This is definitely a big deal in much of Oregon. There are a lot of medium-sized towns that only have one grocery store of each type. If the merger goes through, one of those stores will close and the people in that area would be dealing with a monopoly.
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That particular merger affects those states, but much of the country now is similarly vulnerable in that two grocery store chains dominate any given market. Where I was in New Jersey it was Shop-Rite and Stop & Shop. Here in the KC area, it’s Hy-Vee and Price Chopper. The good news is Hy-Vee is 100% employee owned, so it’s unlikely to be either the target or the perpetrator of a mega merger.
The other bad news everywhere is that in place of true competition in the grocery sector, dollar stores are just exploding. In many rural areas, they’re the only place to get groceries with 30 or 40 miles. And everything about dollar stores sucks. I can’t think of one redeeming quality.
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Even the name is a lie.
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That’s missing a line for the easiest tax to implement: wealth tax.
I talked about this at TOP, but the Ontario Food Terminal is the key around here to keeping smaller shops alive. Anyone can open a grocery store and get their fresh stuff there. It’s so effective that a lot of “farmer’s market” stalls are people who have bought from food terminal at 5am then driven out to the market to sell.
(Having mangoes for sale in Ontario at a farmer’s market is a bit of a give away.)
Anyhow, there’s a powerful template to work with there.
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Quick addendum on the attempted grocery merger deal (see a few above to my previous blather for the background): the robber-barons are now fighting among themselves. Albertsons is suing Kroger for not having laid the groundwork for their evil schemes sufficiently well.
Albertsons gives up on Kroger merger and sues the grocery chain for failing to secure deal
Kroger and Albertsons in 2022 proposed what would be the largest grocery store merger in U.S. history.
Author: Associated Press
Published: 6:09 AM PST December 11, 2024 Updated: 7:47 AM PST December 11, 2024
NEW YORK — Albertsons is giving up on its merger with Kroger a day after it was rejected in two courts and it is suing the grocery chain, saying it didn’t do enough to secure regulatory approval for the $24.6 billion agreement. …
(here’s hoping that once A is suing B that all mutual deals between A and B are off, but i’m sure as hell not a lawyer nor even a ‘good’ business-person)
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Now that sounds like how Detroit was for a loooong time. Just state/local chain stores, such as Spartan. But there’s a Meijer in the city limits (on 8 Mile near Woodward) and a Whole Foods, maybe more as well. (just checked - those are the only ones, and Meijer isn’t even all over the country…yet.) And the Whole Foods is in midtown Detroit.
All the Krogers are in the 'burbs, including gasp Grosse Pointe, which also boasts a Trader Joe’s.
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At least there’s Eastern Market on the weekends.
In stark contrast to Detroit, Ann Arbor has 4 Krogers, a Bushes, 2 Whole Paychecks, 2 Plum Markets, 2 Argus Farm Stops and the farmer’s market in the city limits. Ypsilanti, though, has a “farmer’s” market pretty much only for SNAP recipients and a sporadic farmer’s market in city limits. The immediately surrounding townships have 3 Meijers, 3 Krogers, and 2 Aldis. That’s a heck of a lot more stores for a much smaller geographic area and population size.
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Yeah but that’s still a ways to go
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This chart might be a real eye-opener for folks who don’t believe what experts have been saying about the transfer of wealth in the US:
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Huh. I wonder what changed in 1980? I guess we’ll never know. It’s a mystery! 
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I was born in the year of the Earth Monkey.
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This has always been a favorite of mine:
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I know it’s off topic but I also like the headline “Russia v NATO, again”. It has a very understated frustration that feels perfect for our times. “Trump starts tariff wars, again.” “Women fight for basic rights, again.” “Musk promises Mars colony, again.” “Polio on rise, again.” I feel like at least half the news could be reported that way.
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Inflation panic and “government debt is the cause of all evil” from a crypto bro? What is this, 2009?
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This, the budget deal crashing, Trump coming into office.
Things don’t look good for Wall Street.
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