Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson on Monday sued to block the proposed merger of Kroger and Albertsons, two of the nation’s largest grocery chains.
In the suit filed in King County Superior Court, Ferguson argued that the $25-billion deal would harm consumers and raise prices, The Seattle Times reported. Kroger and Albertsons have more than 300 locations in the state and account for more than half of its grocery sales, according to the suit.
“This merger is bad for Washington shoppers and workers,” Ferguson said in a news release Monday. “Shoppers will have fewer choices and less competition, and, without a competitive marketplace, they will pay higher prices at the grocery store.”
Think about what this would look like for you locally, call your representatives and let them know you care and oppose this issue.
----- Kroger brands: -----
Baker’s
City Market
Dillons
Food 4 Less
Foods Co
Fred Meyer
Fry’s
Gerbes
Jay C Food Store
King Soopers
Kroger
Mariano’s
Metro Market
Pay-Less Super Markets
Pick’n Save
QFC
Ralphs
Ruler
Smith’s Food and Drug
----- Albertsons brands: ------
Acme Markets: 162 locations (CT, DE, MD, NJ, NY and PA)
Albertsons: 381 locations (AZ, AR, CA, CO, ID, LA, MT, NV, NM, ND, OR, TX, UT, WA and WY)
Albertsons Market: 23 locations (NM)
Amigos: 4 locations (TX)
Andronico’s: 7 locations (CA)
Balducci’s: 8 locations (CT, MD, NY, VA)
Carrs: 11 locations (AK)
Haggen: 15 locations (WA)
Jewel-Osco: 188 locations (IL, IA, and IN)
Kings Food Markets: 19 locations (CT, NJ, NY)
Lucky: 4 locations (UT)
Market Street: 19 locations (NM and TX)
Pak 'n Save: 2 locations (CA)
Pavilions: 27 locations (Southern California)
Randalls: 28 locations (Greater Houston and Greater Austin, TX)
Safeway: 914 locations (AK, AZ, CA, CO, DC, DE, HI, ID, MD, MT, NE, NV, NM, OR, SD, VA, WA, WY)
Shaw’s: 127 locations (MA, ME, NH, RI and VT)
Star Market: 21 locations (MA)
Tom Thumb: 65 locations (Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, TX)
United Supermarkets: 97 locations (Texas Panhandle) plus 39 United Express locations (NM and TX)
Vons: 194 locations (Southern California and Southern Nevada)
Yup. We live in Washington, and our town has a QFC, a Fred Meyer, and a Safeway. If this deal goes through, Kroger will own all three. Not only will prices probably go up but they will likely shut down the Safeway (where we prefer to shop) because it is just across the street from Fred Meyer. We might end up doing our regular shopping at Grocery Outlet, which is the only other option in town.
At least you still have whole foods and Amazon fresh as independent stores. Oh wait.
I wonder if Albertson’s owned Jewel-Osco back in the 80s. We had one in my town and it was pretty good as both a supermarket and a drugstore. I think Jewel was the supermarket and Osco was the drugstore.
They’ve only owned Jewel-Osco since 1999; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewel-Osco
No they didn’t
How about a list of independent chains? Off the top of my head, I can think of Stater Bros, Publix, and HEB, so independents seem to be regional. Maybe Trader Joe’s.