These Grocery-Store Chains Want to Cripple the FTC
The Federal Trade Commission is trying to stop the merger of two of the US’s largest grocery-store chains, Kroger and Albertsons. In response, the companies are suing to undermine the FTC and dismantle the country’s antitrust machinery.
A worker pushes shopping carts outside a Kroger grocery store in Dallas, Texas, on Wednesday, February 21, 2024. (Shelby Tauber / Bloomberg via Getty Images)
As Vice President Kamala Harris campaigns on tackling skyrocketing grocery prices, two of the country’s largest grocery chains are doing everything they can to merge into a price-gouging behemoth.
As legal proceedings began on Monday, August 26, to stop the merger of Kroger and Albertsons, behind the scenes the companies have spent millions in corporate lobbying, sued to dismantle the country’s long-standing antitrust machinery, and even erased potentially incriminating evidence about “the merger’s anticompetitive impacts,” according to court documents reviewed by the Lever.
If successful, the chains’ efforts might not just raise prices, limit product diversity, and harm workers — they could cripple government agencies working to investigate corporate malfeasance and protect consumer rights.
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