With a $24.6 billion merger coming we look at the grocery business

On Oct. 14, a $24.6 billion deal between Kroger Co. and Albertsons was proposed that would make a 5,000 grocery store giant. Today we look at the national landscape of the grocery business.

The deal would create a beefed-up competitor to Walmart Inc. and other rivals, so it’s sure to face tough antitrust scrutiny as U.S. regulators under President Joe Biden cast a more skeptical eye on big mergers.

The massive merger is among the retail industry’s biggest transactions in years, such as Amazon.com Inc.’s purchase of Whole Foods Market in 2017 for $13.7 billion.

The merger would give Kroger entry into the Northeast, filling out its national footprint. The Cincinnati-based parent of Ralphs and Fred Meyer is the No. 2 grocery seller in the U.S., with a 9.9% market share compared with Walmart’s almost 21%, according to Numerator. Albertsons ranks fourth with 5.7%, and its portfolio includes the Acme, Jewel-Osco, Safeway, Shaw’s and Tom Thumb chains as well as its eponymous stores.

By the numbers

• $811.5 billion: The 2022 grocery store market size in the U.S.

• $6.7 billion: How much the U.S. grocery store market grew since 2021.

• $129.72 billion: What online grocery stores are projected to reach by 2023.

• 1.4%: What the U.S. grocery store market size grew annually between 2015 and 2020.

Grocery chains in the United States

Walmart has nearly 5,000 stores throughout the U.S. Albertsons, in blue, has more than 2,300 stores. The darker green clusters in Detroit, Chicago and Cincinnati represent Kroger.

Click on the map below to see an interactive map of America’s grocery stores in 2020 from businessofbusiness.com.

 

According to Foodindustry.com, there are 26,149 conventional supermarkets in the U.S. There are an additional 4,412 “supercenters” (Walmart) and another 1,370 club stores (like Costco).

Note: Not included are some of the specialty chains, including ALDI, LIDL, Trader Joe’s, Sprouts, Whole Foods, and Wegman’s.

 

Sources: Thinknum, businessofbusiness.com, U.S. Department of Food and Agriculture, Bloomberg, ibisworld.com, The Associated Press

Source: Orange County Register