By George Anderson
Albertsons is for sale but an actual deal being signed seems pretty far off, according to a piece in The Wall Street Journal.
The article points out that while Albertsons has some attractive properties, such as its pharmacies and the Jewel-Osco, Acme and Shaw's grocery chains, no one seems willing to swoop in and buy up the entire company. In fact, there are many parts of the company that many would just as soon avoid.
Meredith Adler, an analyst with Lehman Brothers, says that 934 of the company's roughly 2,500 stores are underperforming and many in Southern California have yet to regain the business they lost during the grocery workers strike.
Bids for the business are coming in, however, and the chain expects to have that portion wrapped up next month. The company is hoping that if bidders aren't interested in trying to run grocery stores, they will covet the real estate that the locations stand on.
From a strictly retail point-of-view, Albertsons is worth $6 billion to $8 billion, according to Robert Summers, an analyst at Bear Stearns Cos.
Moderator's Comment: What impact do you think the news about a potential sale is having on Albertsons' employees? How do company managers go about running the business under the "For Sale" sign? - George Anderson - Moderator