Kroger, Albertsons announce stores that would be sold under proposed merger

Kroger and Albertsons Tuesday released a list of 579 stores that would be sold off under a proposed mega-merger of the grocery giants, including 63 locations in California.

The vast majority of the California locations are in Southern California.

According to Bloomberg, Kroger CEO sent a memo to employees at all of the affected stores notifying them of the plans to spin off the locations to C&S Wholesale Grocers if the merger goes through. All employees are expected to be able to maintain their employment with C&S, officials have said.

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The merger is being challenged by the Federal Trade Commission, which claims the proposed $24.6 billion merger would lead to higher grocery prices through a reduction in marketplace competition, and also potentially negatively affect workers.

Kroger has denied such claims, insisting that no stores, distribution centers or manufacturing facilities would be closed, and claiming that "customers will benefit from lower prices and more choices" through the merger.

The United Food and Commercial Workers union, which represents grocery workers, issued a statement Tuesday saying it continues to oppose the merger.

"Today's announcement changes nothing," according to the union. "The merger is not a done deal, far from it. We remain focused on stopping the proposed mega-merger for the same reasons we have stated since it was first announced over 20 months ago -- because we know it would harm workers, it would harm shoppers, it would harm suppliers and communities, and it is illegal. The merger proposal was rejected in January and February by the Attorneys General from the states of Colorado and Washington and the Federal Trade Commission. We applaud their actions. They have been in possession of this proposed divestiture list, made public today by the companies, for months and that did not change their opposition to the proposed merger.

"These legal challenges to the proposed merger are moving forward with hearings beginning at the end of July and scheduled to go through September."

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