Law Commons^™

Four Lessons From The Whole Foods Case, Thom Lambert

Faculty Publications

One of the most maligned antitrust decisions in history involved a merger of grocery store chains. Indeed, even those voices inclined toward substantial antitrust intervention believe the U.S. Supreme Court erred in its 1966 Von's Grocery decision, which condemned the merger of the third- and sixth-largest grocery store chains in Los Angeles. For example, the president of the reliably interventionist American Antitrust Institute conceded that the Supreme Court "probably went too far" and acknowledged that "if Von's Grocery had remained the rule, all of our industries would be highly fragmented and consumers would have lost out on many cost-cutting efficiencies." …