Colorado
Kroger-Albertsons Merger Trial Concludes in Colorado; Decision Expected Soon | PYMNTS.com
Following a rigorous four-week trial, the highly anticipated $24.6 billion merger proposal between Kroger and Albertsons—the two largest grocery chains in Colorado—now rests in the hands of Denver District Court Judge Andrew Luxen. The upcoming ruling is expected to set a critical precedent for antitrust law and could have sweeping effects beyond Colorado.
In February, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser filed a lawsuit to prevent the merger, alleging it would infringe on state antitrust laws and pose “substantial harm” to both consumers and grocery workers across the state. According to Colorado News, Weiser’s office has voiced concerns that the deal could consolidate grocery options to an unhealthy extent, particularly affecting rural and mountain communities that already have limited access to food retail.
The core of the legal clash centers on Kroger’s acquisition of Albertsons, a move the grocery giant has justified as a necessary strategy to compete against large national retailers like Walmart, Costco, and Amazon, which have steadily increased their footprint in the grocery sector. Matt Wolf, an attorney representing Kroger, argued that the merger would result in benefits for Colorado shoppers, including “lower prices, higher pay for union and non-union associates alike, and cleaner, better-stocked stores for hundreds of thousands of Coloradans.”
“While Walmart and Costco and Amazon might be pleased with the state’s efforts today, grocery shoppers in Colorado will pay more and get less if the state has its way,” Wolf said during the closing arguments.
Kroger, headquartered in Ohio, and Albertsons, based in Idaho, collectively operate nearly 5,000 grocery locations across the U.S. and view this merger as a crucial countermeasure to the massive scale of retail giants outside the traditional grocery sphere. However, labor unions, consumer advocates, and Weiser’s team caution that further consolidation could lead to diminished competition, thereby raising prices, reducing wages, and eroding worker bargaining power.
Per Colorado News, one of the contentious points in court was the proposed divestiture plan by Kroger and Albertsons. To alleviate antitrust concerns, the companies have offered to sell 579 stores, including 91 Safeway stores in Colorado, to C&S Wholesale Grocers, a New Hampshire-based company with limited retail experience. C&S, primarily a wholesaler with just 23 grocery stores nationally, would be tasked with maintaining competition in markets where Kroger and Albertsons currently operate.
Colorado’s Grocery Workers Unite to Oppose $24.6 Billion Supermarket Merge
Critics argue that C&S lacks the capacity to stand up to the dominant Kroger-Albertsons combination, drawing comparisons to the ill-fated 2015 divestiture following Albertsons’ merger with Safeway. In that instance, the Haggen grocery chain acquired 168 stores but quickly went bankrupt, leading to the eventual reacquisition of many of these locations by Albertsons.
State attorney Arthur Biller voiced strong opposition to the divestiture plan, claiming C&S would be a “weaker competitor” unable to fulfill the critical role of maintaining competition. Biller cited testimony suggesting that up to 85 of the 91 divested stores in Colorado could be at risk of closing if the merger proceeds, a scenario that would further reduce grocery options in the state.
“It is in Kroger’s interest to have the weakest possible divestiture plan,” Biller argued, adding that the merger is less about competition with Amazon or Costco than it is about “eliminating Albertsons from the market and replacing it with a far inferior competitor.”
The lawsuit and trial followed a yearlong investigation by Weiser’s office, which included over a dozen listening sessions across Colorado. Concerns were particularly high in mountain towns and rural areas, where residents fear the loss of one of their few grocery options could result in higher prices and travel distances for essentials. The outcome of this trial could also have ripple effects nationally, influencing how similar mergers are handled in an era marked by rising concerns over corporate consolidation.
Source: Colorado News
Colorado
Warm storm delivers modest totals to Colorado’s northern mountains
Lucas Herbert/Arapahoe Basin Ski Area
Friday morning wrapped up a warm storm across Colorado’s northern and central mountains, bringing totals of up to 10 inches of snowfall for several resorts.
Higher elevation areas of the northern mountains — particularly those in and near Summit County and closer to the Continental Divide — received the most amount of snow, with Copper, Winter Park and Breckenridge mountains seeing among the highest totals.
Meanwhile, lower base areas and valleys received rain and cloudy skies, thanks to a warmer storm with a snow line of roughly 9,000 feet.
Earlier this week, OpenSnow meteorologists predicted the storm’s snow totals would be around 5-10 inches, closely matching actual totals for the northern mountains. The central mountains all saw less than 5 inches of snow.
Here’s how much snow fell between Wednesday through Friday morning for some Western Slope mountains, according to a Friday report from OpenSnow:
Aspen Mountain: 0.5 inches
Snowmass: 0.5 inches
Copper Mountain: 10 inches
Winter Park: 9 inches
Breckenridge Ski Resort: 9 inches
Arapahoe Basin Ski Area: 8.5 inches
Keystone Resort: 8 inches
Loveland Ski Area: 7 inches
Vail Mountain: 7 inches
Steamboat Resort: 6 inches
Beaver Creek: 6 inches
Irwin: 4.5 inches
Cooper Mountain: 4 inches
Sunlight: 0.5 inches
Friday and Saturday will be dry, while Sunday will bring northern showers. The next storms are forecast to be around March 3-4 and March 6-7, both favoring the northern mountains.
Colorado
Avalanche discipline, power play falters, Central Division lead shrinks in 5-2 loss to Wild
The Colorado Avalanche had a chance Thursday night to regain some real separation between them and the Minnesota Wild.
It didn’t happen, and special teams were again an issue.
Minnesota’s Joel Eriksson Ek scored a pair of power-play goals, while the Avalanche took too many penalties and did not convert its chances with the extra man in a 5-2 loss at Ball Arena. The Wild scored on two of six power plays, both in the second period, then added a shorthanded goal into an empty net for good measure.
“We took six (penalties). Six is too many, especially against a power play like theirs,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “We had a slow start to the second and then just kind of started getting going, then took a bunch of penalties and kind of took the momentum away and swung it back in their favor again.”
Mackenzie Blackwood was excellent early in this contest and stopped 31 of 34 shots for the Avs in his first start since the Olympic break. Colorado, which went 0-for-3 on the power play, has not scored an extra-man goal in back-to-back games since Dec. 31 and Jan. 3. The Avs are 2-for-31 with the man advantage since Jan. 16, and at 15.1% are last in the NHL.
The Wild are now just five points behind the Avs in the Central Division, though Colorado has two games in hand. Filip Gustavsson made 44 saves for the visitors.
“I think we crated enough chances to win the hockey game,” Bednar said. “We give up the (second power-play goal) and that’s the difference in the hockey game for me. We had a chance (on the power play) … we score and it’s a tie game. We haven’t had an easy time capitalizing on some of our chances that we created in the last month.
“I’d like to see that turn around a little bit.”
Minnesota took advantage of three penalties on Colorado in a span of 53 seconds to take the lead with 2:23 left in the second period. Captain Gabe Landeskog was sent to the box for elbowing Eriksson Ek away from the play at 14:15 and Valeri Nichushkin was called for cross-checking at 15:04.
That gave the Wild a 5-on-3, but it went from bad to worse in a hurry for the home side. Brock Nelson won the 3-on-5 in his own end, but Brent Burns’ backhanded attempt to clear the puck out of the zone went into the stands for a delay of game.
Minnesota had a 5-on-3 for 1:56, which Colorado successfully killed off, but because Burns’ two minutes didn’t start until Landeskog’s penalty ended, there was more 5-on-4 time and Eriksson Ek scored his second of the night. The Swedish Olympian was trying to send a cross-crease pass to Kirill Kaprizov, but it hit the inside of Blackwood’s right leg and pinballed across the goal line.
Because of the extended penalty time, both Eriksson Ek and Boldy officially logged a shift of more than four minutes, leading to that goal.
“I’m not a big fan of the penalties we took, necessarily,” Landeskog said. “Obviously, mine is a penalty. Val, I felt like he was protecting himself and Burns, that’s a penalty. There’s nothing to argue about there. But yeah, that tilts the ice for sure and just gives them unnecessary momentum.
“So yeah, undisciplined and we’ve got to be better there for sure.”
Eriksson Ek put Minnesota in front at 7:48 of the second period. Cale Makar was called for slashing when his one-handed swipe while Yakov Trenin was attempting to shoot from the left wing. Trenin’s stick broke, so Makar went to the box.
Blackwood made the initial save on Matt Boldy’s shot from the high slot, but Eriksson Ek was there near the left post to clean up the rebound.
Martin Necas continued his hot run with a goal to even the score at 13:30 of the middle frame. Nathan MacKinnon picked up the puck in his own zone and carried it into the offensive end. He left a drop pass for Necas near the right point and then played fullback, driving Wild defenseman Daemon Hunt back to give Necas space and then providing a screen on a lethal wrist shot from his Czech linemate.
That was Necas’ 24th goal of the season. He added a second goal in the final minute after the Wild had built a three-goal advantage to give him 25 on the season.
It’s also three in two games since the Olympic break. Necas had three goals and eight points in five games for Czechia at the Olympics in Milan, equaling his country’s record for points at the event.
MacKinnon missed Colorado’s first game back on Wednesday because of maintenance. He actually slipped to third in the NHL scoring race as of Thursday morning, in part because Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov has now has 53 points in his past 23 games to track down MacKinnon and Edmonton’s Connor McDavid to make it a three-man race for the Art Ross Trophy.
McDavid (five times) and Kucherov (three) have combined to win the Art Ross in eight of the past nine years. MacKinnon has never won it, but has finished second each of the past two seasons.
Minnesota scored a second goal off a Colorado player to make it a 3-1 game and then added two empty-net tallies around Necas’ second goal to seal the Wild’s sixth win in a row.
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Colorado
Firefighters stop spread of wildfire in Colorado’s Golden Gate Canyon
Late Thursday morning, a house fire spreading into the nearby woods in Colorado’s Golden Gate Canyon prompted officials to issue a pre-evacuation order to nearby residents. Firefighters have since brought the blaze under control.
According to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, a house fire broke out around 11:30 a.m. in the 10600 block of Ralston Creek Road in Golden Gate Canyon, located around 25 miles west of Denver. The fire then began to spread into the nearby trees and grass.
Multiple fire units quickly responded to the scene, and the JCSO issued a pre-evacuation notice to all residents within a three-mile radius, warning them to be prepared to leave at a moment’s notice.
At 12:34 p.m., the sheriff’s office announced that the fire is no longer spreading and the burn area has been contained to less than an acre. A photo shared by JCSO shows a structure nearly completely destroyed by the fire.
Pre-evacuation orders were lifted around 1 p.m.
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