Albertson's Checks Out of Four Markets

Albertson's Inc. (Boise, Idaho) announced plans to pull out of four under-performing markets across the southern United States.

the nation's second-largest supermarket chain says it will completely exit Memphis and Nashville, Tenn., and Houston and San Antonio, Texas.

“[This] finalizes another major chapter in the restructuring of our company,” said chairman and ceo Larry Johnston. “This will now allow us to focus resources on strategic markets that offer opportunity for significant future growth.”

In the last quarter of 2001, Albertson's identified some of those strategic growth markets. In a three-week period in November and December, the retailer announced it would spend $185 million on its stores in northern California in 2002 and $125 million on its Florida stores, and would increase capital spending by 17 percent at its 148 Acme Food and Drug stores in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland.

The chain, which trails only Kroger Corp. (Cincinnati) in total grocery and drug sales, operates more than 2500 retail stores in 36 states under the Albertson's, Jewel-Osco, Acme, Osco Drug, Sav-on Drugs, Max Foods, Super Saver and Seessel's by Albertson's nameplates.