Kroger's $1.65 billion deal for supermarket chain Giant Eagle is a bet on the East. Giant Eagle's nearly 200 stores would expand Kroger's foothold in Ohio, West Virginia, Maryland and Indiana, and add Pennsylvania, ratcheting up the grocery industry's turf war.

The Northeast is dominated by Ahold Delhaize, which operates the Food Lion and Stop & Shop brands. Publix, which is strong in the Southeast, has been opening stores northward, pushing into Kroger's territory. And then there's Walmart, the nation's top grocery seller.

"We've got opportunity to grow," said CEO Greg Foran, a former Walmart executive, in an investor call last month. "There are parts of this country where we're not operating at the moment." Kroger's shares were down about 1.3%.