Report: 35 Illinois Grocery Stores to Be Sold Off After Merger

It appears there's about to be a seismic shift in the grocery store market in Illinois. A new report claims that as many as 35 Illinois grocery stores are being identified and planned for selloff after a mega-merger is complete.

Yahoo Finance just broke this story today about the future of Kroger and Albertson's stores once their mega-merger is complete as that awaits approval. The report says that Kroger has identified "35 Illinois Mariano's, Jewel locations" that are to be sold if/when the merger is complete.

This is just one of the Illinois Mariano's locations. As many as 7 in the Chicagoland area are reportedly being eyed for sale.

You might recall that the initial merger talk between Kroger and Albertson's mentioned only 14 Illinois locations that might be sold so this new report would quite a jump if that number is accurate once the merger is complete.

The reported closure list includes 8 Chicago-area stores and 27 in other parts of Illinois including Arlington Heights, Des Plaines, Joliet, Wheaton among many other towns.

There's no certainty that the merger between Kroger and Albertson's will be approved by the federal government as there are still reports of concerns about grocery prices if they feel like competition is reduced.

We should know soon once the FTC responds to this newest plan for these two mega-grocery chains to sell so many Illinois properties.