By Dee-Ann Durbin and Claire Rush, Associated PressFaye Guenther, president of local UFCW 3000, hugs Carol McMillian, bakery manager at Kroger-owned King Soopers and member of Local 7, after a news conference about the Kroger and Albertsons merger outside the federal courthouse on Monday, Aug. 26, 2024, in Portland, Ore.
Musser said Kroger and Albertsons currently compete in 22 states, closely matching each other on price, quality, private label products and services like store pickup. Shoppers benefit from that competition, she said, and will lose those benefits if the merger is allowed to proceed. The two sides also disagree on Kroger and Albertsons’ plan to sell 579 stores in places where their stores overlap. The buyer would be C&S Wholesale Grocers, a New Hampshire-based supplier to independent supermarkets that also owns the Grand Union and Piggly Wiggly store brands.
The commission also alleges that workers’ wages and benefits would decline if Kroger and Albertsons no longer compete with each other.