Albertson's Imposes Cards in San Francisco Bay Area today

September 25, 2002

By Katherine Albrecht

Albertsons, the nation's second-largest grocery corporation, imposed its "Preferred Customer" surveillance card on all 183 of its Northern California stores today. This region includes the heavily populated San Francisco Bay Area, meaning that millions of shoppers throughout San Francisco, San Jose, and Silicon Valley will now be forced to participate in the chain's data collection scheme if they wish to "qualify" for affordable food.

This is the latest betrayal by Albertsons, which has turned its back on its longstanding "no cards, no hassles" advertising slogan, leaving millions of privacy and price-conscious shoppers across the nation stunned and outraged since the chain began experimenting with cards in November of last year.

Despite a consumer boycott, a public protest, and extensive negative media coverage when the "Preferred Customer" card was test-marketed in Dallas, Albertsons has ignored calls by consumers to disband the program. Most recently, Albertsons refused to acknowledge a "thank you" event held in Seattle this summer where local shoppers turned out with hearts and flowers to thank the chain for its card-free status in the state of Washington.

Though Albertsons proudly touted itself for years as the card-free, hassle-free alternative to the surveillance stores, the chain is now eager to put those promises in the past. After numerous acquisitions, executive shakeups, and policy reorganizations, Albertsons has become a multi-billion dollar mega-corporation with a voracious appetite for consumers' money but no moral conscience to inspire it to keep its word.

Considering how easily Albertsons abandoned its no-card promise, it is not surprising that few customers feel confident in Albertsons current assurances that it will never disclose the data collected through the cards.

In addition, the announcement of today's card rollout was unusually subdued. There were no front-page splashy headlines on Albertsons' website, no weeks-in-advance buildup, no fancy send-it-to-everyone press release, no announcements on the supermarket industry news pages practically nothing at all.

If a company truly believed that it was offering something wonderful to the shopping public, is this how you would expect it to behave? Of course not. After investing millions of dollars in the infrastructure needed to roll out the cards Albertsons would be shouting "the good news" from the media rooftops if, as they claim, their customers really were so eager to get them.

But they aren't.

Recent polls across the nation show that around 60% of customers do NOT like grocery store cards, so Albertsons is wise to lie low. Their spokespeople have refused all offers to appear on radio to discuss the "benefits" of their card program, and they are now anxious to get the card into shoppers' wallets with as little fanfare and public discussion as possible.

Let's change that by shining a flashlight on the "Preferred Customer" card and outraged California shoppers will do the rest.

To help out, please contact your local media and tell them that you hate Albertsons' new card. Write a letter to the editor, call a radio personality, write an email to your local TV station. Get the word out and let shoppers know how badly they're being taken advantage of.

CASPIAN - Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering.