I went down to Albertson's today as part of my weekly shopping routine and was told by the cashier that I know well that as of next week, Albertson's will not be accepting competitors' coupons. I was really disappointed to hear that, as I have really benefitted from being able to show up with coupons from Fred Meyer or Safeway and have them be accepted. In fact, that was one of the primary attractions of shopping at Albertson's at all. The cashier said they looked at all the competitors' coupons that they honored last week, and it cost the company 3 MILLION dollars. OK, that's a good reason for them to stop the practice.
The result, for me, is that after next week (I have a raincheck for frozen chicken breasts and a $5 coupon good for my next visit), I likely won't keep up the Grocery Game membership for Albertson's, and will stop going there. Albertson's was close to where I worked, so it was convenient to swing by there on my way home on Mondays, but now that I am not working, it is a bit out of my way. If I want something on a Fred Meyer coupon, there's a Fred Meyer very close to my usual Safeway.
