Albertsons LLC

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Albertsons LLC
Type Private
Founded 2006 (Boise, Idaho)
Headquarters Boise, Idaho
Key people Robert Miller, CEO
Industry Retail
Products Bakery, dairy, deli, frozen foods, general grocery, meat, pharmacy, produce, seafood, snacks, liquor
Revenue $6.0 billion USD (2007)
Employees 234,000 (2006)
Website www.albertsonsmarket.com

Albertsons LLC is a North American grocery company based in Boise, Idaho with about 325 supermarkets located in Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Florida under the Albertson's, County Line Liquor, Grocery Warehouse, Max Foods, Super Saver Foods banners[1]. While Albertsons LLC is majority-owned by Cerberus Capital Management, the "Albertsons" name is used under license with Supervalu.

Supermarket News ranked Albertsons LLC No. 24 in the 2008 "Top 75 North American Food Retailers" based on 2007 fiscal year estimated sales of $6.0 billion.[2]

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Beginnings

Albertsons LLC is one of the successor companies to Albertson's, Inc. Albertson's was founded by Joe Albertson in 1939 in Boise, Idaho, USA. The store was filled with perks that, at the time, were brand new: free parking, a money-back guarantee, even an ice cream shop. The store was located at 17th and State Streets in downtown Boise.

[edit] Conception

On January 23, 2006, Albertsons, Inc. agreed to be acquired by Supervalu, a Cerberus-led group of investors, and CVS/pharmacy. The acquisition was completed on June 2, 2006 with the Cerberus-led group (who also included Kimco Realty Corporation, Schottenstein Stores Corp., Lubert-Adler Partners, and Klaff Realty) acquiring 661 stores and the distribution centers and offices in the Dallas/Fort Worth division and in the Florida, Louisiana, Northern California, Northern Nevada, Rocky Mountain and Southwestern states.

[edit] Reorganization

[edit] Store Closures

A typical Albertsons store
A typical Albertsons store

On June 8, 2006, Albertsons LLC announced their intent to close 100 Albertsons stores by August 2006, only one week after Albertsons LLC was created.[3] Soon after Albertsons LLC announced that it would be shutting down its online delivery service on July 21, 2006.[4] It was announced on November 27, 2006 that Albertsons LLC signed an agreement with Save Mart Supermarkets to sell its Northern California and Northern Nevada Albertsons locations. Save Mart began operating the 132 new stores as of February 2007. [5]

Albertsons LLC announced in December 2006 that it would be closing five unprofitable stores in North Texas. The closures will leave Albertsons LLC with 78 stores in the Dallas-Fort Worth market.[6] It was announced on January 29, 2007, that 11 more stores in Texas would be shuttered, including six in the Dallas area and two in the Austin area. After the closures, Albertsons will operate 71 stores in Dallas-Fort Worth and 93 in Texas.[7] It was announced on September 12th, 2007, that Albertson's would exit the Austin, Texas market by selling its three remaining units to H-E-B, along with two previously shuttered facilities.

Store closings were also announced for Arizona and Colorado, when it was announced in January 2007 that eight Albertsons and two Grocery Warehouse stores would be closed.[8][9]

On June 19, 2007, Albertsons LLC announced plans to exit the Oklahoma market, closing or selling all 26 stores in the state. Also, the Dallas-Fort Worth division will outsource their grocery distribution operations by selling their Fort Worth Distribution Center to Associated Wholesale Grocers.[10] A large number of former stores reopened under the banner of Food Pyramid.

[edit] Acquisitions

On June 12, 2007, Albertson’s LLC agreed to acquire all Raley’s locations in New Mexico. The acquisition includes one closed and eight operating stores in Albuquerque and one store in Taos, thus doubling Albertsons store base in the Albuquerque region.[11]

[edit] Preferred Card Discontinuation

On June 20, 2007, Albertsons LLC officially announces to discontinue its Preferred Card Program and will instead offer discounted items to all of its customers.[12]

On September 26, 2007, all Albertson's stores in the Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, and Florida Market began collecting their Albertson's preferred savings cards. [13]

[edit] Albertsons Express Divestiture

On May 5, 2008, Albertsons LLC announced the sale and divestiture of all 72 of the Albertsons Express fuel centers to San Antonio, Texas-based Valero Energy Corporation. Most of the Albertsons Express stores are located in the Phoenix, Arizona, Denver, Colorado, Baton Rouge and Lafayette, Louisiana and Dallas-Ft. Worth markets. Pending government approval, the tranasction is expected to be completed by August 2008. Valero has announced plans to convert all the Albertsons Express locations to Valero Corner Store.

[edit] Sale of Florida stores to Publix

On June 9, 2008, Albertsons LLC entered into an agreement with Lakeland, Florida-based Publix stores involving the sale of 49 Albertsons stores in Florida to Publix. This affects 15 stores in Northern and Northwest Florida, 30 locations in Central Florida, and 4 locations in South Florida. The sale is expected to close in September.[14]

[edit] References

  1. ^ More Albertsons Closings Announced - Morning News Beat, June 14, 2006
  2. ^ 2008 Top 75 North American Food Retailers, Supermarket News, Last accessed January 23, 2008.
  3. ^ Albertsons to close 100 of its stores Deseret News (Salt Lake City), June 8, 2006
  4. ^ Albertson's LLC to Close Shutter Online Shopping Service Progressive Grocer/AllBusiness.com, Thursday, July 13 2006
  5. ^ Albertsons is sold in Northern California San Jose Mercury News, November 28, 2006
  6. ^ Albertsons LLC to Close Five Texas Stores, Supermarket News, December 4, 2006.
  7. ^ Albertsons to close 6 D-FW stores, The Dallas Morning News, January 29, 2007.
  8. ^ Oro Valley Albertsons to close; employees keep jobs, Arizona Daily Star, January 24, 2007.
  9. ^ Albertsons to close nine stores, Rocky Mountain News, January 20, 2007.
  10. ^ Albertson's is leaving Oklahoma, The Dallas Morning News, June 20, 2007.
  11. ^ Albertson's LLC to Acquire Raley's New Mexico Stores, PR Newswire, Wednesday, June 13, 2007.
  12. ^ Albertsons to discontinue loyalty cards today, The Arizona Republic, June 20, 2007.
  13. ^ Albertsons's ditches loyalty cards, Dallas News.com, Wednesday, September 27, 2007.
  14. ^ Publix buying 49 Albertsons Stores 970WFLA Monday, June 9, 2008

[edit] External links