Albertson’s (Acme)

Albertsons Companies is a national supermarket operator that runs grocery stores, pharmacies, and e‑commerce grocery platforms under well-known regional banners, including Albertsons, Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco, Shaw’s, Acme Markets, Tom Thumb, Randalls, and others. Across these names, the company serves as a primary food and drug anchor in many neighborhood and community centers.

The business traces its roots to 1939, when founder Joe Albertson opened a single supermarket in Boise, Idaho. That first store helped introduce a more modern, full-service grocery format to its market. Over the decades Albertsons expanded across the Western United States and then nationally, using a combination of new store growth and acquisitions. A major milestone came in 2013, when Albertsons merged with Safeway. That deal significantly increased its store base, distribution infrastructure, and presence in key metropolitan areas.

As of February 2024, Albertsons Companies operated approximately 2,269 stores across 34 states and the District of Columbia, supplied by a network of distribution centers and manufacturing plants. The corporate headquarters remains in Boise, reflecting the company’s long operating history in that region even as its footprint has become national. Many locations, including Acme in the Mid‑Atlantic and Northeast, function as the primary grocery anchor in established centers.

Over roughly the last five years, the company has focused less on rapid net new store growth and more on improving and repositioning the portfolio it already controls. Albertsons has been closing or consolidating underperforming locations while reinvesting in strong trade areas, upgrading existing stores, and refining which banners it flies in each market. It has expanded e‑commerce capabilities across much of the chain, including order pickup and home delivery, and continues to enhance digital loyalty and merchandising inside the box.

For landlords, brokers, and developers, Albertsons and its Acme Markets banner represent an experienced, traffic-driving anchor with a range of conventional supermarket formats suited to both urban and suburban centers. The company’s current posture emphasizes remodels, relocations, selective infill projects, and center repositionings tied to existing stores, particularly in core Western markets under the Albertsons and Safeway names and in Mid‑Atlantic and Northeast markets under Acme. As of February 2024, its scale, long-term operating history, and ongoing capital investment in both physical stores and digital platforms make Albertsons a meaningful and credible player in grocery-anchored retail real estate.