Sorry for the long delay, but: Defining the grocery market as just supermarkets is the foolish thing I disagree with. Walmart, Target, Amazon, even Dollar General — along with Blue Apron and their ilk - and ethnic grocers - are all competitors of the supermarket. Kroger and Albertsons, even as a single unit, can’t simply jack prices up because Walmart and Target would LOVE to take all their customers, and easily will if they aren’t price-competitive. We already have competition and the notion that we wouldn’t if 2 supermarkets merged is lunacy. Honestly, I have a choice of either of the supermarket chains in question and I primarily frequent the one closest to me. I don’t cross-shop them against each other, but there are some things I buy at Walmart because I’ve learned it’s a better deal.
And yes, when regulators are so ham-fisted as to literally destroy many neighborhoods’ only grocery store with their dumb divestiture demands, yes, that was bad for consumers!
And yes, when regulators are so ham-fisted as to literally destroy many neighborhoods’ only grocery store with their dumb divestiture demands, yes, that was bad for consumers!