Arizona Albertsons drop preferred customer cards

Albertsons grocery stores in Arizona will end their preferred customer card programs and eliminate the discounts cardholders receive on special items, returning to a general discounting strategy for all customers.

Yuma has two Albertsons stores, one at 252 W. 32nd St. and the other at 2378 W. 24th St.

On Wednesday, the company abandoned the ‘‘Preferred Card’’ program, which it has had in the state since 2003 in favor of ‘‘Bonus Buys’’ promotions for individual items available to all comers.

A company official said customers will receive a $2 coupon for groceries until July 17 when they bring in a grocery store discount card - regardless of the store brand.

The program is being terminated in 79 Southwest stores, including those in Arizona. The grocery chain already ended the card program at its 46 stores in Colorado and Wyoming.

‘‘Our objective is to give all the consumers in the marketplace the same great deals (regardless) of having to have a loyalty card,’’ said Bob Colgrove, Albertsons Southwest division president.

Other supermarkets and grocers in Arizona, including Safeway, Fry’s and Bashas’, said they have no plans to follow Albertsons’ lead and discontinue their cards.

Grocery store ‘‘loyalty cards’’ first became prevalent in the late 1990s as retailers developed them to target loyal consumers for coupons or deals.

Albertsons was a late entry into the marketing fray, and used its cards mainly to give discounts on specific items. It also did not track customers’ shopping patterns.

‘‘If you’re not using the data you collect and not targeting your audience, it becomes worthwhile for the retailer to cancel the program because it becomes more of a hassle for the consumer,’’ said Joseph Agnese, an analyst for Standard and Poor’s Equity Research in New York.

Albertsons spokeswoman Christine Wilcox called it a ‘‘competitive advantage’’ to be one of the only major grocers in the state not to require a card for discounts.

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Sun Associate Editor-Assignments Jackie Leatherman contributed to this report. She can be reached at jleatherman@yumasun.com or 539-6849.