BELLINGHAM, Wash. — The Washington State Attorney General’s Office (AG) Antitrust Division announced Tuesday, June 25th, that Albertsons has removed a land use restriction that had prevented other grocery businesses from being located at a former Albertsons location on Northwest Avenue.
The AG opened an investigation into the property restrictions to determine whether they violate Washington antitrust laws.
Albertsons removed the restrictions as a result of the investigation according to the AG’s announcement. Albertsons must also pay $25,000 to defray the costs of the investigation.
As a result of Albertson’s conduct in the largely low-income Bellingham neighborhood, the City of Bellingham later banned these types of property restrictions related to grocery stores, but could not apply its new ordinance retroactively. The property has been sold twice since Albertsons closed its store, but the restrictions imposed by Albertsons still barred a grocery store from moving into the development through 2038, leaving thousands of residents without a full-service supermarket within reasonable walking distance.
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Click for more informationBy creating these illegal restrictions, Albertsons ensured that a competitor could not open a grocery store in this neighborhood. Shoppers had no choice but to travel to other stores farther away, including a Haggen the company owned a few miles away.
This effectively created a food desert in the neighborhood, defined as an area with limited access to affordable and nutritious food.
The Birchwood Albertsons was located in a development in which all the owners agreed — back in 1982 — that only Albertsons’ parcel could sell groceries. For years, Albertsons’ presence benefited the entire development by bringing in regular customers. But Albertsons closed the Birchwood store in 2016, after it acquired a nearby Haggen store.
– Washington State Attorney General’s Office (June 25, 2024)
Kroger (owns QFC and Fred Meyer) and Albertsons (owns Safeway and Haggen) announced a proposed merger after this investigation was started according to the AG. In January, the AG filed a lawsuit to block the merger saying it would severely limit shopping options.
Kroger and Albertsons are reportedly the 2 largest supermarket chains in Washington and the second and fourth largest supermarket operators in the country.
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I’m glad this travesty is finally ending! I’ll never understand the level of greed it takes to deny other businesses opportunities or the level of indifference towards people in the neighborhood where I live!
Well, finally this is over. When this all started, I offered to help the Birchwood neighborhood food warriors contact Albertson’s – I knew the former Albertson’s General Counsel and, through family connections, had contact with the CFO and other corporate management. I was told that my help was “unwelcome.” So I left them to it!
Eight years later and after the grocery landscape in this area is well-settled, now they claim victory! $25,000 for the “investigation”? That’s a joke. For a company that makes over $2million/hour (2023), that amount takes them less than a minute to recoup.
One of the reasons Albertson’s left was the amount of theft from that store. Now, with the new Homes Now “development” going in across the alley, the drug treatment center next door, and the rotating homeless camp across the street, I cannot imagine that any grocery is anxious to obtain a space in that area. Besides, grocery store economics are also well settled and, with two alternative groceries – Fred Meyer and Haggen – within a 1 mile radius from the former Albertson’s, the economics for a large grocery just won’t “pencil.” That was another major consideration for closing the store in that location. Albertson’s knows all this, much better than I, and buying eight years to solidify their position in the Haggen store and pursuing a merger with the other store, all for $25,000, that’s the best situation such money could buy!