The crowd packed in, filling chairs and standing along the back walls as they made their appeal, recounting personal experiences facing layoffs, near-homelessness and food deserts. Sitting at the front of the room were Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan and Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser.

During the one hour allotted for the Denver town hall, the majority of the crowd made their case: Stop the Kroger-Albertsons merger. No one spoke in favor of it.

The proposed merger between Kroger and Albertsons has sparked widespread brushback as critics say it will decimate competition in the industry and raise prices for consumers. The merger is the subject of a multi-state investigation being led by Weiser and is currently under FTC review.

Kroger owns King Soopers, while Albertsons owns Safeway. The $24.6 billion deal announced last year would merge two of the largest grocery chains in the U.S. The two companies plan to divest more than 400 stores and other assets as a way to propel the merger, the Associated Press reported last month, which is moving toward reaching finalization next year.

In a news release, Kroger said divesting the stores to C&S Wholesale Grocers will ensure that no stores will close through the merger, that frontline associates will keep their jobs, that collective bargaining agreements will continue and that employees will continue receiving benefits.

“Following the announcement of our proposed merger with Albertsons Cos., we embarked on a robust and thoughtful process to identify a well-capitalized buyer who will operate as a fierce competitor and ensure divested stores and their associates will continue serving their communities in the ways they do today. C&S achieves all these objectives,” The Kroger Co. CEO Rodney McMullen said in a September news release.

Weiser has held 18 town halls on the merger this year as his office continues evaluating its impact on competition, consumers, workers and the agriculture industry.

Kroger and Albertsons have defended the proposal as one that will lead to lower prices, more choice for customers, higher wages, better employee benefits, and growing union jobs. A spokesperson did not return an email seeking comment by the time this story published.

Those who spoke Nov. 1 are concerned for numerous reasons and said that because of their experience with past mergers, they are skeptical of the promises being made now.

They worry about grocery stores closing, and people who are already living paycheck-to-paycheck losing their jobs, they said. Neighborhoods cannot lose an anchor business. Grocery stores do not just provide critical access to nutritious food but also support the local economy, opponents said.

The merger would be detrimental to industry competition, which has many ramifications, including making it more difficult for unions and employees to negotiate better pay and conditions for workers, opponents said.

The merger could be harmful to community health as well if it cuts down the number of grocery stores in a community, and particularly so for low-income areas. Residents should not have to traverse a complicated bus system to access food or be forced to rely on convenience stores for groceries, others said.

Carol McMillian, an Aurora resident who works for King Soopers as a bakery manager, told Weiser and Khan she lost her job at a former Safeway during the Albertsons-Safeway merger of 2015. Her store was ultimately closed and transformed into a warehouse for grocery stores.

“I just saw how the coworkers, how they dealt with the uncertainty,” McMillian said. “It’s like a heart-pounding situation you don’t know if you are going to have a job the next day.”

Patience Kabwasa, executive director of the Colorado Springs nonprofit Food to Power, said the issue is not just about food insecurity but the long-term health effects food deserts can have on a community and residents’ physical well-being.

Kabwasa urged attendees to picture the produce options available for people whose nearest store is a 7-Eleven, and the higher prices they have to pay for those items.

“It’s a war on the bodies of the working class,” she said.

As the town hall came to a close, Khan asked if anyone had come in support of the merger. None came forward.

Khan thanked those who attended for sharing personal stories and laid out next steps. The FTC’s investigation is ongoing, and its teams are still gathering evidence, she said. Khan reminded the crowd the FTC cannot approve or reject the merger. If it determines the merger violates anti-trust laws, the agency would file a complaint in a court and a judge would decide the issue. That would be another opportunity for the public to weigh in, she said.

“I particularly feel a special obligation to make sure we get this right,” Khan said. “I know antitrust enforcers have not always gotten it right.”

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser hosted a town hall alongside Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan regarding the proposed Kroger-Albertsons merger in Denver.

Jessica Gibbs, pikes peak courier