Pondering Piggly Wiggly…

And the grocery world keep on turning… TC spends this ponderable (shaking his head, perhaps) as this “it’s just business” is having a direct impact on his food and consumable purchasing experience. Read on! – the editor

For the last two years , the possible merger between Kroger and Albertsons has been going through the motions with the FTC and additional government approval. I mean, Walmart and Amazon were allowed to expand and commandeer the grocery market, along with Costco and Dollar General. In the Northeast and South, stronger regional companies like Publix, Wakefern (Shop-Rite) and H-E-B have been local behemoths. Yes, even Aldi re-invented itself, and purchased the parent of Winn-Dixie, while its distant sister company Trader Joes thrived. Let’s not get into the joys of Wegmans.

I am going to tell you, these two marriage partners bailed on Florida. Albertsons bailed a few years ago, when they had 3 stores left, while Kroger attempted on-line food shopping without a store presence.

So mostly in the west, this merger is going to have monopoly issues, California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Idaho, Colorado mainly. With a dash in Illinois and yes, my state, Nevada.

The current plan is a divestiture of 550 stores, up from 415, to C&S Wholesale Grocers, who supply groceries to many independent grocery stores, along with owning the Grand Union and Piggly Wiggly brands. Also C&S will have the rights to use the Safeway and Albertsons brands in many of these states, and will take over 6 brands outright in these areas.

I caught a story that delved into which locations will be spun off, including an Albertsons location near me, that is across the street from a Smith’s (Kroger) location.

Grand Union was a big brand back in the day, in New Jersey, along with many spots in the Northeast. At the beginning of the Millennium, Grand Union all but shut down during bankruptcy, with the main creditor, C&S, the owner of Grand Union IP. When Price Chopper, a regional grocery chain in NY state had to sell locations to settle anti-trust issues with the merger with TOPS Family Markets, C&S resurrected Grand Union to 15 locations in New York and Vermont.

Piggly Wiggly has a more storied history, patenting the self-service grocery store back in the 1920’s. About 900 plus locations still exist between the Carolina division, and the Mid-West division, mostly owned by C&S, (all others are franchised and supplied by C&S).

In Nevada, new brands have not done well during the past 25 years. The Lucky stores merger with Albertsons led to Raleys invasion to Vegas, that lasted only 2 years. Tesco from the UK tried its Fresh And Easy concept, and it was ahead of its time. They closed up. The Albertsons/Safeway merger had a misfired spin off of 12 locations to Haagen of Washington State. They closed in less that a year, and Albertsons reopened most locations years later.

Save A Lot… we hardly knew you. Food 4 Less sold groceries for more than its sister chain Smith’s, and required customers to self-bag groceries. Who do they think they are? WinCo?

That’s a Wrap…

While I am excited Aldi is finally coming to town in 2025, if the merger goes through, what will become of my local markets, and which name will they take?
A thought… Maybe it will be the PIG.

Thanks for reading and pondering with me. —TC