Bellingham City Council formally opposes Albertsons-Kroger merger

On Monday, September 16, the same day that a Washington state antitrust trial began against the merger of two national grocery store chains, the Bellingham City Council took an official position opposing the proposed merger of Albertsons and Kroger.

The Council expressed concerns about possible reductions in competition, price increases, reduced access to food and job losses for unionised workers.

At the time of the 2022 merger announcement, Kroger and Albertsons combined operated nearly 5,000 stores nationwide, including stores operating under the Haggen, Albertsons, Safeway, Fred Meyer and QFC names.

Kroger and Albertsons say they need to merge to compete with big companies like Walmart and Amazon. In response to concerns about state and federal antitrust laws, the two companies have released a plan to sell all of their stores, which they plan to sell to New Hampshire-based C&S Wholesale Grocers if the proposed merger goes through.

The list includes all four Haggen locations in Bellingham and a Safeway on Sunset. Other stores to be sold in Whatcom and Skagit counties include Haggen locations in Ferndale and Burlington and a Safeway in Mount Vernon. Haggen was founded in Bellingham in 1933 but filed for bankruptcy after a failed expansion attempt in 2014 and was bought by Albertsons in 2016.

Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a lawsuit in January to block Kroger’s takeover of Albertsons. The complaint said the two companies have more than 300 locations in the state and account for more than half of grocery sales. United Food & Commercial Workers, Local 3000, which represents Kroger and Albertsons workers in Washington state, northeastern Oregon and northern Idaho, supported the lawsuit, the Seattle Times reported. The Federal Trade Commission followed suit in February.

Bellingham City Council member Jace Cotton introduced a resolution on Sept. 16 formally opposing the merger because he believes it poses significant risks to customers and employees of local grocery stores.

“I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that any merger of this size will have negative consequences, including for consumers and workers,” Cotton said during Monday afternoon’s meeting.

The resolution noted that the city “experienced negative impacts from the Safeway-Albertsons merger in 2015,” including the bankruptcy of Haggen and the closure of the Albertsons store in Birchwood in 2016. The closure had the long-term effect of reducing access to fresh food for neighborhood residents.

The resolution, unanimously approved by the city council Monday night, was forwarded to the Federal Trade Commission, the state attorney general and the CEOs of Kroger and Albertsons. Several other cities in Washington state, such as Kenmore in King County, have taken the same action.

Julia Tellman writes about civic affairs and whatever else crosses her desk. She can be reached at [email protected].