Posted on 01/19/2024 12:33:44 PM PST by SeekAndFind
Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a lawsuit to block the proposed merger between Kroger and Albertsons because of the negative ramifications he says it would have for residents, such as fewer options and higher prices.
In the suit, filed on Monday, Ferguson argued that the proposed $24.6 billion merger, announced in October 2022, "will likely substantially lessen supermarket competition or tend to create a monopoly in many Washington communities," where both companies currently compete.
This would likely increase prices of food and other grocery products in supermarkets offered to Washington consumers while simultaneously decreasing "the quantity and quality of choices available to Washington consumers," the suit said.
In the suit, Ferguson noted that the price hikes in food costs over recent years, stemming from things such as COVID and supply chain issues, underscores "the importance of robust competition amongst supermarkets to keep prices in check."
Albertsons is the largest supermarket chain in Washington and operates as Albertsons, Haggen, and Safeway. Kroger is the second-largest supermarket chain in the state and operates as Fred Meyer and QFC, according to the suit.
In a joint statement to FOX Business, Kroger and Albertsons said they are "disappointed in Attorney General Ferguson’s premature decision to file a lawsuit while the merger is still under regulatory review."
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
Stupid government doesn’t know sh#t from Shinola.
The majority of voters in Wash. need to be eating the bugs.
GMAFB
Fix Seattle.
Then get on with regular bidness.
I wish someone would sue Homeland in Oklahoma. They have gobbled up every grocery store around, except one local franchise that’s even higher than Homeland.
WA state: “Only WE can raise prices, limit options.”
-fJRoberts-
Mergers are regulated by the FTC, not state governments.
Ferguson is running to succeed Inslee as governor, and will likely win. So this is mostly a campaign ploy.
Ferguson’s goal is to become President. He will run in either 2028, or 2032.
Why do businesses merge?
The number one reason is to raise prices.
They do this by reducing competition through turning a competitive market into an oligopoly.
If Washington State were truly worried about the prices of food rising, they should have sued to stop the election of Joe Biden, him becoming pResident has caused the biggest increase in food prices in some time.
Same people who shut down small businesses during Covid while keeping these large chains open as “essential.” Yet, the people of Washington will continue voting for it.
As the state’s chief legal officer, Bob is committed to protecting the people of Washington against powerful interests that don’t play by the rules. He is a fourth-generation Washingtonian, a graduate of the University of Washington and New York University law school."
Totally a beneficiary of White Privilege.
He needs to step down and spend more time with his family.
[Or at least go to a MAGA retraining camp led by Milton Friedman...]
I thought it was to improve economies of scale, streamline operations, cut costs and lower prices.
Whatever the reason it is none of government's freaking business. Government is the MAIN source of hinderance to open competition in the marketplace.
LESS GOVERNMENT, MORE PROSPERTIY!
Sideshow has a lot of illegalities following him around that even the Seattle Times reported on; from his chicken-check vote-buying scheme recently to his office being sued for lack of transparency on numerous occasions.
I know we live in a blue state but Dave Reichert has a long and honest history of serving Washington state, he's just needs to continue selling himself and he's done a fairly good job so far, especially slamming Inslee and Fergie for doing absolutely nothing when the Hamas nut cases blocked I-5 recently.
We can hope.
I’d love to hear Thomas Sowell’s wisdom on this subject about now.
Kroger and Albertsons are WOKE organizations. They do not deserve any sympathy.
Take a basic economic class. That’s total BS.
Within a 3 block area I have an Albertsons (which recently just changed its name to Safeway), an actual Safeway, and a Fred Meyers. I assume if Kroger buys them, they close 2 of them.
Interesting how they say they are concerned about rising food prices, yet they do absolutely nothing about the stores being looted to death.
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