Supermarket News

Why do Kroger and Albertsons want to merge, and more questions answered

Kroger and Albertsons want to merge

Kroger

The largest proposed grocery store merger in U.S. history is going to court.

On one side are supermarket chains Kroger and Albertsons, which say their planned merger will help them compete against rivals like Costco. On the other side are antitrust regulators from the Federal Trade Commission, who say the merger would eliminate competition and raise grocery prices in a time of already high food price inflation.

Starting August 26, a federal district court judge in Portland, Oregon, will consider both sides and decide whether to grant the FTC’s request for a preliminary injunction. An injunction would delay the merger while the FTC conducts an in-house case against the deal before an administrative law judge.

Kroger, based in Cincinnati, Ohio, operates 2,800 stores in 35 states, including brands like Ralphs, Smith’s and Harris Teeter. Albertsons, based in Boise, Idaho, operates 2,273 stores in 34 states, including brands like Safeway, Jewel Osco and Shaw’s. Together, the companies employ around 710,000 people.

Here’s what to know ahead of the hearing, which is expected to last until September 13:

Why do Kroger and Albertsons want to merge? Kroger and Albertsons – two of the largest grocery chains in the U.S. – announced in October 2022 that they planned to merge. The companies say the $24.6 billion deal would hold down prices by giving them more leverage with suppliers and allowing them to combine their store brands. They say a merger also would help them compete with big rivals like Walmart, which now controls around 22% of U.S. grocery sales. Combined, Kroger and Albertsons would control around 13%.

Why does the FTC want to block the merger? Antitrust regulators say the proposed merger would eliminate competition, leading to higher prices, poorer quality and lower wages and benefits for workers. In February, the FTC issued a complaint seeking to block the merger before an administrative judge at the FTC. At the same time, the FTC filed the lawsuit in federal court in Oregon seeking the preliminary injunction. The attorneys general of California, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon and Wyoming all joined the federal lawsuit.

Will Kroger and Albertsons close some stores if they merge? They say no. If the merger is approved, Kroger and Albertsons have agreed to sell 579 stores in places where their stores overlap. The buyer would be C&S Wholesale Grocers, a New Hampshire-based supplier to independent supermarkets that also owns the Grand Union and Piggly Wiggly store brands. Kroger and Albertsons initially planned to divest 413 stores, but the FTC said that plan would not have allowed C&S to be a robust competitor. Kroger and Albertsons agreed to divest additional stores in April. Washington has the most stores that would be divested, with 124, followed by Colorado with 91 and California with 63.

What happens if the Oregon judge issues a preliminary injunction? If the preliminary injunction is approved, Kroger and Albertsons would likely appeal to a higher court, said Mike Keeley, a partner and antitrust chair at Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider, a Washington law firm. The case could then move through the FTC’s own judicial system, but since that can take a year or more, companies often abandon a deal before going through the process, Keeley said. Kroger sued the FTC this month, alleging the agency's internal proceedings are unconstitutional and saying it wants the merger's merits decided in federal court. In that case, filed in Ohio, Kroger cited a recent Supreme Court ruling that limited the power of the Securities and Exchange Commission to try some civil fraud complaints within the agency instead of in court.

What happens if the Oregon judge agrees with Kroger and Albertsons? The FTC would likely appeal the ruling, but Keeley said it's rare for an appeals court to reverse a lower court's ruling on a merger, so the FTC might decide to drop the challenge. The case could still proceed through the FTC's administrative process. It's unclear what impact the presidential election could have on the case. The Biden administration has been particularly aggressive in challenging mergers that it considered anti-competitive, but lawmakers from both parties expressed skepticism about the merger in a 2022 hearing.

If the federal court lets the merger proceed, could state courts still prevent it? Colorado and Washington have separately sued to block the merger in state courts. That's an unusual situation; normally states are co-plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit. But both states believe they have a lot at stake. Colorado has more than 200 Kroger and Albertsons stores, while Washington has more than 300. Keeley said both states could seek their own injunctions from a different court if the FTC loses, but it would be surprising for another court to block the merger if Kroger and Albertsons are successful in the federal case.

More momentum

Cafe Momentum scales its mission with new East Dallas flagship

The exterior of the new two-story Cafe Momentum flagship center in East Dallas.

Rendering courtesy of Cafe Momentum.

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For over a decade, Cafe Momentum has served as more than just an acclaimed culinary destination in downtown Dallas; it has been a catalyst for kids impacted by the juvenile justice system.

What began as a bold idea has blossomed into a nationally recognized model for youth empowerment. Now, as the organization prepares to plant its roots in a new East Dallas flagship, the mission is poised to shift from a local success story into a high-speed blueprint for national change.

Cafe Momentum is building a new two-story, 11,000-square-foot center at 1000 Oak St. at Greenwood Street. The privately funded, $10 million project is scheduled to open in January 2027.

The new flagship will house the nonprofit's operations and training, as well as its popular restaurant that is open to the public. Regular diners will be glad to know they won't be making any major changes to the menu; it will remain seasonally driven. They might add a Wednesday night dinner offering, they say. And in welcome news, it will have a patio.

For the massive project, Cafe Momentum partnered with the Meadows Foundation, which provided a 0.8-acre plot in East Dallas. This partnership removes rental costs and places the new flagship in the Wilson Historic District on the Meadows Campus — a hub hosting 33 nonprofits. The structure is being built by Gordon Highlander.

A feast at Cafe Momentum.Photo by Samantha Marie

A mission with momentum
The idea behind Cafe Momentum started with Chef Chad Houser back in 2008. While serving as executive chef and co-owner of Parigi, Houser visited a juvenile detention center to teach young men how to make ice cream — an experience that deeply shifted his perception of incarcerated youth, he says. In 2011, he launched a series of pop-up dinners at various Dallas restaurants to test the non-profit restaurant model, eventually opening a permanent location at 1510 Pacific Ave. in January 2015.

Houser received the Humanitarian of the Year Award from the James Beard Foundation in 2025.

Cafe Momentum’s mission is to transform lives by equipping justice-involved youth, aged 15 to 19, with life skills, education, and employment opportunities. Participants begin with a 12-month paid internship at the award-winning restaurant, rotating through every station to gain real-world experience and confidence. Because the program requires interns to be enrolled in school — and traditional environments rarely meet their needs — Cafe Momentum created an academy to help participants complete their high school degrees.

After 10 years downtown, the organization has outgrown its current footprint, its leaders say. While workforce development happens at the restaurant, the other three pillars — 24/7 case management, mental health, and education — are housed at a nearby community center in the Thanksgiving Square underground tunnels. Integrating all four pillars into a single flagship center with the restaurant and the community center both under the same space will streamline operations and deepen their impact, they say.

The restaurant will move from downtown to the new flagship in East Dallas.Rendering courtesy of Cafe Momentum.

The expansion extends far beyond North Texas. Cafe Momentum opened a second location in Pittsburgh in 2023, followed by Atlanta in 2025, and a Denver site is slated for January 2027. Houser notes that interest from other cities remains high as they continue their national trajectory.

The impact is even reaching other restaurant groups. The Kansas-based Thrive Restaurant Group studied the model and implemented it in seven of their Wichita locations. After hosting a pop-up with local community and government leaders to demonstrate what is possible, the framework proved so successful that they are now scaling to locations in North Carolina.

“Scaling for us is a two-fold goal: the opportunity to build our location and also to build a bigger conversation and show people what is possible,” Houser says. “If we can do this in a segment that is so marginalized, think about what we can do in the broader community.”

The data backs his ambition: nearly 95 percent of interns are making academic progress, and 100 percent now have bank accounts — enabling future access to credit — compared to just one in four at the start of the program. Additionally, 85 percent are in compliance with court orders, and over 75 percent receive consistent counseling.

Chad Houser of Cafe Momentum. Courtesy photo

Real-life success
Beyond the numbers, the results are most visible in the alumni. Lucciano, better known as “Lucci,” is currently a brand ambassador for Cafe Momentum and exemplifies the mission’s success. Lucci started his internship in 2022 with an incomplete 9th grade education, but a full dream of finishing school. He went on to earn his GED as valedictorian while working at the restaurant.

“I told Chad I needed the opportunity and promised I’d make the best of it. It’s been foot to the pedal since then,” Lucci says.

He even got the chance to assist with the new openings in Atlanta and Denver. Lucci admits he was acting as an ambassador long before he had the official title.

“Being a server, you have to know how to describe the program; it was practice talking to people. I was telling everybody about it, even my Uber driver on the way to work.," he says.

Stories like Lucci’s serve as motivation for the organization's future. With the success of the model proven through the lives of its alumni, Houser is now looking to continue their growth and community impact.

“Having this flagship center will allow us to go hyperdrive into what a national practice could look like for us,” Houser says. To refine this national vision, leadership has met with organizations like LeBron James’ I PROMISE Program and Brandon Edwin Chrostowski’s EDWINS Leadership & Restaurant Institute, to learn from their practices.

In the decade since its first restaurant opening, Cafe Momentum has served over 1,300 interns in Dallas.

“What I am most proud of is where we are and how we are today,” Houser says. “Our growth is a direct reflection of an organization that was built by listening to the people we serve and responding to that.”

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