{"id":2348620,"date":"2024-10-02T12:04:02","date_gmt":"2024-10-02T16:04:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/grocery-definitions-to-play-key-role-in-kroger-albertsons-merger-case-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2024-10-02T12:05:48","modified_gmt":"2024-10-02T16:05:48","slug":"grocery-definitions-to-play-key-role-in-kroger-albertsons-merger-case-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/grocery-definitions-to-play-key-role-in-kroger-albertsons-merger-case-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Grocery definitions to play key role in Kroger-Albertsons merger case &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fgrocery-definitions-to-play-key-role-in-kroger-albertsons-merger-case-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2348620&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article discusses the ongoing legal \u2063proceedings regarding the proposed $24.6 billion\u200c merger\u200c between Kroger and Albertsons. U.S. \u200dDistrict \u200dCourt Judge Adrienne Nelson&#8217;s ruling will largely depend \u2062on how \u200cshe interprets outdated grocery \u200dindustry definitions in today&#8217;s market, \u2063amid concerns about monopoly and monopoly effects, especially with the rise of e-commerce. The \u2062Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has initiated\u200d efforts to block the merger,\u2063 claiming it\u200d would violate antitrust \u2064laws and \u2062potentially <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/psaki-unfair-and-absurd-to-say-companies-would-raise-prices-in-response-to-tax-increases\/\" title=\"Psaki: \u2018Unfair and Absurd\u2019 To Say Companies Would Raise Prices in Response to Tax Increases\">raise consumer prices<\/a> by creating a monopoly. Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson has also filed \u200da lawsuit linked to \u200bthese antitrust concerns. While the proceedings are underway, there are discrepancies regarding jurisdiction and how \u200cto define\u2062 the relevant market, particularly concerning competition from e-commerce. Closing arguments are expected soon,\u2064 with broader \u200bimplications for the grocery sector and antitrust law\u2064 in the U.S.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Grocery definitions to play key role in Kroger-Albertsons merger case<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1774254\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>(The Center Square) &ndash; A ruling in the Kroger-Albertsons merger case will hinge on how U.S. District Court Judge for Oregon Adrienne Nelson interprets a 1980s-era definition of the grocery industry in the 21st-century marketplace.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Post-hearing memoranda were due Sept. 27. Judge Nelson&rsquo;s decision will address issues of monopoly, monopsony, and the rise of e-commerce.<\/p>\n<p>Last month, Cincinnati, Ohio-based Kroger and Boise, Idaho-based Albertsons concluded a hearing before the Federal Trade Commission regarding the government&rsquo;s August motion for a preliminary injunction to block the two grocery giants&rsquo; proposed $24.6 billion merger.<\/p>\n<p>The two companies operate more than 300 grocery stores across Washington, including Kroger stores branded as QFC and Fred Meyer and Albertsons stores under the Safeway and Haggen brands.<\/p>\n<p>The FTC claims the merger would violate antitrust laws and raise consumer prices by creating a monopoly.<\/p>\n<p>A monopoly is a market structure where a single seller controls the supply of a product or service. A monopsony is a market structure where a single buyer controls the demand for a product or service.<\/p>\n<p>Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a parallel lawsuit in January. In addition to AG staff assigned to the case, Ferguson contracted with the Los Angeles firm of Munger, Tolles &amp; Olsen for $2.5 million in fees.<\/p>\n<p>Although filed under Washington antitrust law, the case seeks a nationwide injunction. King County Superior Court Judge Marshall Ferguson &ndash; no relation to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/welfare-fraud-charges-filed-against-103-recipients-in-pennsylvania-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"Welfare fraud charges filed against 103 recipients in Pennsylvania - Washington Examiner\">attorney general &#038;ndash<\/a>; has already stated that he is not sure of having jurisdiction in what is typically a federal case but will let the case continue. Closing arguments are anticipated in early October.<\/p>\n<p>A federal injunction would block the merger until the full case is heard by the court next year. Merger discussions may or may not continue, as the parties may assume their odds of winning are reduced.<\/p>\n<p>Eric Fruits is a senior scholar at the International Center for Law &amp; Economics and an adjunct professor of economics at Portland State University. Last year, he authored a white paper evaluating publicly available information on the potential merger.<\/p>\n<p>The breadth of the competition laid out during the hearing surprised him.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;How to define the relevant market is a key issue,&rdquo; Fruits said. &ldquo;No one knows how to handle e-commerce. Both the FTC and the Kroger-Albertson&rsquo;s team had a hard time articulating how important that is.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The FTC counts stand-alone supermarkets and the grocery areas of big-box retailers Walmart and Target as competitors. Costco, limited-inventory stores like Trader Joe&rsquo;s, and the rapidly spreading &ldquo;dollar store&rdquo; neighborhood markets are not considered competitors.<\/p>\n<p>What Fruits described as &ldquo;the archaic concept of the one-stop shopper still holds&rdquo; under the FTC rule last tested in the 1980s. &ldquo;It defines the typical grocery store shopper as one who will drive less than five miles and will make all purchases for the household at a single store. These are not the typical customers anymore; it is unusual not to visit several stores.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>In addition to regional competition from destination &ldquo;club&rdquo; stores like Costco, consumers now have many options for center-aisle goods. Dog food, paper products, and other non-perishables have moved online for ordering and delivery.<\/p>\n<p>However, Fruits said the labor marketplace has also changed. The retail sector is diverse, and skills acquired in the grocery industry are readily transferable to a variety of retail settings across different industry sectors.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>When asked what would happen if the federal judge ruled in favor of the merger and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/delawares-plan-to-allow-widespread-unsupervised-voting-violates-its-constitution-lawsuit-says\/\" title=\"Delaware\u2019s Plan To Allow Widespread Unsupervised Voting Violates Its Constitution, Lawsuit Says\">state court found<\/a> that the merger violated Washington state law, Fruits speculated that it would most likely result in stores owned by the merged entity in the Evergreen State being sold off or closed.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a case of better be careful what you wish for,&rdquo; he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1774254\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1774254\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Grocery definitions crucial in Kroger-Albertsons merger case<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2348621,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/grocery-aisle-istock-food-1024x668.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[17743,42162,15398,42161,32076],"class_list":["post-2348620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner","tag-albertsons","tag-grocery-definitions","tag-kroger","tag-merger-case","tag-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/grocery-aisle-istock-food-1024x668.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2348620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2348620"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2348620\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2348621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2348620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2348620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2348620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}