SN Top 10: Kroger, Walmart, Trader Joe’s top the week’s headlines

In this week’s recap of the Top 10 most popular Supermarket News articles, the top story was Colorado will be heard in court over Kroger, Albertsons merger, but is there something else brewing? The state of Colorado will be allowed to independently challenge the $24.6 billion Kroger, Albertsons merger, and a hearing is set for Aug. 12, reports Reuters. After listening to arguments for more than an hour on Monday, District Court Judge Andrew Luxen said he would work to deliver his ruling quickly.

More top stories:

Kroger plans to shutter 3 ‘spoke’ warehouses

Former Labor Secretary Reich blasts Walmart price hikes

Antitrust expert takes aim at Walmart, food suppliers in new book

5 customer trends, according to Kroger

In other news, Trader Joe’s has reopened its Trader Joe’s Wine Shop in Manhattan as a grab-and-go food store named Trader Joe’s Pronto. The former wine store is next door to a traditional Trader Joe’s — wine sales are generally not permitted in New York supermarkets — and has been the subject of an ongoing dispute with the United Food and Commercial Workers Union. The union alleges that the wine store closed after employees sought to organize, and that the Pronto opening is part of an effort to prevent the reopening of the wine store.