This Grocery Chain Dominates In CT As Industry Shrinks: New Data

CONNECTICUT — Koninklijke Ahold Delhaize N.V., commonly known as Ahold Delhaize, owns the largest share of grocery stores in Connecticut, according to an analysis by The Washington Post that looks at consolidation in the supermarket industry.

The traditional grocery store industry has shrunk over the past several decades. Now, according to The Post’s analysis, a third of U.S. grocery stores are now owned by just four companies — Walmart, Kroger, Albertson's and Aldi's (Süd), the fastest-growing supermarket chain in the country.

The analysis, which is based on OpenStreetMap location data, looks at grocery store ownership both regionally and by county.

Consumers may not always know they're shopping at a large chain, though. Both Kroger and Albertsons, the second- and third-largest grocery store chains, each operate under about two dozen banners.

The Dutch company Ahold Delhaize (Food Lion, Giant Food and Shop & Stop) dominates the retail grocery space in Connecticut, as it does throughout the East Coast.

In Fairfield County, 21 percent of the grocery stores are owned by Ahold Delhaize. ShopRite comes in second there, with 8 percent. That chain also owns 19 percent of the groceries in Hartford County, where it is followed by Aldi's, claiming 9 percent.

Ahold Delhaize owns 21 percent of the 30 grocery stores in Litchfield Country, and no other chain claimed more than 3 percent. In Middlesex County, 20 percent of the stores belong to AD, and 12 percent are owned by Big Y.

New Haven County grocery stores are 22 percent AD, with 10 percent share each going to Aldi's, Big Y, and Walmart. In New London County, the breakdown is 22 percent AD, and 11 percent each for Big Y and Walmart.

Big Y is the Big Cheese in Tolland County, with 46 percent of the grocery stores flying its flag. In Windham, Ahold Delhaize and Walmart both claim 16 percent.

Stores with less than 3 percent share county-wide, and "dollar stores" were excluded from The Washington Post's data.

Walmart is especially strong in the middle of the country, Albertsons dominates in the Northwest, and Kroger has a strong presence in the mountain states and Ohio Valley, according to the analysis. Smaller companies have strong regional presences, including Publix in Florida, and H-E-B in Texas.

Walmart has both the largest number of stores — about 90 percent of Americans live within 10 miles of a Walmart — and is the leader in market share, followed by Kroger, Costco, Albertsons and Amazon.

The supermarket industry could further tighten if a proposed $24.6 billion merger between Kroger and Albertsons is allowed to go through. A federal judge in Oregon is currently deciding if the merger will help or harm consumers.

The Federal Trade Commission and nine attorneys general who sued to block the merger say it could limit the competition between the two and result in higher food prices at a time when customers are still struggling to pay higher prices linked to higher manufacturing costs, lingering pandemic supply chain issues and bird flu.

The supermarkets say they would be better able to create the efficiencies of scale that result in lower prices, and more effectively compete with retailers like Walmart, Target, Amazon and others that have gotten into the grocery business.

It’s unclear when U.S. District Court Judge Adrienne Nelson will issue her decision. Also this week, testimony continued this week in an antitrust lawsuit filed in Washington State. A third antitrust lawsuit from the Colorado attorney general begins next week in Denver.