Krogers certainly ruined Fred Meyers when the bought them out. What was once a unique store was changed to a lackluster grocery store with some clothing, housewares, gardening etc. The old Fred Meyers stores had a complete building department, gardening section that was close to a full blown nursery, etc. It was a real Northwest Gem. What a loss. I can't remember the last time I went in one. Years ago I would guess. I now mostly shop at Costco and Winco.

We can only speculate how this is going to play out, but my guess is that both the Jewel and Mariano's banners will continue to exist in this area. My guess is that smaller underperforming Jewel locations will be sold off if they are in close proximity to the larger and newer Mariano's stores...

Hi- I heard that they are going to break up some of their stores, which a subsidiary of Albertson's will take over, and some of them eventually will be taken over by another chain.

What surprises me, is that if this merger goes through, Walmart is still going to be #1 in grocery sales. None of my friends go to Walmart for their groceries. I wonder if most of the people that do, are in more rural areas?

Nancy, in many rural areas Walmart is the only supermarket in town. Berlin, WI is a typical example. Until a few years ago, Berlin had an independent grocer plus an outlet of a small chain, most recently Sentry, along with a small Walmart that carried minimal groceries. When Walmart moved across the road to a new, much larger facility with a full grocery department, the two supermarkets closed in relatively short order. Oddly enough, the old Sentry is now a church. In my opinion, Berliners are now less well fed at prices no lower, and in many cases higher, than they were before the change.

Even all that considered, though, there aren't enough rural people for that to be the only reason Walmart is #1. Neither Kroger nor Albertsons covers all areas of the country. I believe Kroger misses the Minneapolis and Kansas City markets, for instance. Albertsons has no presence in Wisconsin. So the fact that Walmart is ubiquitous may account for its dominance. It ain't price, quality and service.

The big question about this merger: Will there still be 2 Jewels a few blocks apart in Lake Zurich?

I was watching Chicago Tonight, and they had a segment on the Kroger/Albertson's merger. Albertson's is the 10th largest retailer in the country, and Kroger is the 5th largest. If this merger goes through in 2024 as anticipated, Walmart will still be the #1 grocer. Both Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are against the merger. They talked about how if the merger goes through, 400 stores are going to become part of a subsidiary of Albertson's.

NFriday wrote:I was watching Chicago Tonight, and they had a segment on the Kroger/Albertson's merger. Albertson's is the 10th largest retailer in the country, and Kroger is the 5th largest. If this merger goes through in 2024 as anticipated, Walmart will still be the #1 grocer.

Walmart is the largest retailer in terms of sales because their the largest brick and mortar retailer that sells everything including food items.

Kroger is the #1 largest Super Market (by the amount of stores) as 3742 estimated Super Market locations and Albertsons is #2 with 2277 estimated Super Market locations in the United States. If allowed to combine would create a market dominant presence in many markets that doesn't have the competition like the Chicago market has with all the independent/ethnic chains.

Illinois AG sues to stop Jewel-Osco parent Albertsons from paying $4 billion dividend.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/business ... story.html

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul has sued grocery giants Kroger and Albertsons, which announced in October they plan to merge, over a nearly $4 billion payment scheduled to go out to Albertsons shareholders in November.
Kroger, which owns Mariano’s, said in October that it planned to acquire Albertsons, which owns Jewel-Osco, for $20 billion. Because of the scale of the merger and the high degree of overlap between Albertsons- and Kroger-owned stores in some areas of the country, including in Chicago, the deal stands to undergo heavy scrutiny from federal regulators. Last week, Raoul joined a group of six attorneys general who signed a letter asking Albertsons to hold off on paying out the dividend, which is scheduled for Nov. 7.

Albertson's is considered cash strapped, so how do they have the money to pay out $4 billion in dividends? Washington State has also filed suit there to put a hold on the payout till the merger is done.

Court halts Albertsons’ $4B dividend payment under Kroger merger deal

https://www.supermarketnews.com/retail- ... erger-deal

Fans of Corporate BS-speak will love some of these notes from yesterday's Senate sub-committee hearing on the pending Kroger-Albertson's merger/acquisition . . .

Lawmakers Skeptical that Grocery Merger Will Mean Lower Prices

Others peppered the companies with questions about potential store closures or employee layoffs. Kroger and Albertsons have said they will sell or spin off up to 375 Albertsons stores in markets where they currently compete.

"The intent is not to close stores. The intent is to divest stores," Albertsons President and CEO Vivek Sankaran said.

But that didn't ease lawmakers' concerns. Several noted that when Albertsons acquired Safeway in 2015 for $9.2 billion, the FTC required it to divest 168 stores. The largest buyer of those stores filed for bankruptcy protection nine months later and Albertsons wound up buying back some of the locations.

"When divested assets head into bankruptcy in less than a year, that remedy is an embarrassing failure," [Sen. Mike, Utah Republican] Lee said.

=R=

This should not be approved. It would be horrible for customers. A pure money grab.

My money says this deal is going to crash and burn.

I was at the Skokie Mariano's tonight, and they had Trident salmon burgers on clearance for $3.59. All I bought was two packages. If I had room in my freezer, I would have bought more. I love them. They were $7.19 originally.

Mariano's Northbrook now has a one-way gate that you must go through to get into the store. Only exit is through a cash register.

I'm glad they are so trustful.

lougord99 wrote:Mariano's Northbrook now has a one-way gate that you must go through to get into the store. Only exit is through a cash register.

I'm glad they are so trustful.

I'm sorry some of their customers are so dodgy that this is needed. I know at my Jewel, there is a guy who picks up free food at the local food pantry and then returns it to the store for cash. Of course, Jewel has to throw it out. But in a world where such people exist, I guess stores (which operate on thin margins) have to do something.

Cynthia wrote:

lougord99 wrote:Mariano's Northbrook now has a one-way gate that you must go through to get into the store. Only exit is through a cash register.

I'm glad they are so trustful.

I'm sorry some of their customers are so dodgy that this is needed. I know at my Jewel, there is a guy who picks up free food at the local food pantry and then returns it to the store for cash. Of course, Jewel has to throw it out. But in a world where such people exist, I guess stores (which operate on thin margins) have to do something.

I've volunteered at a food bank a couple of times and they required that that there was a line in the UPC on products with them so people couldn't return those items.

lougord99 wrote:Mariano's Northbrook now has a one-way gate that you must go through to get into the store. Only exit is through a cash register.

I'm glad they are so trustful.

I agree. It's also a pain in the butt for the people that use the self checkout by the hot and cold food bars.

Dave148 wrote:

lougord99 wrote:Mariano's Northbrook now has a one-way gate that you must go through to get into the store. Only exit is through a cash register.

I'm glad they are so trustful.

I agree. It's also a pain in the butt for the people that use the self checkout by the hot and cold food bars.

This definitely sucks but it's a dog bites man situation. Mariano's treating their customers with little or no respect is not exactly news. Really a shame, though. I'll continue to never shop there.

=R=

I have a friend who likes to stop there for coffee. Wonder if that will still be possible -- because we never go through the cashier area. Just buy coffee, sit and chat, and head out. I guess we'll find out.

Cynthia wrote:I have a friend who likes to stop there for coffee. Wonder if that will still be possible -- because we never go through the cashier area. Just buy coffee, sit and chat, and head out. I guess we'll find out.

Be flexible. Most of the times that I’m there, the coffee/gelato area isn’t staffed.

Cynthia wrote:I have a friend who likes to stop there for coffee. Wonder if that will still be possible -- because we never go through the cashier area. Just buy coffee, sit and chat, and head out. I guess we'll find out.

Sure, you can still do that. You go out through the self checkout area and don’t stop at a register.

lougord99 wrote:Mariano's Northbrook now has a one-way gate that you must go through to get into the store. Only exit is through a cash register.

I'm glad they are so trustful.

Which one? Skokie Blvd or Sanders and Willow? I stupidly stop in at the latter every once in a while, and almost always walk out again without most of what I'm looking for (fresh herbs in particular are a point of failure there, something the "old-school" Mariano's aced).

JoelF wrote:

lougord99 wrote:Mariano's Northbrook now has a one-way gate that you must go through to get into the store. Only exit is through a cash register.

I'm glad they are so trustful.

Which one? Skokie Blvd or Sanders and Willow? I stupidly stop in at the latter every once in a while, and almost always walk out again without most of what I'm looking for (fresh herbs in particular are a point of failure there, something the "old-school" Mariano's aced).

Skokie Blvd.

Dave148 wrote:

Cynthia wrote:I have a friend who likes to stop there for coffee. Wonder if that will still be possible -- because we never go through the cashier area. Just buy coffee, sit and chat, and head out. I guess we'll find out.

Be flexible. Most of the times that I’m there, the coffee/gelato area isn’t staffed.

Indeed. We've stopped going to the one that always let us down. (The one on Skokie in NB.) But the one in Palatine is almost always staffed.

ronnie_suburban wrote:Fans of Corporate BS-speak will love some of these notes from yesterday's Senate sub-committee hearing on the pending Kroger-Albertson's merger/acquisition . . .

Lawmakers Skeptical that Grocery Merger Will Mean Lower Prices

Others peppered the companies with questions about potential store closures or employee layoffs. Kroger and Albertsons have said they will sell or spin off up to 375 Albertsons stores in markets where they currently compete.

"The intent is not to close stores. The intent is to divest stores," Albertsons President and CEO Vivek Sankaran said.

But that didn't ease lawmakers' concerns. Several noted that when Albertsons acquired Safeway in 2015 for $9.2 billion, the FTC required it to divest 168 stores. The largest buyer of those stores filed for bankruptcy protection nine months later and Albertsons wound up buying back some of the locations.

"When divested assets head into bankruptcy in less than a year, that remedy is an embarrassing failure," [Sen. Mike, Utah Republican] Lee said.

=R=

In 2015, Albertsons divested 146 stores to Haggen Food and Drug out of Bellingham, WA., a chain of 18 stores. I visited one of their new stores in Tucson in 2016 after it rebranded from Albertsons. The pricing on normal grocery products were absurd - higher than even whole foods in areas that were at best working class. I did not expect that they would last, and they did not.

Many of the divested stores were in weak locations and were generally not very competitive.

jlawrence01 wrote:

Many of the divested stores were in weak locations and were generally not very competitive.

Yes, that's the point. Kroger will keep the best-performers and dump the bottom end stores on some unfortunate starry-eyed small chain which, loaded with expensive debt, winds up in Chapter 11. In the meantime, the Wall Street wizards collect their interest and fees (especially fees), take the properties back and sell them again.

Rinse, repeat.

Yup, saw that happen when Winn Dixie pulled out of the Louisville market. A nearby chain, Buehler's Buy Low, took over many of the WD's. Lasted about a year, they pulled out and the grocer of last resort at the time, Walmart Neighborhood Markets, took over many of them.

I suppose the best case scenario would be if Kroger kept Jewel and Pick-n-Save, and sold Mariano's back to Bob Mariano and some former Roundy's people. A deKrogerified Mariano's could be a big draw. Pete's as another option? Probably biting off more than it could chew.

Meijer? They've got the distribution capability and presumably access to capital, would need to create another store format than their super centers. Return of the Thrifty Acres brand? Treasure Island, anyone? or shoot, just call it Dominick's and give people what they really want!

tjr wrote:or shoot, just call it Dominick's and give people what they really want!

I was at the Mariano's in Skokie on Tuesday, and they still had some Trident frozen salmon burgers on clearance for $3.59.

A couple new wrinkles spotted at Marianos Gurnee:

Ready-to-cook Sicilian pizzas made in cooperation with Connie's. These are about half-sheet size rectangles in a cooler near the deli. Sicilian cheese $9.99, other topping choices $14.99. It struck me that one could walk over to the deli and buy less than $5 of pepperoni to add to the cheese pizza, or pick up other ingredients from salad bar, olive bar or produce.

Ordinary plastic bags replaced with reusable bags similar in quality to Sendik's bags or those at Valli Evanston. Not sure if this is a permanent change or they simply ran out of the usual bags. They'll definitely get reused at our house, altho one reuse will be as trash bags.