First, let me share a little bit. When I was kid growing up half of it was onboard a military base. We shopped at the commissary for the base. It was usually a warehouse type of setting strongly selling bulk. I have always thought that Costco modeled itself off of that premise.
Kroger and Albertsons prepare to make a final federal court argument for their merger by ABC News (Sept 17, 2024)
https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/kro … -113755995
The merger of two of the largest grocery store chains - Kroger and Albertsons, is being sued by the Federal Trade Commission seeking to block the merger. It would be a 24.6 billion dollar deal. Kroger currently operates 2,800 stores in 35 states while Albertsons operates 2,273 stores in 34 states. Oh yeah, Albertsons owns Safeway another grocery chain. Together they employ 710,000 people. Stated is 579 stores would be sold that overlap.
Kroger and Albertsons release list of stores to be divested under merger
https://www.supermarketnews.com/grocery … der-merger
[The easy method is to use your browser 'find' feature for your city with the list of store closures. The Albertsons 1/2 mile from my home is not affected. Phew!]
"Under the proposal, Kroger and Albertsons would divest stores in Washington (124), Arizona (101), Colorado (91), California (63), Oregon (62), Illinois (35), Texas (28), Nevada (16), and Alaska (18).
Several states would see 10 or fewer stores divested, including: Idaho (10), New Mexico (9), Wyoming (5), Maryland and Utah (4), Virginia (3), Louisiana and Montana (2), and Washington, D.C., and Delaware (1)."
The FTC says; "But the FTC says the deal would eliminate competition and lead to higher food prices for already struggling customers. Susan Musser, the Federal Trade Commission’s chief trial counsel, argued Tuesday that Kroger and Albertsons primarily compete with each other and not places like Amazon or Costco, where consumers do other kinds of shopping."
The two businesses seeking to be a conglomerate say; "The combination of Kroger and Albertsons Companies brings together two purpose-driven organizations to deliver superior value to customers, associates, communities and shareholders."
For a deep dive where a skim is worth it for the Kroger/Albersons peek at the following;
Lower Prices and More Fresh, Affordable Choices by Kroger/Albertsons website gives the scoop on the merger
https://www.krogeralbertsons.com/
Also, Support for the Merger
https://www.krogeralbertsons.com/supporters
The big competitors of the merged stores would be;
Costco
Amazon
Walmart
Do you shop at a Kroger, Albertsons, or Safeway store?
Did you know about this merger?
With a best guess or informed thought will the merger bring benefits to the consumer? To the employees?
How do you feel about mergers in general?
Today it is stated that 10 corporations control the majority of food we eat. The top four are PepsiCo., Tyson Foods, JBS USA & Nestle and Kraft Heinz. Do you foresee some finagling between the two merged store systems and those ten or top 4 suppliers benefiting the consumer?
As an aside I have a once foul taste of mergers, so have a bias against them. That is because I worked for corporation that was purchased and merged with a larger corporation. Then I went to work for a corporations that was my client. They were purchased and merged with two other corporations. I remained with them until the division I was in was sold to another corporation. That all occurred within about two years. It was in the automotive/heavy truck field.
Thoughts, criticisms, accolades, and commentary?
