<p> Last Friday, Safeway's 21-day "go-shop" period expired, leaving Albertsons as the sole bidder for the supermarket chain. Although the deal still awaits final approval from shareholders and the Federal Trade Commission, industry experts are now specualting which states could see potential store closures to meet federal antitrust rules.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p> Rumor has it that store closings are almost certain in <B>California</b>, where Safeway and Albertsons have a combined 678 stores, about three times the number in its second-largest market, according to San Jose Mercury News. Both chains operate in Southern California, but you'll only be able to find Safeway stores in Northern California. Still, those Safeway stores could be sold or closed as Cereberus looks at the less profitable ones, especially those with high real estate value to recuperate money spent on the $9 billion acquisition. San Jose Mercury News also reports that other areas where these chains overlap and compete heavily with each other include <B>Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Arizona,</b> and <B>Texas</b>, so we could see potential store closures from the FTC in these states as well.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p> When asked whether any stores would be closing as part of the deal, Albertsons CEO Bob Miller said, "We intend on keeping the existing retail footprint of both companies." Safeway CEO Robert Edwards echoed the statement, saying that there were no plans to close any stores as a direct part of the deal. However, Edwards also mentioned there would be some stores which would be operating in direct competition, suggesting further potential for possible store closures.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p> Other potential operational changes may include Safeway's loyalty card program. Albertsons' loyalty program was canceled after it was bought by Cerberus in 2006, so could we see something similar happen? </p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p> As industry experts continue to fervently speculate on Safeway and Albertsons' future, I'm keeping my fingers crossed to hope Safeway doesn't close here in Sacramento!</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p> Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow as we continue our coverage on Albertsons' merger with Safeway.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href=" http://www.safeway.com/ShopStores/Investors.page#iframetop" target="_new"> Safeway</a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href=" http://www.albertsons.com" target="_new"> Albertsons </a> </p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
