While we had absolutely nothing to do with it, we felt like we needed to wipe the sweat off our brow when the saga of the Albertsons-Kroger Merger finally fell through in December. 

The day that news broke, we felt this immense sense of relief. Why? Because, in order to appease regulators the chains had to agree to spin off a pretty significant amount of their stores in markets where the brands overlapped. Of the 579 set to be sold to C&S Wholesale Grocers, 10 of them were located in Idaho.

READ MORE: Albertsons Calls Off Merger, Sues 'Selfish' Kroger

One of those stores happened to be the Albertsons location on Parkcenter that we’ve been shopping at for 15 years. We love the staff there. We know the store layout like the back of our hand. We didn’t want our favorite grocery store to change at all. 

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We know that Albertsons can be pricier than some of the other alternatives like WincCo or Walmart, but for us? That Parkcenter location is all about proximity. We literally lived across the street from it for the majority of the 15 years we’ve lived in Boise.

America’s #1 Grocery Store for 2025 Revealed

While we might be weirdly sentimental about Albertsons, it appears the rest of the country doesn’t agree. Dunnhumby, a customer data science company, recently released the results of an Retailer Preference Survey that asked customers about their preferred grocery store and the shopping experience there. 

The list included 18 different grocery chains and Albertsons was nowhere to be found on the list. Washington-based Costco came in at #3 and the other Boise-based grocer, WinCo, performed exceptionally well. WinCo jumped 10 spots to #4 on the list to outperform, Aldi, an Illinois-based chain that many of you say you’d love to have in Idaho.  

Image via Google Maps
Image via Google Maps
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So who took the crown as America’s #1 favorite grocery store for 2025? A store that we’ll never get to shop at in Idaho - H.E.B. Headquartered in San Antonio, H.E.B. doesn’t operate stores in any other state but Texas. If they haven't expanded to states outside of Texas in the company's 120 year history, they likely never will. They do, however, have a handful of stores in Mexico. Dunnhumby notes that it’s the fourth time in eight years that H.E.B. took the top spot. 

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They also noted that brands under the Kroger and Albertsons umbrellas did not perform exceptionally well in states where there were court cases to stop the merger. Dunnumby thinks that the negative headlines about the proposed merger may have played a role in the declining popularity of those stores. While Kroger did slide backwards by two places, it did manage to stay on the list at #17. 

Trader Joe’s rose 8 spots to #7. Walmart and Walmart Neighborhood Market landed at #11 and #12. 

KEEP READING: 13 Popular Foods Gone Forever at Idaho Stores

As a new year begins, we're looking back at some of the foods that were discontinued in 2024. You won't find these items at regular Idaho stores or restaurants anymore.

Gallery Credit: Michelle Heart

9 Everyday Foods That Are Legal in Idaho, Forbidden Elsewhere

These foods are easy to find on store shelves at Albertsons, Winco or wherever you buy your groceries in the United States, they're banned in other places!

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9 Forbidden Foods That Are Banned in Idaho, Washington, Utah and California

Due to government regulations, these are foods that are forbidden in most of the United States.

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