Judge Slaps Down FTC's Attempt To Block Whole Foods/Wild Oats Deal
from the buh-zing! dept
When the FTC stepped in to block the merger between Whole Foods and Wild Oats, it seemed like an obvious case of a market being defined too narrowly. Yes, both companies place a similar emphasis on organic foods, but organic foods represent a small slice of the overall food market, and there's no question that organic and conventional foods are substitute goods. The whole situation was roughly analogous to the situation facing XM and Sirius in their attempt to merge, as the NAB would like the FCC to define the market as simply satellite radio, while in fact it's clearly much broader. It looks like the FTC's argument has been thoroughly rejected as a federal judge declared that the merger should not be blocked. The judge's ruling remains sealed, so his exact rationale isn't known, but it sounds like this could be a useful precedent in other cases going forward.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
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Filed Under: antitrust, ftc
Companies: whole foods, wild oats
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Re:
I agree with the judge. Two organic food giants merging is not going to create a monopoly in the food industry, so why block it? Beside, I don't know anyone who buys organic food. I think the organic food industry is making a good effort to try and compete.
But, I'm not sure how this relates to technology...
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Finally...
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Why is everyone in favor of monopolies these days?
This is so simple and basic it's unfathomable to me how many of you are unable to grasp the concept.
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Re: Why is everyone in favor of monopolies these d
No people to buying their hippie food if the price goes up. =)
I don't eat organic food (it's pricey already), so I really don't care if they raise the prices. Go pesticides!
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Re: Why is everyone in favor of monopolies these d
"obvious case of a market being defined too narrowly"
"substitute goods"
Hey, looky there. I just refuted your long-winded argument with two short excerpts from the summary. Those two things explain why these wouldn't be dangerous manipulative monopolies.
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Re: Why is everyone in favor of monopolies these d
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Re: Why is everyone in favor of monopolies these d
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Re: Why is everyone in favor of monopolies these d
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Re: Why is everyone in favor of monopolies these d
Whole Foods / Wild Oats are competing against small and large forces. Wal-Mart, etc sells organic, as does a lot of small stores and medium sized chains. Do more research before spouting off your unfathomable incredulity.
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Re #4 & #2
I actually buy organic food.
All the time.
I am not 100% strict to the diet, but it is probably about 80% of what I eat. And I SWEAR I feel way way better than I did before I ate this way.
Also lost 20 pounds, but thats partly because my family cut out gluten, which is in most organic foods as well. And the losing 20 pounds is with me exercising the same amount before and after, all that changed is what I eat.
#4
From all the people I know who have talking about AT&T from way back when they were literally a monopoly, they say those days were better for phone service.
Everything always connected and the prices were low because it was all one company. Not trying to gleam connection fees off of each other. But, I am very ready to admit, I was not alive then, and have no personal opinion. It is just what I have heard of people comparing everything about today's phone systems to those of when it was only AT&T of old.
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Whole Foods/WildOats
2)Here in Portland, ME we had a wonderful locally owned whole foods store. In its infinite wisdom, the city manager allowed Wild Oats to place a 10,000 square foot foodplex literally next door. Whole Foods ultimately bought out the local store and was allowed to build their new foodplex (you guessed it) right next door to Wild Oats. Prices at the new national stores are significantly higher and their target audience is guilty soccer moms. That's what a monopoly is all about.
3) AT & T worked as a monopoly because, in exchange for its monoply status, it was highly regulated by the Federal Government, hence prices were low, but AT&T was the ultimate "Set and forget" stock for 50 years.
4) I know history may seem boring, but if you read and study it, you'll know what people are talking about
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Oligopolies gone wild
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It's just food
If you really must have organic food, grow your own.
People already pay a premium for organic food, half of which has no benefit over non-organic food.
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It's not a monopoly
If Shell stations decided to brand themselves as a performance-gasoline supplier and started selling only 92 octane gas (and was the only chain that made that choice), that wouldn't be a monopoly any more than this is.
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