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