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[–]StacyCat12Past Associate 22 points23 points  (5 children)

At this point, it's a monopoly as large as Walmart.

[–]crashtestdummy666 12 points13 points  (4 children)

Long as they are no bigger than Walmart there should be no problem. The problem I see is the merger doesn't do anything to help the real problem, Kroger lacks any general merchandise division like Amazon or Wal-Mart so in the end Kroger has a bigger piece of a quickly shrinking pie. Merging with a dollar general or family dollar or the like would have been a smarter move.

[–]Justicebeaver179 8 points9 points  (2 children)

Fred Meyer does have a ton of general merchandise(way more than Walmart) but for some reason they’re only in a few states.

[–]wikum00 2 points3 points  (1 child)

Even our gm sections are shrinking slowly over the years, my freddies store has lost 30% of its gm (in floorspace and in services, like furniture or electronics) in the last 11 years

[–]Justicebeaver179 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For sure, every-time they remodel they reduce the size. It’s still more than Walmart(at least where I am)

[–]Affectionate-Map-691 18 points19 points  (2 children)

For sure most of the people at Albertsons will be replaced. Mostly because they make more than Kroger standards.

[–]Justicebeaver179 5 points6 points  (1 child)

When I was at Kroger for just about a year I got an interview at Albertsons, but I couldn’t take the job because Albertsons was paying $5 less for the same job.

[–]PTXMike25Front End Relief Asst 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, the store I’m super close to couldn’t even get me to $15 an hour when I applied which was only like $1.30 more than minimum. At the Kroger store I’m at now under the same Union (different contract obviously) I get $23.09 and hour with full time in less than a year of working

[–]Sg15zBookkeeper 20 points21 points  (8 children)

There's really only a handful of markets where the 2 companies have significant overlap, and it's likely these markets that the 375 stores they're spinning off into a new separate company, are. For the most part, the 2 companies have the majority of their stores in markets the other has no (or insignificant) presence. And on a nationwide view, Kroger has about 8% of the market share and Albertsons 4.5%. So we're looking at Kroger having at most 12% of the market share, and maybe not even that.

Grocery is one of the most competitive industries in the country, and I don't really see this merger having a significant change in that competitiveness, outside of a few local instances that may or may not already be addressed in those 375 stores that will be given up.

As much as I don't like Kroger. The cries about a monopoly are a bit of an overreaction.

[–]icedoutclockwatch 7 points8 points  (5 children)

The two grocery stores within a half mile walk of me in Chicago are a Mariano’s and a Jewel. This won’t be good for this city.

[–]mythofdob 5 points6 points  (4 children)

As an Illinois Kroger employee, the merger is big talk in our store.

Kroger is already weird in Illinois.

45 Mariano's in one division.

33 Kroger locations in a seperate division (Central, and all the higher ups are in Indianapolis and ignore all of Illinois.)

13 Ruler stores in another division.

11 Food 4 Less in yet another seperate division.

This merger would ad 138 Jewel stores that have a ton of overlap with Mariano's.

There is no way Kroger is gonna keep over 200 stores in Illinois.

[–]icedoutclockwatch 1 point2 points  (3 children)

So you think they’ll just close half or what?

[–]mythofdob 2 points3 points  (2 children)

I think they will pull the same move Albertsons did, spin of a bunch of stores to a seperate company while setting up poor management in that company and eventually buy that seperate company when it's dying.

[–]icedoutclockwatch 1 point2 points  (1 child)

I don’t quite follow, what store are you referencing that they’ve done this with previously?

What’s the business logic here? They buy a chain, make it worse then sell it off only to buy it back?

[–]mythofdob 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Lookup the lawsuits between Albertsons and Haggen in 2015. Albertsons sold stores to Haggen to appease the merger of Safeway and Albertsons.

Like within a few years, those stores were bought back by Albertsons.

Edit: shouldn't have have said research, felt too aggressive. No need for that here.

[–]Aberisque[S] 12 points13 points  (1 child)

Not that one person will have much affect, but I've taken to avoiding spending my money at Kroger unless absolutely necessary. I don't see it so much as a boycott, but I personally despise the business practices and recent history of the company. I feel like most of the executives should go back to hell where they belong.

[–]jesusleftnipplePast Associate 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Hey me too

[–]Agitated_Date2251 4 points5 points  (2 children)

Not gonna be good for grocery prices.

[–]Mr_Hamster01 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Prices already suck so it’s only fair for the upper 2% to hike them up more for bigger profit at our expense right?

/s

[–]teratogenic17 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Prices got frozen in 1971--and Biden could do it. https://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/Executive_Order_11615

[–][deleted] 7 points8 points  (5 children)

Literally just read this on CNN and they are quoted as one of the biggest retailers to not have unions.

[–][deleted] 6 points7 points  (4 children)

The exact quote....

'The merger “accelerates our position as a more compelling alternative to larger and non-union competitors,” Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen said in a statement Friday.'

[–]Aberisque[S] 8 points9 points  (2 children)

We might as well not be unionized, I think it's been pretty clearly established the ufcw is on corporates payroll. Seeing how little interest they show in actually fighting for better conditions, and will accept peanuts to avoid drawn out confrontations, or strikes.

They're paid twice over either way, why should they care about the wage slave?

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Just gotta make sure no body works for them.

[–]travisihs08Current Associate 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You know well that that the Albertsons/kroger merge will destroy half of the unions. If both compnies are on different contracts in a given area, nobody's gonna agree on a new contract and collapsing the union.

[–]Lost_Cleric 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For the most part so cal is unionized no?

[–]SimpleVegetable5715 0 points1 point  (2 children)

So their only competitor will be Safeway/Tom Thumb, so if they buy them, they can be Walmart.

[–]joyb27 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Safeway is a part of Albertsons, isn’t it?

[–]SimpleVegetable5715 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh shucks, my bad, yes they are as of 2015

[–]RRbrokeredit 0 points1 point  (2 children)

Would I finally get a Starbucks in my Kroger? One of many things I miss about SoCal

[–]SimpleVegetable5715 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Do you really have that much trouble finding a Starbucks?

[–]RRbrokeredit 0 points1 point  (0 children)

One that’s open yea LOL I swear every time I people nicely and go to treat myself, nope their closed