Texarkana Gazette

Albertsons on Richmond to close

- By Christy Busby Worsham, Les Minor and Junius Stone

Albertsons on Richmond Road will close in the next several weeks.

A store employee referred to the closing as a “business decision.”

A sign on the location’s front doors specified Oct. 10 as the pharmacy’s closing date, which will be sooner than the store’s closing date.

Customers with prescripti­ons at the pharmacy will have them transferre­d to CVS Pharmacy at 1901 Richmond Road, according to the notice.

Coporate officials did not immediatel­y respond to a request for additional informatio­n.

The Richmond Road Albertsons is one of three Texarkana location with locations on State Line Avenue and West Seventh Street. Those locations are expected to remain open.

The Texarkana stores are part of the Dallas/Fort Worth district.

Albertsons has had market presence in Texarkana for more than 15 years. Before becoming Albertsons, some of the locations were carried Skaggs Alpha Beta and Jewel Osco banners.

Albertsons has invested in its three Texarkana locations through the years.

The Richmond Road Albertsons had a re-grand opening in January 2003 after

several renovation­s.The Albertsons on State Line Avenue held a grand opening in July 2009.

In November 2015, all three locations had grand reopenings after the company spent more than $6 million on upgrades with constructi­on taking three months, according to Gazette files.

At that time, the stores’ grocery department­s had added more than 500 items, expanded wine varietites and beers and added new consultati­on/immunizati­on areas in the pharmacies.

Overall, Albertsons Cos. operates stores in 35 states and the District of Columbia under 20 banners, including Albertsons, Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco, Shaw’s, Acme, Tom Thumb, Randalls, United Supermarke­ts, Pavilions, Star Market, Haggen and Carrs, as well as meal kit company Plated, which is based in New York.

In August, Albertsons and Rite Aid Corp. terminated their $24 billion merger talks, which were revealed in February because of opposition from Rite Aid shareholde­rs.

Albertsons is the second-largest supermarke­t operator and Rite Aid is the third-largest drug chain in the nation. A joining of the two would have created a company that was projected to capture $83 billion in revenue and have more than

9,000 stores and pharmacies between them, plus another 320 in-store health clinics, according to the trade website Supermarke­t News.

Earlier this month, Albertsons promoted Jim Donald to president and chief executive officer, succeeding Bob Miller in the CEO role.

Donald was previously president and chief operating officer. Miller continues as chairman of Albertsons’ board of directors.

“Albertsons Cos. is uniquely positioned to operate in both a ‘four walls’ traditiona­l environmen­t and the ‘no walls’ world of technology,” Donald said in a statement to Supermarke­t News. “We serve 34 million customers each week across our 2,300plus stores and serve 5.5 million patients in our 1,700plus pharmacies.

Donald joined Albertsons Cos. in March, coming over from Extended Stay America, where he was CEO from 2012 to 2015.

 ?? Staff photo by Hunt Mercier ?? Albertsons at 2315 Richmond Road, Texarkana, Texas, will be closing withinthe next several weeks in what is being called a business decision. The pharmacy within the store will close on Oct. 10, and prescripti­ons will be transferre­d to CVS at 1901 Richmond Road, Texarkana, Texas. The other two Albertsons­will remain open.
Staff photo by Hunt Mercier Albertsons at 2315 Richmond Road, Texarkana, Texas, will be closing withinthe next several weeks in what is being called a business decision. The pharmacy within the store will close on Oct. 10, and prescripti­ons will be transferre­d to CVS at 1901 Richmond Road, Texarkana, Texas. The other two Albertsons­will remain open.

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