BOISE, ID – Albertsons is making strides to expand its presence in Texas and further engage Latino shoppers; the major retailer announced an investment in El Rancho Supermercado this week.

"El Rancho has built a great business with its 16 Texas stores, and we're confident that we'll be able to leverage our combined expertise to better serve customers across the existing Albertsons Companies' and El Rancho store bases," said Bob Miller, Chairman & CEO of Albertsons Companies. "With El Rancho's own distribution and manufacturing facilities serving their Texas stores, we can share best practices that will reduce costs and benefit our customers."

According to an Albertsons press release, Texas-based El Rancho will continue to operate as an independent company headquartered in Garland, Texas. The agreement with El Rancho will also reportedly provide Albertsons Companies with an opportunity to invest in the fast-growing Latino grocery sector.

"The transaction announced today will allow El Rancho to accelerate growth and expand into new markets throughout Texas while finding operational efficiencies in all aspects of our business,” said Salah Nafal, President of El Rancho. “We are aligned with Albertsons Companies' vision for the future, strategic initiatives, and culture of innovation. We are excited to work together with the Albertsons Companies management team to continue to serve families in the rapidly-growing Latino market."

Albertsons also noted that the company already successfully operates a variety of store banners in predominantly Latino areas; together, Albertsons and El Rancho hope to leverage their complementary strengths to better serve customers in this growing sector.

Will Albertsons’ latest investment pay off with increased presence in the Texan grocery market and more pull with Latino shoppers? AndNowUKnow will continue to report.

Albertsons  El Rancho Supermercado