Albertson’s to terminate discount card

DALLAS As a way to save money on both ends, Albertsons is discontinuing its Preferred card program, the Dallas Morning News reported on Wednesday.

According to the report, the supermarket chain will offer discounted items to all its shoppers as a way to mitigate the loss of the card program.

The decision “puts every customer on a level playing field every day,” said William Emmons, president of Albertsons’ 69-store D-FW division. “For years and years, consumers resisted these cards.”

Albertson’s wishes to distinguish itself from its standard supermarket competitors, Emmons said.

According to the Dallas Morning News, Albertsons was No. 1 in local market share before Wal-Mart Stores supplanted it in 2003. In 2001, Albertson’s was the last major chain in D-FW to introduce a loyalty card, and now it’s the first to take it away.

The report also said that local customers did not mind the termination of the program as long as lower prices remain part of the shopping experience.

Over the last year, Albertsons has closed several North Texas stores and left the Oklahoma market. It recently sold five stores in Austin to San Antonio-based H.E. Butt Grocery Co.