But, yes: nobody in our area is under the illusion that Fred Meyer and QFC (or Safeway and Albertsons) compete with each other.
There's a lot of Kroger-labeled things on the shelves, so it's clear they're owned by the same company.
Another option are the organic-only stores, like Natural Grocers.
QFCs are essentially just the "Grocery" department from Fred Meyer. Remove Home Goods, Apparel and Electronics from FM and you've got yourself a QFC.
Edit: Someone step in here and correct me if I'm wrong, but that's Kroger's basic MO. Even Ralph's and their Kroger-branded stores just feel like the exact same grocery store as QFC and FM's grocery department.
And (sorry to rant, lol), yeah, a dude named Fred Meyer in Portland really did found the store in the 1920's, but do y'all have to put his picture and a big spiel about him and "local community" up at the front of your store when we all know that the present-day reality of FM is bullshit?
I live in the PNW and almost never go to Kroger/Safeway stores. I just want groceries, I don’t want to have to wade through endless cruft to get there.