for something fresh . type private industry retail grocery founded july 21 1939 ; 77 years ago july 21 1939 boise idaho u.s. founder joe albertson headquarters boise idaho u.s. number of locations 2 205 2015 including safeway 3 key people robert g. miller chairman & ceo bob gordon evp & general counsel products bakery dairy deli frozen foods general grocery meat pharmacy produce seafood snacks liquor services supermarket revenue us 58.7 billion 2016 4 number of employees 164 000 2016 3 parent cerberus capital management 5 subsidiaries safeway ; acme markets website www.albertsons.com albertsons companies inc. 1 2 is an american grocery company founded and based in boise idaho . it is owned and operated by cerberus capital management . with 2 200 stores and more than 250 000 employees 3 the company is the second largest supermarket chain in north america after kroger which has 2 424 stores . prior to its january 2015 merger with safeway inc. for 9.2 billion . 6 it had 1 075 supermarkets located in 29 u.s. states under 12 different banners . its predecessor company albertsons inc. was sold to albertsons llc a cerberus capital management led consortium cvs pharmacy and supervalu inc. in 2006 . cvs acquired the freestanding drugstores while the cerberus led consortium albertsons llc and supervalu new albertsons inc. divided the supermarket divisions among themselves . after selling the majority of its stores to various buyers in january 2013 albertsons llc acquired supervalu s remaining albertsons stores as well as its acme jewel osco lucky shaw s and star market brands in exchange for 100 million in cash and 3.2 billion in supervalu debt . the sale was completed by march 2013 . the company s corporate name was albertson s until 2002 when the apostrophe was removed . 7 contents 1 history 1.1 beginnings 1.2 partnering with skaggs 1.3 american stores 1.4 sale to supervalu cvs and cerberus 1.5 post acquisition 1.6 sales and store closures 1.7 sale to cerberus 1.8 united supermarkets acquisition 1.9 safeway acquisition 1.10 going public 1.11 haggen acquisition 2 chains 3 brands 4 operations 5 technology 6 preferred savings card 7 references 8 external links history edit beginnings edit this section does not cite any sources . please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . march 2014 learn how and when to remove this template message albertsons was founded by joe albertson on july 21 1939 in boise idaho . an ad in the idaho statesman newspaper touted joe albertson s first store as idaho s largest and finest food store . the store was filled with perks that at the time were brand new free parking a money back guarantee and even an ice cream shop . the original store was built onto several times but it was demolished in 1979 and a replacement store built on the same property . a brick monument stands on the northwest corner of 16th and state streets in downtown boise commemorating the original store . the cheese department of an albertson in seattle 1955 joe albertson s grocery store was an enormous success and he plowed his profits back into the business . new stores were opened in neighboring towns to the west nampa caldwell and emmett before pearl harbor in late 1941 . the company grew steadily in the years following world war ii . when albertson was considering putting a new store in a town he would drive around the town and look for neighborhoods with lots of children s clothing hanging on clotheslines ; he knew that those kinds of neighborhoods were where he wanted to build his stores . albertsons inc. became a public company in 1959 and its growth continued opening its 100th store in seattle in 1964 . in 1966 albertsons expanded to southern california by acquiring greater all american markets a small chain in orange county . partnering with skaggs edit this section does not cite any sources . please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . march 2014 learn how and when to remove this template message in 1969 albertsons partnered with skaggs drug centers owned by the skaggs companies inc. to create the first combination food drug stores . the partnership was a tremendous success for several years . the partnership ended due to the fact that it was getting more difficult to control . neither partner could buy each other out and the partnership was dissolved amicably in 1977 . skaggs kept stores in texas oklahoma and arkansas and albertsons kept stores in florida alabama and louisiana as well as some texas stores . albertsons added three skaggs alpha beta stores in austin within months after entering that market in early 1989 with the acquisition of six tom thumb food & pharmacy stores . in 1992 seventy four of the remaining skaggs stores having been through several names under skaggs american stores control first skaggs supercenters then skaggs alpha beta and finally jewel osco in oklahoma florida arkansas and texas were acquired by albertsons from skaggs american stores including all 53 jewel osco stores in texas . albertsons would increase its store count in the dallas fort worth area by adding 41 jewel osco stores to its 19 stores already in operation . these were also stores that only months before were rebranded from skaggs alpha beta to jewel osco . the stores would be rebranded as albertsons . the skaggs acquisition was a success and the new stores were integrated into albertsons texas division . the ease of that acquisition and albertsons high flying stock price led albertsons to attempt expansion on a grand scale . in a series of acquisitions in the late 1990s albertsons acquired seessel s in the memphis tennessee market ; 14 bruno s stores in the nashville and eastern tennessee markets ; smitty s in the springfield missouri market ; super one foods in the des moines iowa market ; and buttrey food & drug in montana wyoming and western north dakota . all of those stores except seessel s were re bannered as albertsons and several new stores were built concentrating growth in fast growing markets throughout tennessee . of those acquisitions only buttrey was smoothly integrated into albertsons ; by the end of 2005 all of the albertsons and seessel s stores in tennessee outside memphis had been closed and the rest had been sold to schnucks of st. louis missouri . the former smitty s was divested to price cutter and super one was closed and the buildings sold . american stores edit this section does not cite any sources . please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . march 2014 learn how and when to remove this template message a typical albertsons in boise idaho . in 1999 albertsons made its biggest acquisition american stores company which included the chains acme in pennsylvania new jersey maryland and delaware ; lucky in california and nevada ; jewel and jewel osco in illinois indiana iowa and michigan and two pharmacy chains osco drug and sav on drugs . the acquisition briefly made albertsons the largest american food and drug operator with over 2 500 stores in 37 states until kroger s acquisition of fred meyer closed the following month . to make the acquisition albertsons was forced by anti trust concerns to sell nearly 100 stores primarily in california nevada and new mexico . in southern california there were already albertsons so in order to not have two banners in the same area lucky stores were converted to the albertsons banner in november 1999 and the lucky brand name was retired . in 2001 albertsons sold its freestanding osco drug stores in the northeastern states to jean coutu group a canadian drug store company . those stores were re branded as brooks pharmacy after the sale was completed in january 2002 . in march 2005 albertsons re introduced the osco brand name to the new england region by way of its shaw s and star market pharmacies . also albertsons began issuing albertsons preferred savings cards . facing losses from american stores in 2002 albertsons cut 15 20 % and announced it would close or sell 165 underperforming stores . albertsons exited the san antonio texas market in april 2002 by closing its 20 remaining area stores after already shuttering three other stores in december 2001 . albertsons was ranked as the area s number two grocer by market share compared to h e b s top position in the market . at the time of the withdrawal the 44 store h e b chain held a commanding 61 percent market share while albertsons held a 15 percent market share . albertsons had held the third position at the time kroger exited the market in mid 1993 when it closed its 15 area stores . then h e b s 37 area stores held a 43.2 percent market share kroger s 15 area stores a 13.7 percent share and albertsons 10 stores a 13.1 percent share . the remaining stores in the san antonio division primarily in the austin area became part of the dallas division . 8 also in 2002 albertsons shuttered its mid south division by selling its seessel s supermarket chain in memphis to schnucks and stores in mississippi to brookshire s. the troubled houston division would be gone too with albertsons closing its 43 area stores leaving them to kroger and randalls after entering that market in 1990 . the louisiana stores from that division joined the florida division while the stores in the bryan college station area became part of the dallas division . 8 in 2004 albertsons acquired shaw s supermarkets and star market company from sainsbury s for 2.5 billion . albertsons also purchased bristol farms for 135 million . 9 during the same time albertsons exited the markets of omaha nebraska and new orleans louisiana ; closing over 20 stores . however the company has since re entered the new orleans market . citation needed sale to supervalu cvs and cerberus edit this section does not cite any sources . please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . march 2014 learn how and when to remove this template message the acquisition spree caused significant problems for albertsons inc. many of the acquired chains had systems that did not mesh well with albertsons . financing those acquisitions required albertsons inc. to take on significant debt . added to those problems were significant changes in consumer buying patterns including new competition from large discounters such as walmart and costco that impacted sales . after several reorganizations and waves of store closings on january 23 2006 albertsons inc. was acquired by supervalu a cerberus led group of investors and cvs pharmacy . the acquisition was completed on june 2 2006 with the cerberus led group who also included kimco realty corporation schottenstein stores corp. lubert adler partners and klaff realty acquiring 661 stores and the distribution centers and offices from five of albertsons divisions . these five divisions were thought to be albertsons five weakest divisions and conventional wisdom in the industry was that the stores would eventually be closed or sold to other operators . as of june 2 2006 the company s retail stores were divided as follows supervalu has acquired 1124 stores in the deal including acme 134 locations acme express jewel express and albertsons express 107 fuel centers albertsons 564 locations in southern california idaho montana nevada north dakota oregon utah washington and wyoming new albertsons inc. later sold to albertsons llc 10 bristol farms 11 locations jewel and jewel osco 198 locations lazy acres 1 location max foods