🛒 Kroger-Albertsons Merger: National Impact

[CalItalian]

Biden appointed Federal judge to hear Albertsons-Kroger merger case in Portland, Oregon.

https://www.oregonlive.com/business/202 ... judge.html

[CalItalian]

This is the worst case scenario for Kroger & Albertsons. Anyone who thinks this isn't political, you are clueless. FTC went judge shopping and found the perfect judge to end this moronic merger.

[arizonaguy]

This is the worst case scenario for Kroger & Albertsons. Anyone who thinks this isn't political, you are clueless. FTC went judge shopping and found the perfect judge to end this moronic merger.

Kroger and Albertsons have some part to blame here as well.

To propose a merger of this size and scope to be approved during an election year when inflation is a major campaign topic was a moronic idea on their part.

No matter what administration (Democrat or Republican) the merger would've had a much better chance getting approved next year after the election.

[storewanderer]

This is the worst case scenario for Kroger & Albertsons. Anyone who thinks this isn't political, you are clueless. FTC went judge shopping and found the perfect judge to end this moronic merger.

Kroger and Albertsons have some part to blame here as well.

To propose a merger of this size and scope to be approved during an election year when inflation is a major campaign topic was a moronic idea on their part.

No matter what administration (Democrat or Republican) the merger would've had a much better chance getting approved next year after the election.

I think they honestly thought the merger was going to be closed in January 2024...

Political or not, of course the FTC went judge shopping, that is how these things always go.

I just hope that Portland based UFCW Local who for some reasons beyond comprehension supports the merger doesn't somehow sway things...

As long as this merger gets blocked I don't care if they went judge shopping or how political it is.

But with Wal Mart pushing 150 new stores, Target pushing 300 new stores and saying they'll be full size and greater focus on food (whether or not to believe them is another thing but let's just go ahead and believe them), these two chains Kroger and Albertsons better untangle from this deal rapidly because they need to get their act together and start to add new stores given these competitors are adding hundreds of new stores after opening almost none for the past decade.

[pseudo3d]

This is the worst case scenario for Kroger & Albertsons. Anyone who thinks this isn't political, you are clueless. FTC went judge shopping and found the perfect judge to end this moronic merger.

Kroger and Albertsons have some part to blame here as well.

To propose a merger of this size and scope to be approved during an election year when inflation is a major campaign topic was a moronic idea on their part.

No matter what administration (Democrat or Republican) the merger would've had a much better chance getting approved next year after the election.

I'm not sure. It's almost always election season somewhere (every two years, which is how long this merger is taking), and when you pick a fight with an AG over something so egregious it extends beyond party lines, they look like a hero to the 5% or whatever of undecided voters that sway elections.

Furthermore, the problem was always obvious. They couldn't try to sweet-talk themselves out of trouble with "SpinCo" and the 200-300 number they were throwing around. I suspect that they had major problems finding buyers, so they roped C&S into it. It's not just that Kroger wants to stiff everyone, they can't even part with Ralphs.

The best way that Kroger could build a national chain (and again, this merger adds really nothing to Kroger's territory) is to spin off everything west of the Mississippi: Smith's, Fred Meyer, King Soopers, Ralphs, Fry's, all of it. Trade Harris Teeter and Mariano's for Dillon's (inc. Bakers and Gerbes), then get Albertsons to sell Randalls and Tom Thumb to "Kroger West". Mop up the mess, try to finagle for good stores in the market, and THEN merge with Albertsons.

Kroger-West now has a solid variety of names and brands and extends as far east as Houston, with satellite markets in Chicagoland and the East Coast. Kroger-Albertsons now has Safeway, Kroger, Albertsons, Jewel, JayC, Acme, Carrs, Pavilions, Vons, Shaw's/Star Market, and United Supermarkets. Yes, it would make some markets weaker (Denver) and some vanish (Austin), but that's the price you pay for progress.

[storewanderer]

This is the worst case scenario for Kroger & Albertsons. Anyone who thinks this isn't political, you are clueless. FTC went judge shopping and found the perfect judge to end this moronic merger.

Kroger and Albertsons have some part to blame here as well.

To propose a merger of this size and scope to be approved during an election year when inflation is a major campaign topic was a moronic idea on their part.

No matter what administration (Democrat or Republican) the merger would've had a much better chance getting approved next year after the election.

I'm not sure. It's almost always election season somewhere (every two years, which is how long this merger is taking), and when you pick a fight with an AG over something so egregious it extends beyond party lines, they look like a hero to the 5% or whatever of undecided voters that sway elections.

Furthermore, the problem was always obvious. They couldn't try to sweet-talk themselves out of trouble with "SpinCo" and the 200-300 number they were throwing around. I suspect that they had major problems finding buyers, so they roped C&S into it. It's not just that Kroger wants to stiff everyone, they can't even part with Ralphs.

The best way that Kroger could build a national chain (and again, this merger adds really nothing to Kroger's territory) is to spin off everything west of the Mississippi: Smith's, Fred Meyer, King Soopers, Ralphs, Fry's, all of it. Trade Harris Teeter and Mariano's for Dillon's (inc. Bakers and Gerbes), then get Albertsons to sell Randalls and Tom Thumb to "Kroger West". Mop up the mess, try to finagle for good stores in the market, and THEN merge with Albertsons.

Kroger-West now has a solid variety of names and brands and extends as far east as Houston, with satellite markets in Chicagoland and the East Coast. Kroger-Albertsons now has Safeway, Kroger, Albertsons, Jewel, JayC, Acme, Carrs, Pavilions, Vons, Shaw's/Star Market, and United Supermarkets. Yes, it would make some markets weaker (Denver) and some vanish (Austin), but that's the price you pay for progress.

Smiths in Utah only overlaps Albertsons/Lucky in like 2 locations... wouldn't make sense to give up Utah like that. It is a good market. Also Smiths Nevada Operation is definitely stronger than the Albertsons operation is throughout the state but both are solid operations overall. NM- tough; Albertsons has a lot better penetration in rural areas. Smiths will have zero divests under the current plan. I expect they will do everything possible to keep Smiths, King Soopers, Fred Meyer, and Frys 100% in their current form; those divisions are too successful to mess with.

[veteran+]

This is the worst case scenario for Kroger & Albertsons. Anyone who thinks this isn't political, you are clueless. FTC went judge shopping and found the perfect judge to end this moronic merger.

Kroger and Albertsons have some part to blame here as well.

To propose a merger of this size and scope to be approved during an election year when inflation is a major campaign topic was a moronic idea on their part.

No matter what administration (Democrat or Republican) the merger would've had a much better chance getting approved next year after the election.

I think they honestly thought the merger was going to be closed in January 2024...

Political or not, of course the FTC went judge shopping, that is how these things always go.

I just hope that Portland based UFCW Local who for some reasons beyond comprehension supports the merger doesn't somehow sway things...

As long as this merger gets blocked I don't care if they went judge shopping or how political it is.

But with Wal Mart pushing 150 new stores, Target pushing 300 new stores and saying they'll be full size and greater focus on food (whether or not to believe them is another thing but let's just go ahead and believe them), these two chains Kroger and Albertsons better untangle from this deal rapidly because they need to get their act together and start to add new stores given these competitors are adding hundreds of new stores after opening almost none for the past decade.

SPOT ON!!!!!!!

[pseudo3d]

Kroger and Albertsons have some part to blame here as well.

To propose a merger of this size and scope to be approved during an election year when inflation is a major campaign topic was a moronic idea on their part.

No matter what administration (Democrat or Republican) the merger would've had a much better chance getting approved next year after the election.

I'm not sure. It's almost always election season somewhere (every two years, which is how long this merger is taking), and when you pick a fight with an AG over something so egregious it extends beyond party lines, they look like a hero to the 5% or whatever of undecided voters that sway elections.

Furthermore, the problem was always obvious. They couldn't try to sweet-talk themselves out of trouble with "SpinCo" and the 200-300 number they were throwing around. I suspect that they had major problems finding buyers, so they roped C&S into it. It's not just that Kroger wants to stiff everyone, they can't even part with Ralphs.

The best way that Kroger could build a national chain (and again, this merger adds really nothing to Kroger's territory) is to spin off everything west of the Mississippi: Smith's, Fred Meyer, King Soopers, Ralphs, Fry's, all of it. Trade Harris Teeter and Mariano's for Dillon's (inc. Bakers and Gerbes), then get Albertsons to sell Randalls and Tom Thumb to "Kroger West". Mop up the mess, try to finagle for good stores in the market, and THEN merge with Albertsons.

Kroger-West now has a solid variety of names and brands and extends as far east as Houston, with satellite markets in Chicagoland and the East Coast. Kroger-Albertsons now has Safeway, Kroger, Albertsons, Jewel, JayC, Acme, Carrs, Pavilions, Vons, Shaw's/Star Market, and United Supermarkets. Yes, it would make some markets weaker (Denver) and some vanish (Austin), but that's the price you pay for progress.

Smiths in Utah only overlaps Albertsons/Lucky in like 2 locations... wouldn't make sense to give up Utah like that. It is a good market. Also Smiths Nevada Operation is definitely stronger than the Albertsons operation is throughout the state but both are solid operations overall. NM- tough; Albertsons has a lot better penetration in rural areas. Smiths will have zero divests under the current plan. I expect they will do everything possible to keep Smiths, King Soopers, Fred Meyer, and Frys 100% in their current form; those divisions are too successful to mess with.

Yes, Utah is the one place where Albertsons pulled out of in the West Coast (as did Safeway back in the 1980s). Either way, when Albertsons merged with Safeway a decade ago, it essentially created a Kroger vs. Albertsons duopoly in most of those markets, and stuff like NorCal Kroger's best chance to jump on Safeway back in 2014 instead of Albertsons. That would've given them NorCal, Washington DC/Baltimore, Austin, and Hawaii with Albertsons happy to lap up the divestments in Dallas-Fort Worth, California, Arizona, Colorado, and the Northwest.

[pseudo3d]

This is the worst case scenario for Kroger & Albertsons. Anyone who thinks this isn't political, you are clueless. FTC went judge shopping and found the perfect judge to end this moronic merger.

Kroger and Albertsons have some part to blame here as well.

To propose a merger of this size and scope to be approved during an election year when inflation is a major campaign topic was a moronic idea on their part.

No matter what administration (Democrat or Republican) the merger would've had a much better chance getting approved next year after the election.

I think they honestly thought the merger was going to be closed in January 2024...

Political or not, of course the FTC went judge shopping, that is how these things always go.

I just hope that Portland based UFCW Local who for some reasons beyond comprehension supports the merger doesn't somehow sway things...

As long as this merger gets blocked I don't care if they went judge shopping or how political it is.

But with Wal Mart pushing 150 new stores, Target pushing 300 new stores and saying they'll be full size and greater focus on food (whether or not to believe them is another thing but let's just go ahead and believe them), these two chains Kroger and Albertsons better untangle from this deal rapidly because they need to get their act together and start to add new stores given these competitors are adding hundreds of new stores after opening almost none for the past decade.

It's not just adding more stores, it's being a better operator. Albertsons, when it was adding more stores had a lot of issues in those days. Sure, it was fun to see the variety of stores they bought out and went into, doing "continuous" conversions (that is, remaining open without closing for a few days/weeks) of everything from Bruno's to Super 1, some interesting store design choices (some spectacular stores...but also some interesting conversions of other stores). Prices are still high and perishables could use work. While Albertsons hasn't really been much of an innovator the last interesting concept to their stores was building "Albertsons Market Street" in Idaho.

But the merger is still an issue: Kroger's stock jumped up with high profits and are continuing to fight the merger. Some knucklehead in Dallas thinks that the FTC issue "smacks of grandstanding" and also compares H-E-B to Publix which couldn't be farther from the truth. (Publix is MUCH more expensive than H-E-B, a recent survey of Blue Bell's banana-flavored ice pops in Louisville, when comparing them to Houston markets, is 10 cents more than Randalls and 60 cents more than H-E-B).

[storewanderer]

It's not just adding more stores, it's being a better operator. Albertsons, when it was adding more stores had a lot of issues in those days. Sure, it was fun to see the variety of stores they bought out and went into, doing "continuous" conversions (that is, remaining open without closing for a few days/weeks) of everything from Bruno's to Super 1, some interesting store design choices (some spectacular stores...but also some interesting conversions of other stores). Prices are still high and perishables could use work. While Albertsons hasn't really been much of an innovator the last interesting concept to their stores was building "Albertsons Market Street" in Idaho.

But the merger is still an issue: Kroger's stock jumped up with high profits and are continuing to fight the merger. Some knucklehead in Dallas thinks that the FTC issue "smacks of grandstanding" and also compares H-E-B to Publix which couldn't be farther from the truth. (Publix is MUCH more expensive than H-E-B, a recent survey of Blue Bell's banana-flavored ice pops in Louisville, when comparing them to Houston markets, is 10 cents more than Randalls and 60 cents more than H-E-B).

HEB has pretty strong pricing. I did notice a lot of variances in pricing between stores but for the most part HEB is a tough priced store and will absolutely go to battle over price. They are priced much stronger than Publix or Hy Vee- two chains that really do not go to battle over price.

Kroger's great profit earnings report and Target's great profit earnings report despite soft sales numbers. It is so obvious what is going on here with everyone complaining about inflation and all these record profit earnings reports showing up with soft sales numbers...