<p>Following their merger, Safeway and Albertsons will have a combined operation of more than 2,400 stores under 16 different names which include Vons, Randalls, Acme, and Jewel-Osco, according to the Wall Street Journal.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">The Journal also reported that in 2006, after Cerberus acquired 655 Albertsons stores, it closed two-thirds of the existing locations over seven years. Regarding the current deal, Albertsons CEO Bob Miller said that executives do not have plans to close stores after the current deal goes through.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><b>"We intend on keeping the existing retail footprint of both companies,"</b> said Albertsons CEO Bob Miller.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">In a conference call with investors following the announcement of the definitive agreement between Cerberus and Safeway, Safeway CEO Robert Edwards responded to a question about potential store closures. He said that there were no plans to close any stores as a direct part of the deal. He did however agree that there would be some stores which would be operating in direct competition. During the call, he was careful not to make any statements about any future plans related to operational changes.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">While some stores, especially those that will be in direct competition, may be closed as a result of the merger, the statements made by the CEOs of both companies reassure the public that store closures are not a part of the strategy behind the merger.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href="http://www.safeway.com/" target="_new"> Safeway </a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
