In Seattle, Kroger-Albertsons merger raises fears of closures, 'grocery deserts'

Nothing unsettles the average Seattleite quite like the thought of change at the local grocery store.

But change is almost certainly coming for many Seattle-area grocery stores if a proposed merger between the nation's two largest supermarket chains — Kroger, which owns QFC and Fred Meyer, and Albertsons, which owns Safeway — goes forward.

The deal, announced Friday, is causing a major stir in and around Seattle, where more than half of all households do most of their shopping at one of those four chains.