Tim Steller's column: Tucson shoppers would suffer from Kroger-Albertsons merger

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For Star subscribers: The two giant supermarket chains say they'll spin off a few stores, as Albertsons did with Haggen in Tucson back in 2015, to preserve competition. Regulators should reject this trick.

Then you should be very skeptical of the proposed merger of Tucson's two biggest grocery chains — Albertsons, which also owns Safeway, and Kroger, which owns the Fry's supermarkets.

People are also reading… If you read that sentence carefully, you'll see three wiggle words and a buzzword. The words"plans,""expects" and"approximately" mean there is no commitment from the merged company to actually pass along $500 million in cost savings. And that wouldn't necessarily mean much to customers of such a giant company anyway.

"The establishment of SpinCo, which is estimated to comprise between 100 and 375 stores, would create a new, agile competitor with quality stores, experienced management, operational flexibility, a strong balance sheet, and focused allocation of capital and resources to provide customers with continued value and quality service and associates with ongoing compelling career opportunities.

This is not at all unusual in big mergers, Ron Knox of the Institute for Local Self Reliance told me. He pointed to the merger of Hertz and Dollar Thrifty rental car companies in 2012. They were forced to spin off Advantage Rent A Car in order to preserve market competition. It flopped within a year.

Now, you might think that these food retailers deserve a little sympathy. After all, they've had to deal with inflation, too, figuring out how to continue making money while their own prices are soaring.

 

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DBChirpy I don’t think any western state wants kroger

This will probably result in the closure of Fry's at Grant and 1st Avenue. The area just lost CVS on Grant Rd East of 1st Ave. Residents North of Drachman between 1st Ave and Oracle Rd are already underserved. Where is Mayor Romero!!!!!

Albertson's has already ruined the once great Safeway chain. They are now expensive, rude, uncaring just like Albertson's has always been. Now they will ruin Kroger and price everybody out of eating altogether. 🤨

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