Albertsons Companies Inc. is an American grocery company founded and headquartered in Boise, Idaho. It is the second-largest supermarket chain in the United States after Kroger, with 2,252 stores as of February 2020. The company also owns and operates the Jewel-Osco, Safeway, Vons, Pavilions, Randalls, Tom Thumb and Carrs stores in the United States.
Albertsons was founded in 1939 by Joe Albertson in Boise, Idaho. He opened his first store with his partner, L.S.
Skaggs. The Skaggs family had been operating a chain of grocery stores called Skaggs Cash Stores since 1915. The first Albertsons store was located at 16th and State Streets in Boise.
Albertsons expanded rapidly throughout the 1950s and 1960s, opening stores in California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma and Texas. In 1966, Albertsons merged with savings and loan holding company Anchor Bancorp to form Anchor Hocking Corporation.
Albertsons continued to expand throughout the 1970s and 1980s, adding stores in Washington, Oregon, Montana and Wyoming. In 1985, Albertsons purchased Star Market Company from its parent company Pillsbury Company.
In 1999, Albertsons Inc. merged with American Stores Company to form a new company called Albertsons Companies Inc., which became the 15th largest retailer in the United States with more than 2,500 stores across the country.
In 2006, Albertsons announced it would sell off its Florida operations to Lone Star Funds, a private equity firm. The sale included more than 70 Albertsons stores in Florida as well as five distribution centers. In 2007, Albertsons sold off its Illinois operations to Supervalu Inc., a grocery wholesaler and retailer based in Eden Prairie, Minnesota.
In 2013, Albertsons announced it would be acquired by Cerberus Capital Management for $3 billion dollars. Cerberus is a private equity firm that owns a number of other grocery chains including Safeway Inc., which it acquired in 2015 for $9 billion dollars.
In 2015, Albertsons announced it would be acquiring Safeway Inc., creating a grocery powerhouse with more than 2200 stores across the United States. The deal was completed in January of 2015 for $9 billion dollars.
In September of 2017 it was announced that Cerberus Capital Management would be selling off its stake in Albertson’s Companies Inc., to an investor group led by Steve Smith and including Investcorp and GIC Private Limited for $12 billion dollars.
When did Albertson’s buy Jewel?
Albertson’s bought Jewel in September of 2017 for $12 billion dollars.
