With new Starbucks and upgrades, what does legal battle mean for Shreveport Albertsons?

The Shreveport Albertsons will see no ownership or branding change, at least for now.

For nearly two years, Kroger and Albertsons have been engaged in merger talks. Last week, those talks suffered more setbacks and Albertsons filed a lawsuit against Kroger shortly after.

The latest in the legal wranglings

On Dec. 10, the Federal Trade Commission was granted a preliminary injunction preventing Kroger from acquiring Albertsons Companies Inc. in what would have been the largest supermarket merger in history, a $24.6 billion deal.

On the same day as that U.S. District Court ruling in Oregon, a state court in Washington also ruled that the proposed merger was unlawful and could not go through. A third suit brought by Colorado has yet to be determined. Colorado and Washington are two of nine states publicly challenging the merger.

The challenges hinge on the belief that combining the holdings of the two long-time grocery rivals would lessen competition and lead to higher prices for grocery shoppers in many markets. The labor unions representing the two grocery chains’ employees raised alarms as well.

The companies own more than 5,000 stores and employ roughly 720,000 people in 48 states. Their brands include Safeway, Vons, Ralphs, Fred Meyer, Harris Teeter and others.

Kroger and Albertsons have long alleged that without a merger they are unable to successfully compete against Walmart, Amazon, and in some states, Costco.

Albertsons is now suing Kroger

Following the Dec. 10 federal injunction, Albertsons terminated merger agreement talks and filed a lawsuit against Kroger claiming a variety of issues.

"Kroger willfully breached the Merger Agreement in several key ways, including by repeatedly refusing to divest assets necessary for antitrust approval, ignoring regulators' feedback, rejecting stronger divestiture buyers and failing to cooperate with Albertsons," the company alleged in a statement.

Albertsons further claimed that Kroger’s actions have harmed Albertsons’ shareholders, associates and consumers.

Kroger responded that it “looks forward to responding to these baseless claims in court.”

Shreveport store was to be sold to third party

The Shreveport Albertsons was on the list of 579 stores to be sold to C&S Wholesale Grocers to make the merger deal fly with federal regulators. The chain currently runs a tiny number of groceries, only 23, mostly under the Piggly Wiggly banner.

While all this plays out at the national level, management and employees at the Shreveport Albertsons at 105 East Southfield have made ready for the holiday season in a newly upgraded store.

Local commitment continues 

On Nov. 6, the store threw a “re” grand opening celebration that was two-fold. In addition to 51 years in the neighborhood location, there have been significant corporate investments, including updated and new flooring and lighting, aisle layout and displays, a new parking lot a new Starbucks Coffee shop.

Store manager Patrick Brewer said that shows long-term commitment by Albertsons.

“Corporate Albertsons came in and they said it's time, after 51 years, to improve this store. And I think that says something, you know. We're going to be here no matter what," Brewer said. "We may change names, but I think that says something in terms of their desire for this store to stay, absolutely, and that's what I'd love to stress, to make that point."

In November, Brewer said his store supports neighborhood causes, such as the Southfield High School football team and other school, church and charitable causes and intends to continue doing so.

"We're going to take care of them, because they're the ones that take care of us," he said. "They're the ones that have made this store what it is. And we're going to give back to that community for sure."