On Tuesday, August 1st, Congresswoman Kim Schrier, M.D. (WA-08), sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to halt the impending Kroger/Albertsons merger. The letter highlighted the negative impact the merger would have on the people and farmers of the Eighth District and Washington State as a whole.
In today’s letter, Congresswoman Schrier calls on the FTC to halt this 24.6-billion-dollar merger that would eliminate much-needed competition in the supermarket industry and lead to higher prices for families, limited consumer choice, and a smaller and less competitive market for American farmers.
Washingtonians will be particularly hard-hit by this merger, as Washington has 329 Kroger and Albertsons stores, including 10% of all Albertsons locations nationally. A recent announcement has highlighted that Kroger/Albertsons will be selling off 124 of their stores in Washington State to complete the merger. Kroger stores include QFC and Fred Meyer. Albertsons includes Safeway.
Of the 34 Kroger/Albertsons stores in the Eighth District, 14 are on the sale list. Recognizing the impact this will have on Eighth District constituents, Congresswoman Schrier has been calling on the FTC for two years to halt this merger.
“For the past two years, I have been calling on the FTC to halt this merger in its tracks. This merger eliminates much-needed competition and will, in turn, lead to even higher prices at the grocery store for families, limited choice on what groceries to buy as store brands disappear, and the creation of an even smaller and less competitive market for our farmers and growers who are already being squeezed,” said Congresswoman Schrier. “While Eighth District families are already struggling to make ends meet due to high costs, I can’t and won’t sit idly by while big corporations take advantage by stymieing competition in an already siloed market.”
Congresswoman Schrier’s letter can be found here. Congresswoman Schrier previously wrote a separate letter to the FTC expressing similar concerns in 2022, which can be found here.
[Information provided by the Office of Congresswoman Kim Schrier]
