Denver 7: If Kroger, Albertsons merger happened today, nearly half of grocers in Denver would be owned by one company

October 14, 2022

If the merger between two of the nations largest supermarkets happened today, nearly half of all grocery stores in Denver would be under one big company.

Kroger, the parent company of King Soopers, announced their $26 billion-dollar deal to purchase Albertsons, Safeway's parent company, on Friday. The deal is expected to close in 2024.

The grocers are the largest in Colorado, which in 2021 represented more than 44% of the market share in Denver.

Denver resident Hobert Herman shops at both grocery stores, specifically off 14th and Krameria, where a King Soopers and Safeway are right across the street from each other.

"Whoever's got the best deals ... is good with me," Herman said.

But, that type of competition is likely to end after the merger, according to Metropolitan State University Economics Professor Kishore Kulkarni.

"I think there will be some stores closing, especially when the two stores are very, very close to each other. It wouldn't make sense to have those," Kulkarni said. "After the merger, consumers will obviously lose the variety of consumption. They will not have different things to compare and find out which one they like better. There is going to be some uniform sales going on."

The companies plan to sell off nearly 400 locations in order to secure antitrust clearance, but Kulkarni points out, they would still remain a powerhouse in Colorado.