Anothersign that eventually all of ….

Anothersign that eventually all of the world’s supply and demand will be controlled by just a few corporate entities… Kroger has agreed to purchase Albertsons for $34.10 per share in what is one of the biggest grocery industry buy-outs. Kroger is the second- largest grocer in the US by market share, behind Walmart. Albertsons is the fourth-largest, behind Costco. Together, Kroger and Albertsons would have almost 16% of the market; Walmart has about 21%.

That’s two companies (Walmart and Kroger/Albertsons) controlling nearly half of the nation’s grocery stores, which I’m sure will be used to put the squeeze on producers to undercut the other half and force consumers to choose the cheaper option, creating a snowball effect that continues the ever-dwindling ability of smaller chains and locally-owned retailers to compete. I’m sure eventually Walmart will simply swallow up even more chains and then an even bigger rertail war between Walmart and Amazon will result. [ Editor’s Note: This reminds me of the evil corporation “ Buy N Large” from the Pixar movies that eventually becomes the only company in the world or something. Will it happen for real? We’ll see.

Incidentally, I met my wife of nearly 30 years while working as a sackboy at Kroger in the summer of 1990… so it’s not all bad!]