“We believe the way to be America’s best grocer is to provide great value by consistently lowering prices and offering more choices. When we do this, more customers shop with us and buy more groceries, which allows us to reinvest in even lower prices, a better shopping experience, and higher wages,” said Rodney McMullen, chairman and CEO of Kroger.
It’s a load of tripe. All these big companies come in with lower prices, drive their local competition out of business, then raise them once they’ve got a local monopoly. Even if Kroger currently has the best of intentions (I don’t believe that), I wouldn’t trust the next person or the one after that.
We’re already fighting a losing battle with suppliers gouging and creating higher prices or shrinking portions for the same price. I’m scared to see what grocery bills would look like under a store monopoly in addition to that.
How they have gotten around it before is to promise they will keep prices down and then show how things will be much cheaper for them so they can do it. Unsurprisingly they all fail on their promises shortly after but they have already merged by that point and have little fear of being broken up.
But didn’t you hear? Less competition makes prices go down. The head of Kroger said so!!!
You know things are getting bad when even capitalists are arguing against market economics.
“We believe the way to be America’s best grocer is to provide great value by consistently lowering prices and offering more choices. When we do this, more customers shop with us and buy more groceries, which allows us to reinvest in even lower prices, a better shopping experience, and higher wages,” said Rodney McMullen, chairman and CEO of Kroger.
It’s a load of tripe. All these big companies come in with lower prices, drive their local competition out of business, then raise them once they’ve got a local monopoly. Even if Kroger currently has the best of intentions (I don’t believe that), I wouldn’t trust the next person or the one after that.
We’re already fighting a losing battle with suppliers gouging and creating higher prices or shrinking portions for the same price. I’m scared to see what grocery bills would look like under a store monopoly in addition to that.
How they have gotten around it before is to promise they will keep prices down and then show how things will be much cheaper for them so they can do it. Unsurprisingly they all fail on their promises shortly after but they have already merged by that point and have little fear of being broken up.