🛒 Kroger-Albertsons Merger: National Impact

[ClownLoach]

Keep in mind the termination date can be dragged out to October 9. I’d think after that, the merger will almost certainly be stopped.
I doubt Trump would approve this merger assuming such a scenario were to happen, considering his friendship with the Gristedes owner in NYC.

I haven't kept up with which trials are going to happen where. Which state is most likely to score a first injunction? Or is the federal government likely to score an injunction? I was reading somewhere that only a tiny handful of merger attempts survive the first injunction. The vast majority are called off at that point. Once there is an injunction that typically requires all of the merger work to stop, the integration teams that work under an NDA are forbidden from meeting, I believe that each party is required from that point out to have separate counsel, and so forth. Once the merger wheels stop turning within these companies it will be impossible to start them up again.

The Fed trial (in Portland) is set for August 26, could go on for at least two weeks. There is a separate WA state trial that will begin on September 16, about six weeks before Election Day.

I would imagine that the Fed trial will be seeking a first injunction right out of the gate. The very damaging emails that have come up under subpoena almost assure such a injunction would be approved. Those emails indicate that the parties cannot be trusted to act in good faith and have anticompetitive intent. There might not need to even be a trial if an injunction is approved and the merger is canceled.

[HCal]

Keep in mind the termination date can be dragged out to October 9. I’d think after that, the merger will almost certainly be stopped.
I doubt Trump would approve this merger assuming such a scenario were to happen, considering his friendship with the Gristedes owner in NYC.

I bet Trump would direct the FTC to approve the merger, if for no other reason than to do the opposite of what Biden wanted.

[storewanderer]

Keep in mind the termination date can be dragged out to October 9. I’d think after that, the merger will almost certainly be stopped.
I doubt Trump would approve this merger assuming such a scenario were to happen, considering his friendship with the Gristedes owner in NYC.

I bet Trump would direct the FTC to approve the merger, if for no other reason than to do the opposite of what Biden wanted.

Actually I think it has more likelihood being approved if the Unions endorse it, by Biden. As long as the unions stay opposed to it, neither one will approve it.

The tract record of mergers being stopped under Trump was greater than mergers stopped under Biden up until recently. Both administratons have multiple failed or stopped mergers under their watch. Mergers and anti trust law are not supposed to be political. Based on the tract record of these two administrations, that seems to be the case. Just like we saw a LOT of huge mergers under Obama and Bush that in my opinion should have been stopped.

[SoCalShopper1023]

One of the things about this merger that I can possibly see happening too (if it get gets approved) is that Kroger will most likely implement the cash back fee on the ACI bannered stores when attempting to get cash back on a debit card.

At my local Ralphs, the cash back fee recently went up from .50 to .75.

Kroger is the only major chain that I’m aware of that’s charging a fee for cash back. With fewer competition, that will incentivize other chains to do the same as well.

[storewanderer]

One of the things about this merger that I can possibly see happening too (if it get gets approved) is that Kroger will most likely implement the cash back fee on the ACI bannered stores when attempting to get cash back on a debit card.

At my local Ralphs, the cash back fee recently went up from .50 to .75.

Kroger is the only major chain that I’m aware of that’s charging a fee for cash back. With fewer competition, that will incentivize other chains to do the same as well.

Dollar Tree and Family Dollar also charge some kind of fee for cash back. I'm not sure how it works at Dollar General or if they even offer cash back.

I agree however the .75 cash back fee for a simple $20 etc. of cash back at these Kroger banners is unacceptable. I have been surprised no other grocery stores implemented this but clearly other stores see this as so obnoxious and offensive that they will not implement this policy. Kroger started that cash back fee idea at the same time they decided to declare war on Visa and quit accepting it first at FoodsCo then at Smiths and puff up their press release to state it was not being accepted at literally hundreds of locations by breaking out Smiths Fuel Center location count and adding it to Smiths Store location count (never seen that done for any other purpose- the fuel centers are on a separate merchant account/processor from the stores so they are technically I suppose in the eyes of Visa a "separate business" even if in the parking lot of the store...).

I haven't tested to see if Kroger assesses this cash back fee on Discover cash back too or if it is strictly on debit cards.

Kroger does graciously waive the cash back fee at least on the below $100 transactions at checkstands (not sure about the larger cash back at customer service) for its employees. It "discounts" the fee off the transaction if an employee loyalty card is scanned in the transaction.

[BillyGr]

Dollar Tree and Family Dollar also charge some kind of fee for cash back. I'm not sure how it works at Dollar General or if they even offer cash back.

I agree however the .75 cash back fee for a simple $20 etc. of cash back at these Kroger banners is unacceptable. I have been surprised no other grocery stores implemented this but clearly other stores see this as so obnoxious and offensive that they will not implement this policy.

Not sure if they still do or not, but Price Chopper (Market 32) based here in NY did at one point have such a fee for cash back with a debit card. As far as I remember, they were the only ones that ever did that in this area.

[storewanderer]

Dollar Tree and Family Dollar also charge some kind of fee for cash back. I'm not sure how it works at Dollar General or if they even offer cash back.

I agree however the .75 cash back fee for a simple $20 etc. of cash back at these Kroger banners is unacceptable. I have been surprised no other grocery stores implemented this but clearly other stores see this as so obnoxious and offensive that they will not implement this policy.

Not sure if they still do or not, but Price Chopper (Market 32) based here in NY did at one point have such a fee for cash back with a debit card. As far as I remember, they were the only ones that ever did that in this area.

That is a chain who started charging bag fees before they were legally mandated to, so I am not surprised they also thought it was a good idea to charge a cash back fee.

I think it would be more effective for a store to just say "no cash back" than have this cash back fee.

I have been happy most stores continue to provide cash back at no additional fee as this is a good customer convenience.

However the cash back fee has not really changed my shopping pattern as it pertains to Kroger. If I was recommending stores to someone and knew someone who likes to pay with debit and get cash back when they shop, as many people do for whatever reason (slot machine, laundry machine, want to pay in cash at fast food or some other small purchase place, whatever) I'd suggest they not shop Kroger due to this fee.

[BillyGr]

Not sure if they still do or not, but Price Chopper (Market 32) based here in NY did at one point have such a fee for cash back with a debit card. As far as I remember, they were the only ones that ever did that in this area.

That is a chain who started charging bag fees before they were legally mandated to, so I am not surprised they also thought it was a good idea to charge a cash back fee.

I think it would be more effective for a store to just say "no cash back" than have this cash back fee.

I have been happy most stores continue to provide cash back at no additional fee as this is a good customer convenience.

All the supermarket chains (they, Hannaford and ShopRite at that point) started charging the 5 cents when the no plastic bags went into effect in March of 2020, even though in most places they didn't have to (since few counties/cities in NY opted into it, and at that time none of them were in the area, only NYC and one in the western part of the state).
Then Price Chopper and Hannaford dropped that fee with Covid, went back to plastic bags and asked not to use reusables in some places, then reinstated the fees once the law was being enforced in later 2020. ShopRite kept the fee, but never prohibited bringing bags.

On the fees part, I guess it depends which side you look from - if someone is in an area where they don't have a bank handy (and thus would have to use an ATM at another brand), paying 50 cents is still cheap compared to the fees those ATM's would charge (might be up to several dollars for some banks). Obviously, if another store is nearby without a fee, that's even better, but Price Chopper does have a few stores in areas that Hannaford (or other competition) doesn't, so there may not be a free option for all locations.

[storewanderer]

Not sure if they still do or not, but Price Chopper (Market 32) based here in NY did at one point have such a fee for cash back with a debit card. As far as I remember, they were the only ones that ever did that in this area.

That is a chain who started charging bag fees before they were legally mandated to, so I am not surprised they also thought it was a good idea to charge a cash back fee.

I think it would be more effective for a store to just say "no cash back" than have this cash back fee.

I have been happy most stores continue to provide cash back at no additional fee as this is a good customer convenience.

All the supermarket chains (they, Hannaford and ShopRite at that point) started charging the 5 cents when the no plastic bags went into effect in March of 2020, even though in most places they didn't have to (since few counties/cities in NY opted into it, and at that time none of them were in the area, only NYC and one in the western part of the state).
Then Price Chopper and Hannaford dropped that fee with Covid, went back to plastic bags and asked not to use reusables in some places, then reinstated the fees once the law was being enforced in later 2020. ShopRite kept the fee, but never prohibited bringing bags.

On the fees part, I guess it depends which side you look from - if someone is in an area where they don't have a bank handy (and thus would have to use an ATM at another brand), paying 50 cents is still cheap compared to the fees those ATM's would charge (might be up to several dollars for some banks). Obviously, if another store is nearby without a fee, that's even better, but Price Chopper does have a few stores in areas that Hannaford (or other competition) doesn't, so there may not be a free option for all locations.

Price Chopper started bag fees in certain stores prior to 2020 in places with no mandated bag rules. Maybe it was just a test (similar to what Kroger is doing... and fell on its face at that Marianos in IL I posted about).

At this point I hate to say it but a 75 cent fee feels "nominal." If I need cash back, and I REALLY need that cash back, it is not worth 75 cents for me to reverse the decision and then go find a bank branch of my bank, especially in an unfamiliar area. Also with the way the banks have been closing so many branches lately, accessing an ATM for your own bank isn't as easy as it once was.

This isn't a justification of the fee. Even if I were to pay it in the above scenario it would leave me with a bad taste and make me remember that chain of stores and to not return to it.

[HCal]

I haven't tested to see if Kroger assesses this cash back fee on Discover cash back too or if it is strictly on debit cards.

Discover prohibits merchants from charging a fee for this service.

While I don't like more fees, this is much cheaper than using a non-bank ATM, and low enough that people won't avoid Kroger because of it. If you go to, let's say Albertsons instead of Ralphs, your bill will probably increase by more than 75 cents.