4 • September | October 2026 • abasto.com BY HERNANDO RAMÍREZ-SANTOS A lbertsons Companies is trans- forming the way it operates its stores just as it prepares to lose the executive who helped stabilize its fi- nances over the past five years. The supermarket chain, headquar- tered in Boise, Idaho, recently unvei- led a sweeping operational restructu- ring called ACI Edge , according to a company statement, and confirmed that President and Chief Financial Officer Sharon McCollam plans to re- tire later this year. The two announcements come to- gether but tell a single story: a com- pany under pressure to act faster, spend more intelligently, and prove it can compete without the Kroger mer- ger it pursued for years. A New Regional Model At the heart of ACI Edge is a major structural change. Albertsons will consolidate its 11 operating divisions into four regions—California, West, South, and East—according to the company. Each region groups local markets organized around specific brands, from Jewel-Osco in the East to the Mountain West and Seattle markets in the West. CEO Susan Morris described the change as a way to combine national scale with local decision-making. “It combines the scale and capa- bilities of a national retailer with the accountability and local focus that Its operational restructuring is compounded by the departure of its CFO have long distinguished our brands,” Morris said. The company says it will not close any stores or districts as part of the transition, so customers and dis- trict-level staff should not notice any disruptions. That detail matters. Restructu- rings of this magnitude often create uncertainty among store teams, and Albertsons is banking on the idea that fewer layers of management will lead to faster inventory solutions and more agile responses to what custo- mers are actually looking for. Merch United Centralizes Purchasing The second component of ACI Edge centralizes control over what ends up on the main aisles of stores. Al- bertsons is centralizing these mer- chandising functions—supplier rela- tionships, pricing, promotions, and product placement—under a single corporate team through its Merch United program, according to the company’s announcement. Michelle Larson, the company’s chief marketing officer, noted that the change frees up regional teams to focus on what varies by neighbor- hood: fresh produce, local suppliers, and community-specific demand. Decisions regarding fresh produce re- main at the local level. Central aisle purchases do not. Together, regional consolidation and marketing centralization aim to eliminate layers of bureaucracy that had slowed decision-making across Albertsons’ 22 store brands, including Safeway, Vons, ACME, and Randalls. • Continues on page 6 Albertsons Pursues Transformation with ACI Edge Americas Food and Beverage Special Insert