US retailer Albertsons LLC is to close seven stores in Texas, it confirmed today (19 January).
The retailer, which licenses the Albertsons brand from US supermarket giant Supervalu Inc, said the closures are a result of being unable to reposition the stores to compete in the marketplace.
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“We evaluate all of our stores annually, and when we identify locations that are struggling, we take steps to turn them around,” a spokesperson for Albertsons said. “Over the last several years, we have put our best efforts into repositioning these stores to better compete in the market place. Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to do so.”
A sale of the stores will begin on today and the stores are expected to close on 20 February.
“We are working with the associates to identify positions for as many as possible,” the spokesperson said. “Those we are not able to place may be eligible for severance benefits.”
Around 80 Albertsons stores will remain in Texas following the closures.
Albertsons LLC is majority-owned by private-equity firm Cerberus Capital Management. A consortium led by Cereberus teamed up with Supervalu in 2006 to buy Albertsons and both sides divided up ownership of the business. The Cereberus-led consortium owns Albertsons stores in seven states in the south of the US.
