MegaMerger Kroger-Albertsons, Multi-Brand Grocery Monopoly - 85M Hsholds, Raise $$, Pay Workers Less

[appalachiablue]

Last edited Wed Mar 8, 2023, 02:50 PM - Edit history (1)

The $85 billion Kroger- Albertsons merger could affect grocery stores relied on by 85 million households.

The company could Jack up prices even higher and pay workers even less.

Big corporations are using the excuse of INFLATION to pass price increases on to YOU.

Both Kroger and Albertsons already control dozens of grocery brands across the US * Safeway, Fred Meyer, Fry's, etc.

This is a disaster in the making. The FTC has the power to intervene and stop it. They must act.
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- Seattle Times, Consumers Sue to Block Kroger- Albertsons Merger, Feb. 9, 2023,

.. Last week’s suit was brought by 25 consumers, including Kirkland resident Clyde D. Stensrud, in 11 states. Federal law allows private suits to enforce antitrust laws.

Stensrud and his fellow plaintiffs contend that the “megamerger” would give the combined companies monopoly power over the U.S. grocery market, which “will be used to increase prices for groceries, decrease the quality of food, eliminate jobs, close stores and offer less choice for consumers,” according to the suit.

The suit also argues that Albertsons’ $4 billion dividend in advance of the merger is intended “to financially cripple Albertsons and to weaken its competitive position relative to Kroger.” Plaintiffs want to bar the payment or force shareholders to give up, or disgorge, any payment they have received...https://www.seattletimes.com/business/consumers-sue-to-block-kroger-albertsons-merger-recover-4b-dividend/

- Kroger, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kroger

[Hugh_Lebowski]

1. Damn, that would suck ...

All we have a lot of around here is Albertsons/Safeway and Kroger (Fry's).

Unless you want to go to Sprouts (pricey), Whole Paycheck, or Trader Joes ... where I like some things they have a lot, but overall isn't where I want to do my weekly shopping. None of which have near the coverage of Safeway/Fry's.

Or Costco. Where I feel like I got a good deal but end up wasting stuff fairly often.

Or ... blech ... Walmart.

[multigraincracker]

2. Hey Joe, it's time to

bust the trust.

Until then we have the best government money can buy.

[appalachiablue]

4. Bust them up, the corruption has to end. Until then, we rake the muck...

[wolfie001]

3. Our raises have been less than 2% per year.....

....during the pandemic. The contract is up at the end of October and then the gnashing of teeth will commence. Like, nobody wants to work in a grocery store. Should be fun.

[republianmushroom]

5. Oh that bottom line.

Raising it ugly head again.

[niyad]

6. And, at the moment, kroger is engaged in wage theft. Since last September,

many workers' checks have errors, all, of course, redounding to kroger's benefit. Raises that were supposed to go into effect on 1 Jan still had not shown up, in many cases, by the end of last month. kroger, of course, is blaming the errors on a new payroll system.

And, apparentky, they do not calculate taxes correctly.

And yet, they are still better than the safeway/albertson's mess.

And they expect the customer to do the cletk's job, unloading and sacking. I hate being behind a person with a cartload who, because they are not familiar, take forevet unloading onto the belt, and then take ten times as long ss the sackers would.

[jmowreader]

7. While out here in the flyover states...

In the Coeur d’Alene-Hayden, ID, metro area, we have:

One Kroger-owned store, Fred Meyer, in Coeur d’Alene
Two Safeway stores, one south of I-90 the other north of it, both in Cd’A
One Winco, in Cd’A
Two Albertsons, one in Cd’A, one in Hayden
One regional chain, Harvest Foods in the bad part of Cd’A
Two regional chain, Super 1 foods, one in each city
One Walmart in Hayden

For this discussion we will ignore everything except the three chains at the heart of this discussion.

Of those five stores, Fred Meyer has the lowest prices, the best selection, the most employees, the happiest employees, and their store doesn’t resemble a dungeon. The south-of-90 Safeway and the Hayden Albertsons creep me out. Very dimly lit, weird configuration and very few employees in the building. The north-of-90 Safeway also doesn’t believe in lights, but there are a few more employees in there. The same-brand stores in Spokane are similar - Fred Meyer stores are better staffed, have more stuff and the workers don’t see you as an affront. (Having said that, I don’t know what the Spokane Albertsons looks like - it’s in a part of town I don’t go to. It is on the edge of the city, where it’s convenient for all the people who live south of town. The Spokane Safeway stores, on the other hand, are awful.)

Normally I would say competition is good and the two companies should stay separate, but in my part of the world Kroger is so vastly superior to Safeway it’s hard to think that way.

[Rhiannon12866]

8. Thanks for the detailed analysis. Here in NE NY we do have a couple of choices

We have Price Chopper and Hannaford - and Walmart. I used to go to different stores on different days, depending where I happened to be, but during the lockdown/pandemic, I made a point of choosing only one (where I could find the most items I regularly needed) and shopping only once a week - and after three years it's tough to get out of that habit.

[jmowreader]

9. When I lived at Fort Drum Hannaford was my favorite

[Rhiannon12866]

10. We're fortunate to have 2 Hannaford stores here in town

[NowsTheTime]

11. Why doesn't this kind of news get more press?

Robert Reich is always on top of these kinds of stories and income inequality!

I really like him.

[appalachiablue]

12. It has to be the big $ media. People aren't getting critical info. on issues

like this that impact their lives, families, jobs and communities. It's scary. Reich is one of the best advocates and communicators working in the public interest!