Safeway will lay off 82 employees when it closes one of its locations in northeast Oregon in May.
Safeway has informed state workforce officials that its only Baker City location, at 1205 Campbell St., will close on May 25. Employees learnt of the layoffs late last month.
The store is located across the street from an Albertsons store, which has owned Safeway since 2015.
According to the notification, some associates may continue to work at the store after its public closure in May to complete closing procedures, but the future is uncertain.
“While there may be opportunities for continued employment at other company locations,” the notice read, “the limited number of nearby locations may unfortunately result in separation from the company.”
Kroger, a rival supermarket company, announced plans to acquire Albertsons and Safeway beginning in 2022. As part of the agreement, the corporations would have disposed off unnecessary outlets to maintain competition in places where they overlapped.
Last year, however, a judge halted the sale, citing concerns that it would reduce overall competition.
