Rinse & repeat. Have been churning the same $600 for the past year earning a couple of $20/$20 every month. Barely paid for groceries in 2022 and got 2% iBotta for all the gc purchases. Very sad it’s gone. I guess it’s time to spend the $600 in Amazon g.c. on gas g.c.
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@my4mainecoons Yes, I’m aware of your routine.
The 2% iBotta offer for Safeway lasted only about a month.
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@c3 We had 2% at Shaw’s for much of the year. Currently running now. At Safeway it began again in December for 45 days so ending soon… I’d buy a few groceries and e.g. $400 g.c. The $8 from iBotta was often more than I spent on the groceries.
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@my4mainecoons said in Kroger buys Albertson's Co (including all related chains - Acme, Shaws, Safeway, etc):
At Safeway it began again in December for 45 days so ending soon
I have not seen it in my iBotta account.
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@c3 A friend in CO who shops at Safeway has it.
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I have the Safeway 2% in my Ibotta account. I’m in SF Bay Area. Thanks for the tip on using Discover for the extra 5% on GCs.
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@kimi Remember, you earn 2x J4U Rewards for 3rd party gc excluding phone, gas and prepaid MC/VC. No Rewards for buying Safeway branded gc.
I bought Shaw’s eGC from Amazon. Then used the Shaw’s eGC to buy Shaw’s plastic gc in store. I’d earn 2% back from iBotta on the transaction but no J4u. Then I used the plastic Shaw’s gc to buy Amazon g.c. That earned another 2% from iBotta as well as 2x J4u Rewards. Many cashiers were baffled by eGC so it was smoother for me to convert paper to plastic where the cashiers knew how to use eGC then to use the plastic gc where cashiers were not as savvy. Net 4% ($24) iBotta and a $20/$20 each time I rolled $600.
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FWIW Fetch has a 1400 point bonus for spending $115 at Safeway. YMMV, ends in 7 days from today.
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@c3 said in Kroger buys Albertson's Co (including all related chains - Acme, Shaws, Safeway, etc):
I was going to buy a Safeway GC from Amazon and found that it’s no longer available, not even the eGC.
I was on Recent Orders (?) on Amazon and clicked Buy It Again on an order of 2@$200 Safeway eGC to see what would happen. Just received them.
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Safeway GCs are gone from many other places as well, including Staples. Whole Foods GCs are gone from Amazon. So something else is going on.
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@c3 NLA on giftcards.com or giftcardmall either. Maybe now like Mobil Gas and Chewy which are only sold in house. I bought plastic Shaw’s gc with Shaw’s egc last night. Will see if I can still use them to buy Amazon when iBotta 2% re-sets.
