Last week we discussed the announcement of a $24.6 billion merger deal between Kroger and Albertsons supermarkets {Go Deep}. The majority stockholders in both companies are institutional investment groups, Blackrock, Vanguard and Cerberus.
The merger would consolidate the second and third largest food retailers in the U.S. and would certainly dilute the competitive dynamic amid the supermarket industry. Concern over price controls and decreased competition has now arrived on the desks of DC legislators who are reviewing the deal.
(Reuters) – […] U.S. Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar and Republican Senator Mike Lee were quick to say that they would hold a hearing to discuss the merger. A European interloper could make deal plans even harder.
Frans Muller, Chief Executive of Stop & Shop owner Ahold Delhaize (AD.AS), has made no secret of his desire to consolidate U.S. grocers. The Netherlands-based firm is already the fourth largest grocery chain. If it managed to cobble together a better offer than Kroger’s bid for Albertsons, it would become the second largest supermarket. Plane spotters tracked two Albertsons jets next to Ahold Delhaize’s U.S. base in Massachusetts in early August. Ahold declined to comment.
Ahold can also afford a chunky deal. The Dutch grocer has debt of just 2 times its $6.7 billion of EBITDA estimated for this year, according to Refinitiv. That’s 50% less than the average. If investors reckoned there was merit in a deal, Muller could also use equity to beef up the offer. At more than 12 times, Ahold’s price-to-earnings ratio is a fifth higher than Albertsons’, giving it currency.
Aspects of the deal might make it easier for antitrust authorities to get comfortable, too. Kroger and Albertsons would have a combined market share of 13%, whereas a deal with its Dutch rival gives much less of the pie. Ahold focuses on the East Coast of America whereas Albertsons has a big presence on the West Coast. So regulators wouldn’t have to worry about a larger Kroger shutting down competing Albertsons stores.
[…] U.S. senators who scrutinise antitrust issues expressed “serious concerns” about grocery company Kroger’s plan to buy rival Albertsons, and said they would hold a hearing in November on the $25 billion deal.
The announcement by Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee antitrust panel, and Republican Senator Mike Lee confirmed a previous report by Reuters.
A Kroger spokesperson said the company looked forward to the hearing. “We welcome the opportunity to outline how this transaction will benefit America’s consumers by expanding access to fresh, affordable food,” the company said in a statement.
The Federal Trade Commission is expected to review the deal to ensure it complies with antitrust law. (read more)
This might be one of those rare times when a legislative and regulatory review may actually be beneficial to the outcome for the consumer.
December 16, 2020, Dozen Large Eggs $1.79
October 11, 2022, Dozen Large Eggs $7.29
(Source)
(DCBusinessDaily) – […] Scott Rasmussen Number of the Day shows 76% of voters have seen their grocery prices go up in the last month. The poll also found 60% of voters believe prices will continue to rise. Additionally, 54% of voters say gas prices have gone up in the last month and 59% believe gas prices will continue to go up. Ballotpedia’s poll methodology surveyed 1,200 registered voters from Oct. 6-8. According to the Ballotpedia website, the poll was lightly weighted by geography, gender, age, race, education, internet usage and political party to reflect a fair balance of voters across the country. The margin of sampling error is +/- 2.8 percentage points.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics issued its latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) summary for the nation on Oct. 13, which found that the rate of inflation over the last 12 months stands at 8.2%. It rose 0.4% in September. In the last year, food costs have risen by 11.2%, energy costs have increased by 19.8%, gas prices have risen by 18.2% and the cost to purchase a new vehicle has increased by 9.4%. (more)
I agree Sundance. Just have skeptical cat’s eyes
I don’t see where any dilution of competition benefits consumers. It never has thus far.
“….expanding consumers access to fresh affordable food” has nothing to do with mega mergers but has far more to do with reducing globalists’ grip on too many food supply chains. If anything these mega mergers will put the control of “access to fresh affordable food” in too few hands and give them even more power to control supply and prices.
No thanks. I’ve not much faith in Congress to do the right thing; they’ve proven to be willing to accommodate the highest briber…er…bidder.
NONE of these food mergers HAS EVER benefited the consumer…Rember Safeway stores…they were all over, NOW, a handfull!!! Had a grocery store chain in Texas, called Brookshires…same thing…We NEED MORE food retailers, not a place for Blackrock, Vanguard & Cerebus can park their money!!!
There is a Brookshires in AR. I think the globalists have control of all the money; now they want to control every living thing on the planet – especially us.
Eagledriver, We still have a few Brookshire Bros stores around here but not like before. Albertsons left years ago, couldn’t compete with HEB. HEB appears to have a monopoly in most of Texas, not a big footprint in Dallas area but otherwise they are everywhere.
Kroger bought Dillons. Kansas. Dillons was like HEB and owned 80% market share in Kansas. Albertson’s didn’t survive in Dillon’s Kroger towns. (Kroger CEO was a Dillon, not related to Matt Dillon Gunsmoke)
Sorry, GB Bari, but it is the globalists behind the merger; they want to control our food supply, the air we breathe, the water we drink and bathe in. This is part of their plan to control us.
I concur.
Fresh eggs and garden vegetables is the way to go. We have too much of everything. Everywhere I look I see fat people, even when I look in the mirror. I’m 25 pounds heavier than I was when the lock down began. I am not saying the corporate expansion we see is good; just that I have plenty of room to adjust when it comes to consumption.
I don’t need to shampoo, rinse, repeat and condition on a daily basis. The series Mad Men really drives home the point how much stuff we didn’t need was sold to us post WWII. Dow Chemical had to convert its manufacturing to home goods and personal care.
I lost 28 lbs during the scamdemic. We eat only foods that are healthy and no take out. We CUT THE Cord decades ago.
Health is Wealth! Saludos
Wow. Meperfectico had lockdowns? Who knew? I thought it was cartel-run narcopardiso to hear you go on about it.
Consumerism has always been highly overrated. It made oligarchs rich & kept consumers poor.
Regarding personal care…. you probably do not reside or work in a crowded environment all the time like me. I’m all for daily showers and hair cleaning. Body odor and unpleasant hair smells are incredible in such working environments including offices.
BTW… never use the Paris Metro in the summertime.
I don’t like Krogers authoritarian rules that they forced on their customers and especially the policies they forced on their employees in regards to the untested inoculation.
Their Corporatist mandated dictates inflected on their employees in my opinion violated The Nuremberg Codes and are simply unamerican in nature.
When it comes to food stores we need more competition not less. The illusion of choice by the Corporatists retaining the names of the stores they acquired is nothing but deception. Quality will suffer and prices will rise.
I’m not a Kroeger fan for the same reasons. They bought out our regional chain.
Menards & Home Depot we’re also quite authoritarian. They all paid off blm extortion & then got robbed blind & burned out anyway. We’re paying for all of that, they’re not.
I figured folks would’ve stopped buying from The Home Depot years ago when they went all in with the LGBTQ+ crowd.
In some areas, there’s no place to buy what’s needed if not for one big box store or another.
There’s really no appreciable difference between any of them. If that weren’t enough… they & Walmart have successfully put locally owned businesses out of business.
A Kroger employee was upset, having just purchased a new vehicle, an edict came down from management that all employees must buy an electric vehicle. Hers was not. Personally I have never cared for an employer to intrude on my private life outside of work. Local to me the hospital has it’s own medical insurance and the employees must have their surgeries, births of babies etc, at the same place that they work at. Maybe that’s why all the front line employees are mostly super young? Are these employers providing benefits and opportunities to be model citizens or coercion and creepiness, depriving individuals personal choice in their life outside work?
With all due respect, I find it impossible to believe that the employer could make the employees buy an electric vehicle whether they could afford to do so or not.If true get out of that company immediately.
I’ve been thinking about the logistics of it. Does Kroger wield the buying power to make EVs affordable to supermarket employees? They could set up a charging station at the worksite and schedule employees while at work. What if the employee just doesn’t want to? Do they have to file a cultural exemption? Register as a collector of antique cars?
I would either ignore the edict or sue them if they even threatened me.
“... must have their surgeries, births of babies etc, at the same place that they work at.”
That’s an old, old practice, although far from universal. It used to be called “the company store”.
In poorer areas that was the only way employees could buy otherwise hard-to-afford necessities on credit. That was a common practice in West Virginia in coal mining towns, or in local railroad headquarters towns. We had such an operation in a small town with a big wool textile mill outside of Baltimore. I even worked there one summer in the ’60s. It was like a place that time had bypassed.
The practice perpetuated the master-slave relationship far beyond the Civil War and included not just black folks but all races who were poor and paid barely subsistence wages….
I heard that Ford did that, perhaps why Aldous Huxley transformed Henry Ford into a messianic figure in “Brave New World.” The “Sixteen Tons” song “I owe my soul to the company store” lyrics – still going on but more sophisticated.
Atlanta CDC Employees Express Anxiety Over Trump’s Win
November 9, 2016
“She said she’s worried Trump might appoint public health leaders who may not be in total support of mandatory vaccinations, pointing to Dr. Ben Carson or Florida Governor Rick Scott.
“Another CDC worker said her job collecting data is partially funded through the Affordable Care Act.” (WABE 91FM)
https://archive.ph/uAV6C
Hard to believe.
Have not seen many EVs at our Kroger.
It’s the modern version of the company store.
Last time I walked into our store they had shut down the deli and the butcher departments, even their speciality cheese department was almost non-existent…… There is not much I liked about their store before Covid and liked it even less with Covid. I do not want this merger to go through with Albertson’s – as i LIKE Albertson’s,
In my area Albertsons has weekly deals that I really count on. Many of their regular prices are more expensive than any other supermarket. Their slogan when starting out decades ago was “the low price leader.” Someone or something has choked out their buying power? There’s a local chain called Basha’s who also has been closing stores and their prices got higher than the large chains as well. Local Mexican and Asian small chains same problem. I have to go to these stores if I want some meats that the large chains never carry.
You must be from Arizona. Basha’s was always overpriced. Carried great wild-caught salmon, however.
In Scottsdale they had (have?) AJ’s, which was an upscale store. Excellent Meat counter. They carried many specialty items not found at Fry’s (Kroger owned) or Safeway.
New to East Valley area and enjoying Bashas specials and bakery. Wouldn’t buy much of anything else there tho. They did have a good stock of fresh NM Hatch chilies in August-September. They’re jalapenos at the self checkout. 😉
Agreed! Their PA system announcements were obnoxious and reeked of authoritarianism during covid. It had a brainwashing effect on so many!
Grow your own has new meaning… 🙂
A completely new meaning, especially since marijuana prices in California have plummeted.
If a European company buys it, does that mean we’ll get a better selection of bags of bugs and crickets?
Good. Because I refuse to eat green bugs. Brown, white, black, or blue bugs are fine … but green is just too creepy. I need a wide selection of bug guts.
I’m checking listed contents of things now to see if they contain cricket flour and other inedibles.
Good…I’ve advised all of mine to do the same. Pretty sure they are sick of it. But if not me, who?
“Bioengineered” seems to be the word I’m seeing on various products. They stay on the shelves.
Example: Rice Krispies have that sinister word on their list of ingredients. Walmart’s Great Value generic rice krispies does not. Taste better as well.
A few weeks ago, our Santa Maria, CA Costco had zero eggs for sale. Normally they have a pallet of the 5 dozen packs of white eggs, and one of brown, a pallet of the 2 dozen packs of white eggs, and one of brown eggs.
Well … at least you can take solace that all those CA egg layers are free range, eco-barnyard, liberated chickens. Chickens of color. Queer chickens, and straight chickens. Chickens with Pride and room to roam. It’s a little harder to collect their eggs than those of “factory” chickens. We appreciate your patience – CA supermajority leftist politicians.
Next, the Chicken Dance will be copyrighted just like the Happy Birthday song.
Headline: A flashmob of angry chickens were seen entering a church hall where the crowd of wedding goers were doing the Chicken Dance. When interviewed, the spokeschicken said, “We chickens have equal rights. We’re not winging it anymore! Unauthorized Chicken Dances will no longer be toleratated!”Al Sharpchicken is representing the group.
I’m in Santa Ynez now and shop in Santa Maria regularly, most recently last Wednesday. The increasing price of eggs on the Central Coast is shocking. A dozen eggs a week ago was $3.99, on Wednesday $4.99 and today $6.99.
In Texas we have laying hens and I intend to do the same at our California home. The switch to a more self reliant lifestyle is an on going process for my family but something I am passionate about. The escalating price of eggs helps keep my enthusiasm intact.
Yeah … I’m about to fill my backyard with free range chickens. I’ll just keep replacing the ones ‘taken’ by the coyotes. But at least they roamed free before their death and dismemberment.
Same thing happened at Aldi (in Central Florida) with milk last week
I can’t imagine “What can we do to benefit American consumers” is heard in any multi-national boardroom
these days.
And second, if those Senators want to express American sentiment, they’d smack those people in the face with a fish
at the hearing.
“benefit American consumers..” lol, that’s a good one.
Shop as locally as you can.
You might have to do a little more driving to get everything you want, but it’s worth it in the long run. And, you help your neighbors.
I do shop “locally” – we do not have the options in our town here in Arizona as we had when we lived in Southern California years ago and had farmers markets – and you cannot grow gardens here with our 120 degree summer heat and bitter winter cold. Not everywhere can be independent.
Try hydroponics. It works in any weather as it’s indoors. You can grow enough with a small setup to give you a salad every single day.
Find a Walmart Neighborhood Market in a “safe wealthy neighborborhood”. Prices seem much lower in places less likely to be in ‘shoplifting prone neighborhoods’. These (food and pharmacy) Walmarts are usually former Public stores that are no nonsense bastions of low prices. Unfortunately, maybe a short- lived noticed fact.
Publix stores
One of the benefits of my beloved small Welsh town where I worked and lived near for decades was that we could get everything we needed from individual shop keepers in the high street.
We had 2 vegetable shops, 2 butchers, 2 bakers, and even (remembering the childhood nursery rhyme) a candlestick maker. We had a small incredibly well stocked hardware store which sold absolutely everything and 2 chemists (pharmacies)…all within easy walking distance.
The added bonus was that we knew everybody. We knew their families, their joys and their griefs. The sense of community was…well…there is no adequate word to describe it. There wasn’t a day that passed that I didn’t recognize how precious all of it was. I miss it all…
The butcher,the baker, the electric car maker– seems to be the change in that ditty.
Ugh….
“employee owned” grocers is better although not a great selection. They do offer locally grown foods sometimes. Farmers markets are the best.
“Average Thanksgiving dinner up 27% due to inflation:
Report
‘The Big Saturday Show’ panelists discuss how inflation will impact Thanksgiving dinner and President Biden blaming the GOP for his economic failure”
Source: https://www.foxnews.com/video/6314195282112#
So, this wipes out that 16 cent savings they touted not long ago?
Simple. Have a July 4th feast for Thanksgiving! Hot Dogs and beans! A cheap Bidinh Thanksgiving.
And make a video and a cartoon showing little paper covers for the end of the hot dog. Yum Yum. Just like Grandma used to make…!
Thanksgiving RE-IMAGINED the biden way.
Russet baking potatoes are currently $6 for 10 pounds at Aldi. I’m hoping for the annual sales on potatoes, butter and other items but I’m not counting on them. Holiday menus and meal plans will be adjusted as needed
Kroger has a digital deal currently here 5# for $1.99….I picked up 15#s
The Kroger here in east Tennessee has horrible produce. They must have started buying from second rate distributors. If you can find decent looking vegetables, you have to eat them within a day or two, or they will get rotten at home. We gardened for the first time this year. Next year it’ll be a bigger garden!
In Central Florida, 5 lbs of potatoes is $6 to $7
I’m gonna have a Net Zero, Carbon-free, Thanksgiving. Yes, We will all be hiking into the woods and foraging our Thanksgiving meal. Bidinh’s handlers have endorsed our eco-Thanksgiving … as … “patriotic”. Now, can anyone help me identify this toadstool?
Not to worry … that’s one of the good ones!
Kenji, you are on a glorious and very humorous roll this morning. Love it!
76% and 54% have “seen” their food and gas prices go up respectively.
Does that mean the other 24% and 46% of those that didn’t are blind?
Or untruthful.
The minority respondents don’t care what goes on their EBT cards … cause it “FREE” anyway
Or loyal Democrats, but I repeat yourself!
Or deceased. Prolly over-boosted.
Bill Gates was discussing vaccine lettuce, don’t recall if it was a TED talk or other commentary.
He is part of whatever is going on with food.
I have been saving seeds.
Does this mean my tortoise might be vaccinated without my permission?
In Australia, beef and milk stock are being injected with the MRNA vaxxxxx.
It is being reported that 18% dropped dead immediately. I don’t suppose for one second that will stop the monsters doing this.
So yes, Gates of Hell and his WEF fellow travellers are interfering with our food. I find this so terrifying I have to make an extreme physical effort to get rid of the visions of what this will do to the human body. So far I’ve been unable to.
Speaking of eggs.. I paid $11.99 for five dozen eggs Wednesday at Costco.. Same 5 dozen at Walmart was $15.99 Last week, Grocery store price for a dozen the day before was $3.99.. We seldom buy in quantity this large, looks like I will make a couple quiches for the freezer in the near future..
Also at Costco ,the 4.99 rotisserie chicken ,whose price hasn’t been raised in 25 years is also a great buy. Bringing food to work is a necessity since I am not allowed to leave premises during 8 hour shift. Publix chicken is almost one half the size and 60 % more in price. Pray and help others.
That $5 chicken is the cheese in the mouse trap.
You are correct. That’s why I leave the wife home when I go now. Month ago , my 2 chicken purchase , plus floor rug, etc. , totaled $700. Pray and help others.
All of my kids and their spouses only go into the office only TWO DAYS per week … welcome to the world as mangled by COVID
if you have ice cube trays you can freeze the eggs only in them and use later
Oh, yeah, right.
Like the political oversight will have anything to do with what’s best for constituents, or the public at large.
Sounds to me like an opportunity for pol’s to squeeze these companies for more graft, ahem, “campaign donations”.
Imagine one or two food sellers, one or two banks, one or two social networks, one or two media networks, one or two gasoline producers, a couple car producers, then think what happens when they interlock with the government. Then look at vaxx non-mandate mandates. The coercive power is immense
Then … imagine ALL of those corporations Nationalized … and voila … we are fully Venezuelized … and Sean Penn is finally happy. “Well… alright Hamilton!”
Foreign businesses bidding on American retailers? MAGA in reverse. If Amy Klobuchar stays true to form, these “hearings” will have no other purpose than to sell-out the American consumer and further weaken the global posture of the United States.
FJB!
Plus give her and rest of congress criminals time to purchase stock options to profit from their decisions
Exactly, when she’s involved it’s dirty.
Albertsons had a $1.99 U-app coupon for a dozen eggs (limit 4) this week, and they were out of stock before the day was done. They resupplied a few days later, but those ran out fast too.
We shop sales, but even then sale prices are much higher than they were just a few years ago. Walmart never has sales, but things like coffee are normally priced lower than at albertsons. Coffee is another item that has gone way up in price, so when the sales come along, we stock up.
Same thing at Safeway. At 3:00pm … all SOLD OUT … only the $5.99/doz eggs left
Ahold brands in the USA are Food Lion, Fresh Direct, The Giant Company, Giant, Hannaford, Stop and Shop, Peapod Digital Labs, and Retail Business Services. That does seem like it will not hinder competition if they are successful.
By the way, am I the only person who thinks Ahold is an unfortunate name in the USA?
Lol! No, you are exhibiting the proper response.
LOL!
I used to hate Krogers and only shopped there for pet food. For many years a very small grocer, small meat shop and small produce shop – all nearby – are where I routinely got our food. Over time though the grocer and produce guy passed away and so I then shopped at the public market. It’s not the most convenient way to grocery shop (have to pull out the wallet numerous times) and lugging foodstuffs around is hard on the hands (I’m paying the price now that I’m older). But over the years as Krogers acquired other grocers, the quality greatly improved, and now that’s where I do the majority of my grocery shopping. I truly appreciate the small independent stores and the public market and still pop in occasionally but they’re much more expensive than Krogers. What worries me most about consolidation is how much potential sway woke, bureaucratic control freaks could have if there are fewer vendors. God only knows what kinds of bother and rules they could impose. BTW the local public market is where a lot of the wokesters shop. During a recent visit I saw a pudgy young woman with half of her head buzz cut and the other half dyed green and purple, Then I saw her little kid in tow, sporting the same hairdo. She’s probably one of the mothers who likes Drag Queen Story Hour.
I do remember someone writing about eggs being 1.oo each in the near future.
Twelve dollars a dozen……becoming a reality.
Plan accordingly, was the term that I also remember.
Thank you for the warning…and the advice!
Good thing I seldom eat eggs.
No worries soon for anyone. Klaus has promised to cap global cricket prices.
I eat a lot of eggs being one of nature’s almost perfect foods.
I want to raise some chickens this spring but the damned hawks screaming all day will probably cause them not to lay.
I’m not permitted to run the hawks off let alone shoot them being protected species and all….
We may starve but the hawks will live well.
If they are hanging out in trees or other perches, often just noise of some shooting is enough to get them to move on. Hawks squawk, time for target practice.
Neighbors would rat me out in a heartbeat!
aim lower
Are you in open country or woodland? If open country, you probably have red tail hawks. They are large and can carry off a layer. In forested areas, you more likely have red shoulder hawks. They are too small to carry off full sized chickens, but will carry off young ones and banties.
If your chickens have a run area, cover it with bird netting and fasten it to your fence. The hawks will not usually challenge the netting, and, if they do, will only end up tangled in it and without a hen.
Chickens lay, hawks or not, as long as they feel reasonably safe.
Good luck!
Older suburban plat with lots of big trees. Nest in same couple of trees year after year. Heck on squirrels and birds. Bold as heck. I squirt them when they land on the roof or the grands playhouse but I think they are just laughing at me.
Assuming we survive this winter I’ll build a covered run and a secure hen-house.
Neighbor had some chickens but haven’t seen them lately.
Hawk. Fox. Raccoon. We have them all. Who can say?
I already like this idea a lot more. We already went through having our Albertson’s have to be shut down when they merged with Safeway. A company from Washington State bought the closed stores and tried to establish a presence here in Arizona, failing miserably because they were overpriced and their type of merchandise was unpopular with Arizona shoppers [I liked a lot about the store, but then I came from California and was used to shopping at stores more like Sprouts – which this new brand immolated more than the typical grocery store. They ended up going out of business and the store here was sold back to Albertson’s – so we now have a Safeway — go a few miles on same blvd Albertson’s — go a few more miles down same blvd — Smiths [Kroger]. I do not like Smiths, and parking is awful there, the parking isn’t great at Albertson’s [especially during special events on the blvd between it and Smiths]. Safeway has the best parking, but frankly I like our Albertson’s store and get all my prescriptions there as well as 99% of my grocery shopping there – and I like the gas points, too. I fear if they do merge with Smiths then we will once again lose the Albertson’s store – our town needs a store in that location and we’ve grown so fast with the influx of more upscale housing for the Californans moving here we need more stores than those three, plus on Basha’s out on the south side of town or the SuperWalmart way out on the northside.. these three are in the middle of town and always busy.
Sounds like Bullhead City
“…This might be one of those rare times when a legislative and regulatory review may actually be beneficial to the outcome for the consumer.”
No, it won’t be. The history of US FedGov regulatory activity, including anti-trust, is that it benefits the Ruling Class to the detriment of the citizen-consumer.
Get back to me when Klobuchar and Lee open investigations into the real damaging economic behemoths, the tech monopolies.
Wonder how many hearings are followed by calls to their spouse’s broker.
Once upon a time independent grocery stores thrived all over America. They have all disappeared. Government picking winners and losers results in the ultimate end user getting screwed.
Regulation killed off a lot, then so did larger stores with lower prices.
Bad idea.
I am blessed to have HEB. Prices are way up, but they were pretty cheap before all of this nonsense began, so the ‘hit’ is not as painful as in some places.
I go to estate sales from time-to-time and they are a GREAT resource for household items like cleaning products, light bulbs, air filters, paper products, tools, pesticides, etc. If you have them near you, take a look sometime.
https://www.estatesales.net/
For decades here in NC we had a chain that had grown regionally like HEB has in TX. Kroger bought it. It gradually lost all the things that set it apart – especially the customer service. Last year it went woke.
Thank you, Sundance.
“This might be one of those rare times when a legislative and regulatory review may actually be beneficial to the outcome for the consumer.”
Somehow I think it will be just another opportunity for the grifters in Congress to extort money from another source, before allowing the merger. Call me jaded, or skeptical, but the biggest scam is that “our representatives” are interested in our well-being.
Similar with Dish, Softbank, Clear, Sprint, and Blockbuster. Dish/Echostar purchased large amounts of spectrum to create a competitive phone, streaming video, satellite Tv/radio, internet, retail/service locations, etc.
At the time, TV networks went after Dish for their DVR that skipped commercials too. They went after TV manufacturers to stop them from selling remote controls, so people would have to get up to change the channel from commercials. Same with VCRs and the 30-second FF/Seek when it was introduced.
“The government picks winners and losers.” – Charlie Ergen, Dish/Echostar
And then, the winners pick the government
When government colludes with banking and corporations to create monopolies in all critical sectors, it’s called fascism.
We are there America.
When governments align globally to collude with global banking and multinational corporations to create global monopolies, it is global fascism (aka the New World Order).
We are there too America.
And there is no politician anywhere in our government who will admit it, let alone do a damn thing to stop it. One man, last night, finally, publicly called such a government what it is – Communism
Concern over price controls and decreased competition has now arrived on the desks of DC legislators who are reviewing the deal…..Which means, how can we profit off this merger.
BINGO
I hope the Congress Critters do the right thing. Less competition is always bad news and leads to more control. More control over the food supply chain is an ominous sign.
You vill eat ze bugs and you vill like it!!
The “right” thing for Congress is selling out America, while skimming for themselves. Congress cannot, will not, do any even resembling antitrust.
I guess we all need to convert to Democrats. They seem to be immune to all of these high prices. They are eager to vote for more as well. I haven’t figured out they thrive while the rest of us suffer.
I can tell you as I have seen it evolving here in the urban corridors of NC.
They are at the government table when, as TJ said above, government “picks the winners and the losers”. They skim off the top. They own (or work for) the companies that get the no bid contracts. They know what property to buy/sell before development is approved. They know what legal bets to place before decisions go before judges of legislatures. They write the regulations which favor their financial position and hurt those who try to compete against them.
I could go on and on. They are the parasite class.
They reward their friends and punish their enemies. They champion all the social causes that line their purses and expand their power and influence. They hire those who share the ideology and lots of them. Profit is no longer king because printed money flows first through them
First you would have to abandon virtue, then become a Democrat. But its getting really crowded in the GOP too.
Sounds like the Triangle area of NC. I don’t even like driving thru it to the coast.
The Krogers we have near us are awful. They look old, ugly dark paint, cluttered everywhere. They don’t look inviting to stay and shop. Now, I don’t go there. Shop at Walmart, Aldi, Publix for certain things and farmers markets which we have plenty around us.
Here there are no small grocers any more.
Krogers. Meijers. Walamart. Aldis. They have eliminated the competition.
Been poking around the WWW a bit. Of course Ahold is woke and full into ESG. It also owns Food Lion, a Southeastern supermarket chain that claims to be American.
Ahold got Food Lion when it bought a Belgian multinational conglomerate, Delhaize
They also own:
Hanaford
Giant
Fresh Direct
Stop-n-Shop
Peapod
And the good ole’ California Trader Joes is also German owned (by Aldi Nord, a different German comapnay from Aldi)
i’m buying 18 organic eggs for $6.29 @ walmart
I have twitter blocked so not sure where these $7.29 / dozen eggs were
I am in a north florida panhandle food desert
If in fact there is even the memory of antitrust or pro-competition “authorities” in the US, how does Blackrock, Vanguard, State Street exist? Thee days they are not content to generating monopolies, they instead scheme to employ famine, disease and war to install totalitarian control over the larger Western world. Ummm, I think the horse left the barn a couple of decades ago.
This merger is never good for anyone and we all know that. Here in the Pacific Northwest we had Fred Meyer, which was locally owned and operated out of Oregon for over 100 years. Until Kroger came in and bought it up. Almost from day one you could see the change in the quality of the product, along with the attitude of the employees.
Much as I hate to write this, the Seattle Times had a really good article about this merger and indicated between 100-400 grocery stores between Kroger and Alberston’s would be “spun off” and sold as part of the merger, due to proximity and competition issues.
They also listed in the previous Kroger/Fred Meyer buyout the same thing happened and 95% of the spun off Fred Meyer stores ended up closing. Same thing when Alberston’s bought Safeway. So yea…thanks Blackrock! For once I agree Congressional Oversight would be beneficial and I’ll be calling Mike Lee’s office.
If Mike Lee is involved you can bet it’s simply a matter of getting the governments wheels greased.
The government doesn’t protect you, it simply makes sure it has the reins on protecting the government and insuring that relationship is mutual.
Multi nationals largely only exist because the government helps put them where they are.
Rein in the federal government and these things become less possible.
Mike Lee is the one who loves to replace American workers with foreign visa workers?
Yes. East Indians.
I work as a software user acceptance tester (UAT). The job title might sound intimidating to some, but it’s actually easy work that is not technical at all.
UATs simply test that software works as intended from the end user’s perspective. Anyone of average intelligence that can operate a computer can work as a UAT.
I don’t even have any software coding skills at all. I’m actually a business administration major with a specialization in marketing.
For some reason, many companies insist on hiring mostly foreign visa Asian Indians to be UATs even though most Americans could easily do this work. This fact irritates me immensely. These companies have typecast UAT work as Asian Indian work.
At some companies that I have worked at, I’m one of only a few Americans on the UAT team.
But USG has no problem with China buying American land for spying and bio-weapon manufacturing.
Upside down scary clown world we live in but for how long?
I’m a terrible gardener, I need to work with a master gardener , got to grow our own
Eggs surging in price after deadly bird flu affects U.S. poultry industry Before Easter. Millions of birds were KILLED.
Eggs should not be part of the main inflation discussion platform.
It took months to lay the eggs, hatch layers and get them producing eggs.
That is half of it. In the background, price of chicken feed doubled. 60 cents for one egg? It doesn’t take 10 cents of corn to produce one egg.
Notice the price of whole chicken meat is not up as much as eggs because friers are raised in different areas, and different supply chains.
Smaller chicken farms.
In my travel, albertson’s/Safeway dominate different markets than Kroger group.
Above top 10 retailer list doesn’t show Costco. Walmart includes Sam’s groceries.
Kroger is YUGE BLM supporter. May 2020 they and their subsidiaries had large banners on their web site to encourage customers to become “allies” after reading from the recommended book list — “white supremacy”, breaking up the nuclear family, wealth redistribution, etc. I left their City Market subsidiary to go across the street to Albertson’s.
Do I now start a farm ??
Thanks for the tip fred. Our local chain “Ralphs” is owned by Kroger…they’re now dead to me.
When the kids were small, I told them how eggs come out of the chickens. They no longer eat eggs.
One of them, a carnivore like her father, would devour enormous quantities of veal when she was still very young.
One day she asked “Dad – what is veal?” I told her it was a baby cow. She’s a vegan now…………………….
I actually prefer real food that either comes whole from a plant or animal. For example, I prefer butter, which comes from cows, over margarine, whose ingredient list reads like a supply list for a chemistry lab.
It’s interesting that some people run away from any food that comes from an animal, and other people like me see no problem with it at all.
I have a designated refrigerator and cupboard where I keep “my stuff” only. Both are adorned with signs that reads:
“There’s plenty of room for all of God’s animals – – right next to the mashed potatoes.”
I hate monopolistic businesses of any sort, especially when they are big enough to become corporatist tyrants.
Fortunately, Kroger, via their Ruler Foods brand, only occupies a small market share here in the Illinois suburbs of St. Louis and Albertson’s is nonexistent here.
The local grocery store scene here is dominated by Schnuck’s and Dierberg’s, which are both family owned and based in St. Louis.
I hope neither of them sell out as I would hate to see them eventually become just another Blackrock, Vanguard or Cerberus company.
They don’t have a monopoly here as there are plenty of other grocery options in the region, but they are the dominate companies.
Even though I like the concept of small business, I will admit that Schnuck’s and Dierberg’s, which are both midsized companies, are both better run than the small, independent IGA grocery store that I grew up going to in the 1990s.
That IGA had a bad habit of not rotating stock and having expired goods for sale and had a dirty, outdated store.
There are also plenty of farmer’s markets, apple orchards, and pumpkin patches in this area.
Both Schnuck’s and Dierberg’s stock locally grown produce and meat which I appreciate.