Kroger's mountain town pricing strategy under scrutiny in Colorado merger trial [View all]
A Kroger executive testified on a City Market "mountain no-comp zone” where the grocer raised prices to cover its rising costs.
Bernadette Berdychowski
Oct 1, 2024 Updated 15 hrs ago
On the second day of the trial over Colorado’s attempts to block the Kroger-Albertsons merger, the state’s legal team questioned Kroger’s executives on a pricing strategy implemented in several mountain towns across Colorado.
Kroger Senior Director of Pricing Andy Groff testified on Tuesday morning about a program called the “mountain no-comp zone” established in 2022 when inflation was surging nationwide. It was also called a “low-comp” zone.
The zone identified eight stores on the state’s Western Slope, where Kroger had less competition. It included City Market stores in Glenwood Springs, Aspen, Breckenridge, Newcastle, Granby, Carbondale, Eagle and El Jebel.
In all eight stores, Kroger raised prices under the program, Groff confirmed.
Kroger is the parent company of nearly 150 stores under the King Soopers and City Market brand within Colorado. The grocer is currently facing three lawsuits from state and federal officials in Colorado, Washington and in Oregon as it tries to merge with Safeway’s parent company Albertsons for $25 billion.
https://denvergazette.com/news/business/colorado-kroger-mountain-town-merger-trial/article_ea0852f6-8039-11ef-85a0-db817e58be3b.html