Statement from Attorney General Phil Weiser on the end of the Kroger/Albertsons grocery merger trial

Oct. 25, 2024 (DENVER)—Attorney General Phil Weiser released the following statement regarding the end of the Kroger/Albertsons grocery merger trial:

“The Kroger/Albertsons grocery megamerger would harm consumers and is illegal. Colorado shoppers don’t need to imagine what grocery prices without competition would look like. Kroger executives admitted on the stand that they already charge higher prices in our mountain communities where there is no competition.

“The planned divestitures of Safeway stores to C&S fail to save the merger. If C&S operates the divested stores in the manner it has run other stores it owns, they’ll be a smaller and worse competitor in the market, leaving consumers worse off. Indeed, under the most likely scenario, more than half of the divested stores will close. We witnessed such an outcome after the Albertsons/Safeway merger and cannot let it happen again.

“In all events, the Kroger/Albertsons merger is bad for consumers, workers, farmers, and communities. If this merger goes through, Albertsons will be replaced with a smaller and weaker competitor, prices will rise for consumers who are already feeling pinched, local food options will suffer, consumers will have fewer options, and workers and their futures will be put at risk. That’s why we have asked the court to block the illegal Kroger/Albertsons merger.”

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