Investors will reap billions if Kroger takes over Albertsons. Workers and shoppers may not be as happy.
In 2020, Safeway, the nation’s second-largest grocery chain, won an unwelcome distinction — it ranked first among companies in Washington state for the number of employees participating in the federal food assistance program known as SNAP. Some 1.4% of all food assistance recipients across the state worked at Safeway, a report from the Government Accountability Office said, or almost 1,200 employees in all. Kroger, Albertsons grocery stores agree to merge in major deal Oct. 15, 2022 00:27 Wealthy investors in Safeway’s parent, Albertsons Companies, have done better. And next week, they were slated to reap a $4 billion cash dividend in connection with a proposed $25 billion takeover of Albertsons by rival Kroger. Until Friday morning, that is, when a Washington state commissioner temporarily stopped the dividend payout until the court could hear arguments for and against it scheduled for Nov. 10. Both deals announced by the companies — the takeover as well as the dividend — are encou...