SN Top 10: Kroger, H-E-B, Sprouts top the week’s headlines

In this week’s recap of the Top 10 most popular Supermarket News articles, Kroger, Albertsons have spent $864M, so far, on acquisition effort ranked as the week’s top story. Nearly two years have passed since Kroger announced its plan to acquire one of its biggest rivals, Albertsons, and during that time, the two companies have spent an estimated $864 million on costs related to the transaction. WCPO 9 in Kroger’s hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio, reported on Tuesday that the expense of defending the proposal, which has been challenged by the FTC and 11 attorneys general, equals roughly 3.5% of the total $24.6 billion cost of the deal. 

Other top stories:

• FTC to launch inquiry into high grocery prices
• Plant-based meats are not making it
• 5 things: Grocery shoppers prefer a live feed
• H-E-B and Walmart in Texas installing microgrids for power outages

In other news, Sprouts Farmers Market’s focus is offering what is good for you, and in turn the past few quarters have been good to the retailer. Sprouts’ hot streak continued in the second quarter of 2024 as the Phoenix-based retailer posted $1.9 billion in net sales, a 12% increase year over year. Comparable store sales showed a growth of 6.7%.

More top stories:

• Here’s Walmart’s take on future shopping and adaptive retail
• Shoppers prefer digital coupons over paper
• Publix Q2 sales increase while earnings dip
• 5 things top news: Kroger, Albertsons merger hits a snag