From the start, Cincinnati-based Kroger and Boise, Idaho-based Albertsons said the merger was necessary to stay efficient and competitive in a grocery industry increasingly dominated by nontraditional competitors like Walmart, Costco, Amazon, Aldi ...

The collapse of the Kroger-Albertsons merger Wednesday was greeted in the Seattle area with sighs of relief and lots of questions about the future of local grocery stores

Albertsons said Kroger has failed to make best efforts to secure regulatory approval of the deal, a claim the latter called “baseless.”