Kroger and Albertsons plan to divest 91 stores in Colorado if controversial merger goes through

FILE PHOTO: A distillery company worker helps stock aisle three with wine on March 1, 2023, at the Safeway grocery store on South Havana Street in Aurora, Colo. The Aurora store is one of the 91 Colorado stores Kroger and Albertsons plans to divest in order to get the merger approved by federal regulators.
Timothy Hurst/Denver Gazette
As Kroger and Albertsons — the parent companies of King Soopers and Safeway — brace for court battles on the future of its potential merger, the grocers released Tuesday the official list of stores it plans to divest.
The grocers announced in April it plans to sell off more stores than originally planned amidst legal challenges from states like Colorado and federal officials.
The chains plan to sell nearly 600 stores nationwide to C&S Wholesale Grocers to secure its $24.6 billion deal. In Colorado, 91 Albertsons-owned stores would be sold as well as the Safeway brand — the only state other than Arizona where the banner would be run by new ownership.
The grocers argue the merger is necessary to compete against the rise of Walmart, Costco and Amazon.
Dozens of Safeway stores in the metro Denver area could be affected if the merger goes through.
The list shows 14 stores in Denver are set to be sold to C&S Wholesale Grocers, six in Aurora, two in Boulder, five in Littleton and more.
Eleven stores in Colorado Springs are also set to be sold.
Why Colorado Safeway stores wouldn’t be run by Kroger if merger goes through
While most of the divested stores are Safeways, two Albertsons stores — one in Durango and another in Pueblo — are also set to be sold off upon a merger.
Kroger also plans to divest two distribution centers in Denver and its Denver Dairy Plant in the Park Hill neighborhood.
A Denver court recently dismissed Kroger’s plea to drop the Colorado lawsuit after arguing the state’s case was redundant to the federal case its facing. But the Denver court ruled states have equal anti-trust enforcement powers as federal powers.
The local union of grocery workers spoke out against the release of the list and said the merger shows how widespread the impacts would be across communities if an “untested, inexperienced” grocer takes over those stores, UFCW Union Local 7 president Kim Cordova said in a statement.
C&S Wholesalers doesn’t operate stores in Colorado and most of the western states where divestitures are happening, a cause of concern for Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser.
But Alberston’s consultant Scott Moses told reporters last month that C&S Wholesalers has a vast national supply chain network giving it more structure to be sustainable in new markets, and keeping the Safeway name will help maintain stability for customers in the state.
“Kroger and Albertsons have known what stores they plan to divest for months, and the last-ditch release of the list today is an underhanded attempt to influence the courts and create the perception that the mega-merger is close to final, creating more uncertainty for our members,” Cordova said.