“Anytime you hear about something like this you know it’s not going to be good,” said Katrina Medina, who has shopped at the Albertsons store in the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza shopping center for years. Kroger, based in Cincinnati, operates 2,800 stores in 35 states, with chains that include Ralphs, Food 4 Less, Smith’s and Harris Teeter. The companies said they would spin off up to 375 Albertsons stores in a stand-alone public company. A recent Los Angeles Times survey of food prices found Ralphs, Albertsons, Food 4 Less and Vons were among the top 10 most visited grocery chains in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area. It said it would also spend $1.3 billion updating Albertsons stores and $1 billion on higher employee wages and improved benefits.

Source: Los Angeles Times October 15, 2022 16:42 UTC