Laid off from Albertsons.
The Kroger deal came with a promise that no stores would close because of it. After courts blocked it in December 2024, Albertsons closed around 30 stores in 2025, and for union-covered workers it has pointed severance back to their contracts.
At a glance
What's known about Albertsons severance and layoffs
- 39, covering 2,913 jobs · Albertsons WARN filings since 2025, our tracker
- 227 · All-time Albertsons filings, our tracker
- 225 jobs, Phoenix office, January 2025 · Largest Albertsons filing since 2025
- 617 jobs lost, by the state's count · Colorado Safeway closings, 2025
- About 280,000 · Albertsons employees, February 2026
- About 190,000 · Under union contracts, February 2026
- Blocked in federal court December 10, 2024 · Albertsons and Kroger merger
- A week per year from year three, eight maximum · Denver Safeway clerks closing severance
Recent Albertsons layoffs
Albertsons' Acme gave 115 Edgewater, New Jersey workers notice of a closing planned for August 2026
An Albertsons spokesperson said in May 2026 that the Edgewater Commons store was slated to go dark on or about August 15, 2026, and that anyone unable to secure another position would be eligible for severance under labor agreements and applicable law. Our tracker holds 11 Albertsons filings covering 839 jobs across five states in 2026.
Previous rounds
Albertsons layoff history
Losing a job at Albertsons since the Kroger deal fell apart has meant one of three things, depending on where you worked. Corporate and division support staff were cut in January 2025, stores closed in 2025 with more closing notices in 2026, and United Supermarkets filed notice of 126 planned layoffs at its Lubbock main office. Our tracker holds 39 filings covering 2,913 jobs across 10 states since the start of 2025, and 227 across every year it covers, banners included. The biggest since 2025 is a 225-job filing for a Phoenix office that January. It's a lousy way to learn how a grocery company files paperwork, and the group you were in decides where your terms are written down.
The merger arrived with a jobs pledge. In an April 2024 joint release, Kroger's chief executive said the plan to sell 579 stores to C&S Wholesale Grocers ensured no stores would close as a result of the merger, frontline associates would stay employed and every bargaining agreement would continue. Then a federal court in Oregon blocked the $24.6 billion deal on December 10, 2024, and the Federal Trade Commission's competition director called it a win for union employees, since the chains would keep competing for workers. Albertsons walked away and sued Kroger. The pledge covered closings caused by a merger that didn't happen. TheStreet counted around 30 Albertsons closings in 2025, and in July 2026 CEO Susan Morris, discussing which stores to keep, said "outside of the period during the merger process, our hygiene is very rigorous."
The corporate round came first. Albertsons said it had turned to general and administrative expenses after years of productivity work and chose to shrink its corporate and division support staff, sparing store-level associates, and gave no number. Beyond Phoenix, it disclosed over 150 layoffs at two Safeway offices in California, and a spokesperson told BoiseDev some roles would move to people in other countries. The same month, CEO Vivek Sankaran said the chain was looking to cut $1.5 billion in spending over three years. The package was described as severance with extended benefits and career support, with no formula on record. United's 126-job Lubbock notice followed in November 2025, tied to "a significant investment in our operating systems," and nothing in the reporting we track puts a job count on the July 2026 ACI Edge realignment that folded 11 divisions into four regions.
Stores went next. In September 2025 Safeway said it was closing a dozen Mountain West stores by November 7, ten of them in Colorado, as part of a strategic consolidation after its Intermountain and Denver divisions merged, and Colorado's labor department counted 617 Safeway workers who lost jobs, the most of any company in the state that year. For 2026 the tracker holds 11 filings covering 839 jobs across five states, including a May 2026 notice for 115 positions at the Acme in Edgewater, New Jersey, a store slated to close on or about August 15, 2026. Both statements stressed placement. Safeway said it was working to place Colorado associates in nearby stores, and for Edgewater Albertsons said labor relations would work with associates and their unions on openings consistent with labor agreements, with anyone left without a position eligible for severance "in accordance with those agreements and laws."
Those agreements cover about two-thirds of Albertsons' workforce. Albertsons' 10-K put its workforce at about 280,000 in February 2026, with about 190,000 under collective bargaining agreements. Read one published agreement as an example, since yours may say something else. The 2022 to 2025 Denver clerks agreement between Safeway and UFCW Local 7 has a store closing article, Article 48, that pays one week per year of continuous service from the third year, up to eight weeks at the regular rate, in a lump sum. The clocks are the part to watch. A worker who'd rather quit and take dislocation and training pay has to say so in writing within seven days of the closing notice, and gives up the article's other terms by doing it. Taking severance ends seniority and recall rights, though a worker can first take a voluntary layoff of up to 90 days, extendable to six months in total, and collect severance if no recall comes. Refusing a Safeway job within 40 miles forfeits the severance and three months of pension and health contributions, and using seniority rights under the layoff article switches Article 48 off.
So the first move depends on your group. If a union contract covers you, get the current version from your local as soon as a closing is announced and read the store-closing and layoff articles, because rules like Denver's seven days, 90 days and 40 miles decide the money. Ask your steward which choices cancel each other out before you sign anything. If you were corporate or division staff, no formula is on record, so the figures and the signing deadline in your separation agreement are what to check. Past rounds don't set the next one's terms, and the paper with your name on it outranks any summary here. The Safeway, Vons, Acme and Albertsons notices behind these counts are searchable by site in our WARN tracker.
Reporting on previous Albertsons layoff rounds
May 2026, Acme's Edgewater store notice in New Jersey · 115 workers notified in a New Jersey filing, with the store slated to go dark on or about August 15, 2026 after losing its lease.
Terms not published. Albertsons said workers unable to secure another position would be eligible for severance under labor agreements and applicable law.
November 2025, United Supermarkets' Lubbock main office · 126 jobs in a Texas notice, which United tied to an investment in its operating systems.
September 2025, ten Colorado Safeway stores · Ten Colorado stores among a dozen Mountain West closings by November 7, 2025, with 617 Safeway jobs lost by the state's count.
Terms not published. Safeway said it was working to place affected associates in nearby stores wherever possible.
January 2025, corporate and division support staff · No total disclosed. A filing showed 225 at a Phoenix office, and the company disclosed over 150 at two Safeway offices in California.
Albertsons described severance packages with extended benefits and career support services. No formula on record.
What to do after being laid off from Albertsons
- File for unemployment in the state where you worked. Benefits run from your filing date, and severance usually doesn't block you. Albertsons's biggest hubs: California, Colorado, Texas, Oregon. Somewhere else? Every state is here.
- Apply for financial and hardship assistance. Unemployment supplements income, but food benefits, health coverage and utility help are often available as well. Here's some of what Albertsons's hub states run: California, Colorado, Texas, Oregon, and every other state is here.
- Mind the health insurance window. Losing coverage opens a 60-day special enrollment period, and an ACA plan usually beats unsubsidized COBRA. Compare your options before the employer coverage lapses, and read how the COBRA clocks run if you are weighing it seriously.
- Get your real runway number. Severance plus savings divided by reality. The calculator takes five minutes.
- Know which clocks are already running. Severance review windows, COBRA election, visa grace periods, and 401(k) rollovers all run on federal deadlines that started at termination. All five deadlines are here.
Albertsons layoff and severance questions
What Albertsons layoffs are on record for 2026?
Our tracker holds 11 Albertsons filings covering 839 jobs across five states in 2026, across its banners. They include a May 2026 notice for 115 positions at the Acme in Edgewater, New Jersey, a store slated to close on or about August 15, 2026. Nothing in the reporting we track puts a job count on the July 2026 ACI Edge realignment.
Does Albertsons pay severance when it closes a store?
For union-covered store workers Albertsons has pointed to the contract. At Edgewater it said workers who couldn't land another position would be eligible for severance "in accordance with those agreements and laws." The Denver Safeway clerks agreement, for example, pays a week per year of service from the third year, up to eight weeks, and withholds it from anyone who refuses a transfer within 40 miles. Other contracts can differ.
Did the failed Kroger merger lead to Albertsons layoffs?
Nothing in the reporting we track has the company saying so directly. The 2024 divestiture plan promised no closings as a result of the merger. After the deal was blocked, Albertsons cut corporate and division support jobs in January 2025, and CEO Susan Morris said in July 2026 that outside of the merger period its store hygiene was very rigorous.
Do laid-off Albertsons union workers keep recall rights?
It depends on the contract and on the choice made at the closing. Under the Denver Safeway clerks agreement, taking severance ends seniority and recall rights, while a voluntary layoff of up to 90 days, extendable to six months in total, keeps a worker on the list and pays severance if no recall comes. Laid-off seniority there lapses after nine months, or twelve with two years of service.
Were Albertsons corporate jobs moved overseas?
The company said some would be. After the January 2025 cuts, a spokesperson told BoiseDev that Albertsons would transfer some of the roles to individuals in other countries. Which roles and how many aren't on record.
Where do I file for unemployment after being laid off from Albertsons?
In the state where you worked, not where the company is headquartered. Albertsons's biggest U.S. hubs are California, Colorado, Texas, Oregon. Severance usually doesn't block you from filing, and benefits run from your filing date, so file the same week.
Is it OK to file for unemployment after a layoff at Albertsons?
Yes. Unemployment insurance is funded by payroll taxes employers pay on wages, the claim never appears on credit reports or background checks, and future employers cannot see it. If the hesitation itself is the obstacle, whether filing is OK has its own article.
What happens to my health insurance after a layoff at Albertsons?
Your plan sets the end date rather than the law, so the separation packet is where that date actually lives, and it is often the last day of the month rather than your last day of work. After coverage ends, COBRA lets you keep the identical plan by paying the whole premium yourself, up to 102 percent of what the plan really costs, which lands as several times the payroll deduction you were used to. You get 60 days to elect, counted from the later of coverage ending or the election notice arriving, and electing reaches the coverage back to the day the old plan stopped so no gap exists. How continuation coverage works walks the timing, and whether to take it rather than a marketplace plan is a separate decision.
Should I sign the severance agreement right away?
First pin down how much review time you actually have. If you're 40 or older, federal law gives you 21 days to consider an agreement that waives age claims, 45 in a group layoff, and a waiver signed under a shorter deadline can be invalid. If you're under 40, no federal window applies and the deadline in your packet may be real, so confirm it in writing and ask for more time if you need it. Use whatever window you have to read the release terms, especially non-disparagement and no-lawsuit clauses, and don't stall past a real deadline, because offers can be withdrawn.
Can I collect unemployment if I got severance from Albertsons?
Usually yes, though some states delay benefits until severance pay periods end, and lump sums are treated differently than salary continuation. Check your state's rules on our state benefit pages, and file immediately either way so your claim date is locked in.