LIHUE — An initial agreement reached Thursday to merge the Albertsons and Safeway grocery chain stores nationwide will not set back plans for a Safeway Lifestyle store in the Hokulei Village shopping complex, local Safeway officials said. “There will
LIHUE — An initial agreement reached Thursday to merge the Albertsons and Safeway grocery chain stores nationwide will not set back plans for a Safeway Lifestyle store in the Hokulei Village shopping complex, local Safeway officials said.
“There will be no impact of Safeway operations locally,” Kauai-based Safeway, Inc. spokesman Jan TenBruggencate said. “The development Hokulei Village is proceeding on schedule.”
The news came on the heels of an announcement by Safeway that Albertsons grocery store chain owner Cerberus Capital Management is planning to acquire the company in a deal valued at $9.4 billion.
The merger will make the two grocery store retailers one of the largest in the country with 2,400 stores in 34 states, over 250,000 employees, 27 distribution facilities and 20 manufacturing plants.
No store closures or employee layoffs are expected from the merger, which is expected to be completed by the fourth quarter of this year, if it receives sufficient stockholder and regulatory approvals.
Construction work on the 14.25-acre Hokulei Village complex in Lihue, which will also include a Walgreens pharmacy, Petco pet supply store and Jack in the Box fast food restaurant, broke ground in January.
Vertical construction on the 56,000-square-foot Safeway Lifestyle store within the complex is slated to begin in the summer and should be complete by the end of this year.
• Darin Moriki, county government reporter, can be reached at 245-0428 or dmoriki@thegardenisland.com. Follow him on Twitter at @darinmoriki.
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