Grocery Chains Are Bigger Than Ever. See Who Runs the Stores Near You.
29th September 2024
Tom Thumb in Plano, Texas. Star Market in Dorchester, Massachusetts. Pavilions in Newport Beach, California. Jewel-Osco in Glenview, Illinois. What do these regional grocery chains have in common? They’re all owned by Albertsons, the Boise, Idaho-based company with more than 2,200 locations under about two dozen banners.
Over the past three decades, the traditional supermarket industry shrunk as a handful of big-name grocers acquired their smaller local and regional rivals. Now Walmart, Kroger, Aldi (Süd) and Albertsons own a third of all U.S. grocery stores locations, according to a Washington Post analysis of OpenStreetMap location data.
But the marquee companies could further concentrate their dominance: A federal judge in Portland, Ore., is deciding whether Kroger and Albertsons can proceed with a merger in what would be the biggest supermarket union in U.S. history.
The hand-wringers of the Washington Poop appear to think this is an impending crisis. Pish and tush. Within a five-minute drive of my house, at least four of the ‘giant chains’ are represented, and others are only an internet click away in this pick-up-and-delivery world. I routinely get grocery deliveries from Costco, Amazon Fresh, Whole Foods, Tom Thumb, Sams, and Walmart; I don’t think I’ve been ‘grocery shopping’ in person in months, and then only when it was on my way and my need was urgent. (Not to forget Braum’s, which has the freshest produce and the most cook-for-two-people-friendly packaging I’ve ever encountered.)