Should Krogers and Albertsons Be Allowed To Merge?

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

This is more consumer economics than P&N, so ....

Kroger and Albertsons plan merger to combine 2 largest supermarket chains

The $25-billion deal is likely to draw intense scrutiny from federal regulators and critics as it would form a new supermarket colossus at a time of soaring food costs.

www.npr.org

 

[nutxo]

Safeway/Albertsons sucks so bad. If they merge with Kroger the only other grocery store around will be winco. This is not a great thing for me.

 

[Torn Mind]

Albertson's is losing the competition battle and it shows in places. The face of Albertson's where I'm at is Safeway. Their prices are usually higher than comparables in a 2 mile radius. There is a Harris Teeter, Giant Food, Whole Foods not too far away.

They purged plenty of inventory like pizzas(which I made a thread about) or peanut butter, where the local Safeway purged mostly all the "Whole Foods competition" products and carry much more Skippy, JIF, etc now. They had real Parmigiano Reggiano(I never bought, but I saw), that has disappeared as well, likely due to lack of demand.

There's a Walmart, Costco, and Trader Joe's a tad further away.

 

[JM Aggie08]

Absolutely wild that Albertson's is still around.

No matter who merges with who, HEB > *.

 

[Captante]

Since neither one has stores in my area I really don't care?

 

[nakedfrog]

I don't even think Kroger should be as big as they are, I'm always against mega-mergers like this, and mergers in general.

 

[JM Aggie08]

Big Grocery must be stopped!

 

[Captante]

Poll needs a "raging moron" option!

 

[K1052]

No matter who merges with who, HEB > *.

This is highly dependent on WHICH one you are in. The one closest to my old house was so bad I refused to go there and drove 10 minutes to Central Market instead (which they also own).

 

[brianmanahan]

never heard of albertson's

 

[nakedfrog]

never heard of albertson's

I very rarely see them anymore, but there is still one near me. Most of the locations that were near me like 15 years ago changed to a different store at that time.

 

[crashtech]

They should all merge, so we can all only go to the Store.

 

[brianmanahan]

Poll needs a "raging moron" option!

i don't vote unless there's a comedy option

 

[brianmanahan]

They should all merge, so we can all only go to the Store.

why stop at 5 or 6 stores when you could stop at just one?

 

[waffleironhead]

There are neither of those around here.

 

[manly]

I don't even think Kroger should be as big as they are, I'm always against mega-mergers like this, and mergers in general.

I'd have to see the market share numbers; IIRC Walmart is actually the nation's leading grocer in market share. But I don't think anyone has a particularly dominant position, as competition is fierce and margins are very tight for groceries. However, you're right that this merger is likely to not be good for consumers. Kroger (Ralphs) and Albertsons (incl. Vons) are major grocers in L.A. County, so they'd have more pricing power combined than with the status quo. There are a lot of Latino supermarkets in SoCal that compete fiercely on price alone.

Anyone shopped at Amazon Fresh, online or in-person? Besides house brands, many of their prices resemble Whole Paycheck (Foods)!

 

[BoomerD]

never heard of albertson's

Ever heard of Safeway? Both chains have west coast roots. Safeway's original headquarters is in Oakland, Albertson's in Boise. Albertson's bought Safeway almost 10 years ago, much like they did the Lucky stores in CA about 30 years ago.
In the general area where I'm at, I have 1 Safeway, 1 Walmart, 2 small local chain grocery stores whose prices make Safeway look cheap, and in the small town where I live, we have an IGA, where every product is made of solid gold or platinum. We might buy the occasional item there rather than drive the 25+ miles to town, but that's it.
We usually buy staples, canned goods, etc. from Walmart, meat and produce from Safeway.

 

[pete6032]

Nope. Will lead to higher prices.

 

[brianmanahan]

Ever heard of Safeway? Both chains have west coast roots.

yah i think i've seen that mentioned on the internet before, but don't remember going in one. might've seen them when driving on vacation in the west US.

the only fancy chain-type grocery stores i've used before are kroger's, meijer's and giant eagle.

mostly i stick to aldi's and walmart though.

oh and when i want to spoil myself i have shopped at heinen's (like the cleveland version of whole foods).

 

[JM Aggie08]

This is highly dependent on WHICH one you are in. The one closest to my old house was so bad I refused to go there and drove 10 minutes to Central Market instead (which they also own).

Indeed. The older stores can be ass.

Central Market however is fan-fucking-tastic. I wish they'd build one up my way.

 

[Torn Mind]

Who Owns Your Grocery Store? — Grocery Story: The Promise of Food Co-ops in the Age of Grocery Giants

A comprehensive and up-to-date listing of the parent companies behind the most recognizable grocery store banners in the U.S. and Canada.

grocerystory.coop

 

[VirtualLarry]

Doesn't Albertsons own Shaws?

 

[crashtech]

It would be one thing for two stores like that to form a purchasing cooperative, that would likely benefit consumers and employees, but a really good case would have to be made that a full merger wouldn't harm consumers. One thing they might say is that they need to do it to compete with Walmart, which might in theory drive retail prices lower in areas where Kroger/Albertsons and Walmart are adjacent.

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

When has consolidation ever benefitted the consumer? The next time will be the first time.

 

[crashtech]

I don't believe it either, hopefully I did not come off that way, just meant to state the case.