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Two Gig Harbor groceries would be sold if Kroger-Albertsons merger wins approval

If a planned merger between grocery giants Kroger and Albertsons goes forward, the combined company would divest itself of two stores in Gig Harbor.

The companies last year announced a plan to divest some stores if the merger wins regulatory approval and survives legal challenges. But they had not indicated which stores would be divested until Tuesday.

Among the nearly 600 stores planned to be sold to C&S Wholesale Grocers are the Safeway on Point Fosdick Drive and the Albertsons on 51st Avenue. Albertsons owns both stores currently after those two chains merged in 2015.

The Safeway on Point Fosdick Drive is about a half-mile away from the Fred Meyer on the same road. 

Kroger owns the Fred Meyer on Point Fosdick Drive, less than a half-mile from the Point Fosdick Safeway. It would remain part of Kroger.

The Gig Harbor Albertsons is across town, near the intersection of Borgen Boulevard and 51st Avenue.

The list of stores to be divested also includes four Safeways and a QFC in Tacoma; the Safeways on Bethel and Sedgwick roads in Port Orchard; and the Albertsons on Olney Road in Port Orchard. All told, 124 Washington stores would sell if the merger goes forward, the most of any state.

The Federal Trade Commission is suing to stop the merger. So is the state of Washington and Colorado.