DENVER — A trial resulting from a lawsuit filed by Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser to block the merger between Kroger and Albertsons is set to begin on Monday, Sept. 30, in Denver District Court.
Weiser is leading efforts to block the $24.6 billion proposed merger with a lawsuit he filed in Denver District court on February 14, 2024.
"We already have food deserts," Weiser said in a press conference on Thursday. "If Kroger is able to buy Albertsons, it's going to hurt consumers, workers, farmers, and communities. We filed this lawsuit because we want to control our own destiny."
The lawsuit followed a yearlong investigation beginning in 2023, during which Weiser held 19 listening sessions across the state, including one in Alamosa.
"We heard from local Safeway employees, members of the union, consumers, and ag producers in the Valley," he said. His office also received more than 6,100 responses to an online survey about the merger. The information gathered helped ensure that Coloradans had a voice in the process.
Kroger and Albertsons are two of the largest supermarket chains in Colorado. Kroger operates 148 King Soopers and City Market stores, and Albertsons operates 105 Safeway and Albertsons stores in the state. Both stores have a presence in Alamosa.
"We know people are pinched at the checkout counter," Weiser said, "and this merger will make it worse. The companies can say, 'don't worry, prices won't go up and stores won't close', but history has proven otherwise." As Weiser went on to explain, "There is no mechanism to hold a company" to doing what they said they would do.
According to the lawsuit, the merger would eliminate head-to-head competition between Kroger and Albertsons and consolidate an already heavily concentrated market, which is bad for Colorado shoppers, workers, and suppliers.
"Coloradans are concerned about undue consolidation and its harmful impacts on consumers, workers, and suppliers," stated Weiser in announcing the lawsuit last February. "After 19 town halls across the state, I am convinced that Coloradans think this merger between the two supermarket chains would lead to stores closing, higher prices, fewer jobs, worse customer service, and less resilient supply chains."
Kroger and Albertsons also compete to offer the best local products to draw customers into their stores. For example, Kroger and Albertsons often sell Palisade peaches on promotion — and sometimes at a loss — to generate store traffic.
Kroger and Albersons being owned independently of each other benefits Palisade peach farmers because they can be assured of a fair price and avenues to sell their crops, and it benefits consumers because they have access to great local product at low prices. The same benefits apply to other local Colorado products, including other fresh products like meat, dairy, baked goods, or center-store packaged products.
The merger would eliminate this head-to-head competition between the companies.
On July 25, Denver District Court Judge Andrew Luxen issued an order temporarily stopping the merger while the trial proceeds, noting that the state has a "reasonable probability" of proving its claims based on the evidence presented to the court.
When asked what happens if the lawsuit is successful and the merger is blocked, Weiser said, "We'll go back to the way things were before the merger was proposed."
The trial is set to start In Denver District Court on Monday, Sept. 30. AG Weiser anticipates it will last for three weeks.
