Albertsons' Margins Should Remain Pressured Amid Tough Competition

with a network of over 2,200 stores, Albertsons is one of the largest grocery retailers in the United States. After purchasing over 600 Albertsons stores in 2006, Cerberus Capital Management expanded its footprint through its 2013 deal with Supervalu to acquire nearly 900 supermarkets; a year later, it pursued an acquisition of Safeway. Now, with stores spanning 34 states and a more than $75 billion top line that gives the firm a strong standing with suppliers, Albertsons’ presence in US communities appears well entrenched. The grocery industry benefits from steady demand, as food-at-home spending per capita typically increases at a low-single-digit pace, helping to limit mismatches in industrywide supply and demand and thus providing some stability to Albertsons’ financial outlook.