Colorado Attorney General Weiser issues statement on court blocking Kroger, Albertsons merger

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser recently released the following statement on Monday’s federal district court ruling blocking the Kroger, Albertsons grocery mega-merger nationwide (Eagle County has both City Market (Kroger) and Albertsons (Safeway) stores:

“I am pleased that a federal district court judge ruled that the corporate owners of King Soopers, Safeway and City Market must pause their $25 billion megamerger. Today’s ruling is a victory for consumers, workers, and farmers. 

“All along, we have made the case that the Kroger/Albertsons merger is illegal and bad for Colorado. It is bad for grocery shoppers who are already feeling pinched at the checkout counter. It’s bad for workers and their job security and benefits. And it’s bad for farmers and other suppliers because there would be fewer local food options available at the store. 

“Colorado has brought a separate case in state court to block this anticompetitive grocery merger and to challenge an illegal no-poach and no solicitation agreement between the two companies during the 2022 King Soopers strike. We wait for a ruling in our case, and we are optimistic that this illegal merger will be permanently blocked.”