Kroger Is Buying Giant Eagle. What Pennsylvanians and West Virginians Should Watch For
Kroger left the Pittsburgh market in the 1980s after decades there.
Now it has agreed to buy Giant Eagle.
Your Giant Eagle isn’t a Kroger yet, though. Kroger’s July filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission says the deal is expected to close in 2027.
Here’s what Pennsylvanians and West Virginians should watch for while Kroger is buying Giant Eagle.
Two Morgantown Stores
Giant Eagle has two stores in West Virginia, both in Morgantown, MetroNews reported in July.
Those two are a small piece of a purchase covering 197 supermarkets and 11 standalone pharmacies across northern Ohio, western Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland and Indiana.
Your Giant Eagle in Morgantown is one of only two in West Virginia that this deal covers.
Where the Two Chains Overlap
Kroger already has 36 grocery stores in 26 West Virginia cities, including three in Morgantown.
Kroger’s directory lists those three as Patteson, Sabraton and Suncrest, on Patteson Drive, Earl L. Core Road and Suncrest Town Centre Drive.
Morgantown is also where both of Giant Eagle’s West Virginia stores are, so it’s the one West Virginia city where this deal puts the two chains side by side.
Kroger said in its announcement that it and Giant Eagle expect to sell a limited number of Giant Eagle stores to win regulatory clearance.
Grocery Dive reported in July that the companies hadn’t said how many stores they would sell, where those stores are or who might buy them.
Advan Research put about 7% of Giant Eagle’s supermarkets within 5 miles of a Kroger.
That 7% covers the whole chain, so it doesn’t say how close either Morgantown store is to a Kroger.
As of that report, whether your Morgantown Giant Eagle could be sold was an open question.
Kroger Left Pittsburgh in the 1980s
Kroger left the Pittsburgh market in the 1980s after decades there.
Kroger, based in Cincinnati, now operates more than 2,700 stores across the U.S.
Giant Eagle has more than 30,000 workers and expects to keep its headquarters in Cranberry, Pennsylvania.
Giant Eagle’s chief executive says Giant Eagle Supermarket, Giant Eagle Pharmacy and Market District will keep operating as a division of Kroger.
Giant Eagle doesn’t expect the acquisition to close any stores, though stores sold to win regulatory clearance are separate.
Under that plan, your Giant Eagle near Pittsburgh keeps its name unless it’s one of the stores sold.
GetGo Isn’t Part of This Deal
Giant Eagle sold its GetGo chain to Alimentation Couche-Tard for $1.6 billion, and Chain Store Age reported the sale as completed on July 1, 2025.
The sale covered about 270 GetGo and WetGo locations, so a GetGo where you fill up belongs to Couche-Tard now.
Kroger describes its purchase as 197 supermarkets and 11 standalone pharmacies, so GetGo’s gas stations aren’t in it.
The Approval Clock
Kroger’s chief executive repeated the 2027 timeline in September, after the company’s second-quarter report.
Before then, a federal Hart-Scott-Rodino Act waiting period has to expire or end.
On Oct. 16, a Giant Eagle spokesperson said the company can’t comment while the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) review is ongoing.
A Loyola University Chicago law professor who advised the FTC told Grocery Dive in July that Kroger is still likely to face a second request for information.
Grocery Dive noted such requests are rare and don’t necessarily mean the deal is in jeopardy.
He also said an extended review delays the two companies from coordinating their operations.
Answers about your store would come later if the FTC issues a second request.
The Waiting Period on Kroger’s Deal
Kroger and Giant Eagle can’t close during the federal government’s standard 30-day waiting period, which starts only once the companies’ filing is complete.
If the FTC wants more information, it sends both companies a second request.
A second request extends the waiting period until the companies have answered it and a second waiting period has run.
Kroger’s Other Deal in Court
Kroger’s trial against Albertsons opened Oct. 19 in the Delaware Court of Chancery, where Albertsons is demanding at least $8 billion.
That figure includes a $600 million termination fee Albertsons has pursued since December 2024.
Albertsons ended the merger agreement that month, after judges blocked the deal on antitrust grounds.
Albertsons argues Kroger mishandled the plan to sell stores to win approval.
Albertsons alleges Kroger sabotaged SpartanNash’s ability to obtain financing, then chose C&S’s riskier, but more lucrative, offer.
It also says Kroger sought to choose its lowest-performing stores for sale.
Kroger says it owes Albertsons nothing and worked steadfastly, at great expense and with the guidance of sophisticated antitrust counsel, to win approval.
Kroger and Giant Eagle also expect to sell stores to win approval, so how Kroger picks stores to sell matters if yours is one of them.
Psst! How much do you know about grocery history? Take our quiz and see how many you can get right.
Quiz
Grocery Store IQ
Answer eight questions on grocery history and the industry. We bet you can’t get them all right. Prove us wrong?
When Amazon announced in June 2017 that it would buy Whole Foods Market, the all-cash deal was valued at about how much?
Rewards Programs in the Meantime
Giant Eagle says Kroger plans to keep its myPerks rewards program after the purchase.
Until the deal closes, myPerks and the Kroger Points you may already earn remain two separate programs.
If you carry both cards, you're tracking two sets of rewards until the companies announce otherwise.
In late June, Kroger renamed Fuel Points as Points.
Every 100 Points you redeem now takes 10 cents off a gallon of gas, up to $1 a gallon.
Members can also put 100 Points toward $1 off groceries, up to $10 a day.
Points expire on the last day of the month after you earn them.
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