‘As a Consumer, I Oppose the Proposed Merger of Ralphs and Vons.’ | So Good News

By Deborah Porter

I haven’t seen much chatter about the merger of Ralphs and Vons, but I think it won’t benefit any of us and will most likely lead to higher prices, fewer stores, less variety and less choice for San Diego shoppers. I’ve posted comments on Nextdoor and of course I’ve gotten very knowledgeable responses and people accusing high school kids of stealing food that drives up prices.

I’m not trying to fight inflation (no use trying), or denigrate the big grocery options here, I’m just thinking that for the average consumer – the ones who may not have a Walmart nearby (we don’t), or don’t go to Costco for their groceries, or prefer not to pay the high prices at Jensens , Lazy Acres, Target etc. – must compete against this combination. Average shoppers can’t afford high-priced department stores, and Costco may not make sense for small families.

I recommend that A rug readers contact their state representatives and ask them to contact the FTC to ask them to stop the merger of Ralphs and Vons stores.

Those of us who live in San Diego only have Safeway (Von’s) and Ralph’s grocery store, and their combination would create a GUGE monopoly here with guaranteed guaranteed prices for everyone. Additionally, as happened when Vons and Safeway merged, we may see a decline in local brick and mortar stores after the merger.

Von’s (Safeway) is particularly predatory here – its prices are unacceptable; while Ralph tries to toe the line to be reasonable. (An aside, Ralph’s, as a community service, accepts plastic shopping bags for recycling. Whereas, Von’s does not accept plastic bags for recycling, and they care less about local issues, which are more important.)

We have a few (5) high street and high street retailers here: Whole Foods, Gelsons, Jensens, Bristol Farms, and Lazy Acres. They are located in rich areas (of course) and have no money and not enough space for the average consumer. (as I looked up Thanksgiving Pumpkin pies… Gelson’s is $45, Ralph’s is about $14.00).

I believe that we must fight to not allow the integration to continue. It will be very harmful to our citizens of San Diego. There is no good purpose in San Diego, just to promote Von’s/Ralph’s, and line their pockets. As it is we have limited grocery shopping options!! (PS Target has opened a grocery store in Midway here and their fresh produce prices are much higher than regular prices.)

Deborah Porter is a resident of Point Loma.