Not surprised in the slightest. Our offbrand kroger has been the most expensive retailer in the area, and has the lowest quality produce. Plus, they treat their employees like shit and disregarded known allergens to shove a nut allergic person into the bakery where they'd have to be in contact with their allergen repeatedly...
I know it's easy to be cynical, but isn't all this coming out specifically because the FTC under the Biden Administration sued to stop this merger? Credit where credit is due for that.
I buy most of my groceries at a local employee owned chain. It's amazing how they were able to avoid so much of the massive increase in costs that larger chains were experiencing. It's like they had a completely different supply chain that wasn't anywhere near as inflated. Oh sure, certain brands seemed to be going way up in price, but other items from competing brands didn't. Meanwhile at Walmart, everything went way up in price, and at a much faster pace. Weird how that works.
I guess the giant monopolies must not have the resources and experience required to run an efficient business. How else can you explain the disparity?
Ooooh, I'm pretty sure I know the employee owned chain you speak of because I shop there too. I started going when some of Safeway's prices mysteriously doubled for no apparent reason. I'm so happy I made the switch. Those greedy pigs at Safeway did me a favor.
Anyone with grade 5 math skills could have reached the same conclusion. 8% interest, 30% price increase. It's not hard. Oh, and let's not forget that grocery chains reported record profits that year.
I like the idea of Aldi, but when I walk into my local one I'm hit with a huge wave of sadness and depression.
I cannot shop there, I wish I could, as I said I like the idea.
Learn to garden, forage, hunt and fish. They are fun hobbies and those folks have their cupboard and freezers full of clean premium quality foods. Source - my freezer and cupboards are full