Albertsons closures in Southern California and beyond in April 2026

Albertsons closures in Southern California and beyond in April 2026

Albertsons must have one hell of a headache.

Industry insiders say the Boise-based grocery store behemoth is nursing a “merger hangover” after the Federal Trade Commision blocked a $24.6 billion marriage to Kroger — and that the grocery big is trying a recovery by shuttering a slew of shops in Southern California and beyond.

The failed deal was alleged to be a lifeline to assist the chain compete with even larger gamers like Walmart. Albertsons also operates Golden State staple manufacturers like Safeway, Vons and Pavilions.

Albertsons is closing shops round the nation under quite a few different manufacturers, as a part of a push in the direction of better effectivity, according to experiences.

The latest round of cuts impacts Vons areas in Escondido and Redlands, which can shut in April — wiping out 135 jobs. The unwelcome news comes after an Albertsons retailer close to Riverside shuttered Mar. 19, ensuing in 75 layoffs.

In February, a Safeway in the Alameda space shut its doorways for good, impacting 76 staff.

The latest round of pantry pain isn’t restricted to the West Coast — it’s also hitting North Texas, the place two Tarrant County areas are set to go darkish by late April, pink-slipping 138 staff, per Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification filings reported by USA Today.

A Safeway in Washington, D.C. is slated for a May closure, impacting 87 employees.

USA Today reported that Albertsons’ CEO Susan Morris is leaning closely into AI and automation to trim the fats, reporting that its Q3 2025 digital sales have jumped 21%.

Albertsons is trying to compete with Walmart and other bigger rivals as digital sales skyrocket. Alamy Stock Photo

While the company boasts of “smarter decisions” and “greater efficiency” by means of tech, that effectivity is coming at the price of human cashiers and stockers.

The company had already shuttered some 20 shops in 2025, according to experiences.

The news comes after California competitor Grocery Outlet announced the closure of dozens of shops last month — specializing in those that had been “underperforming financially,” according to President and CEO Jason Potter.

Meanwhile, Albertsons inventory has taken a major hit over the past yr — reflecting investor jitters as the 87-year-old big tries to show it isn’t a retail dinosaur in an more and more digital world.

But even the likes of Walmart aren’t immune to headwinds on the automation entrance — critics dumped on the discounter after news that it had received two patents giving pc algorithms more of a task in product pricing, The Post beforehand reported.

One new tool is reportedly in a position to seize delicate client data, including driver’s license numbers, to be taught more about clients, while the other is said to have the ability to shortly change pricing based on product reputation.

“Dynamic pricing or anything that smells like it is playing with fire,” an business insider warned of the news.

“The goodwill that you can lose by getting customers to think or suspect or worry even slightly that you are doing things with pricing that are to your benefit and their detriment,” they said.

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