Good morning. Welcome, Naxios today. It's Monday, October 17th. I'm Nailibudu. Here's

what we're covering today. 10 years of Xi Jinping's leadership in China, how the next

five could affect the U.S. But first, what the merger of two of the country's biggest

grocery store chains means for American consumers. That's today's one big thing.

Two of the largest grocery store chains in the country are merging.

Kroger's announced last Friday that it plans to buy its competitor, Albertsons, for nearly

$25 billion. Together, Kroger and Albertsons have about 5,000 stores and almost three-quarters

of a million workers. The deal could also change the way people buy food, as inflation

pushes prices higher and higher.

Naxios' pro-editor, Claire Richluski, is here with the big picture. Claire for consumers

how this merger plays out depends a lot on where you are. What would it look like, for example,

in Chicago? Yeah, so I'm in Chicago where we could see Kroger and Albertsons through their

subsidiaries, including the pretty major supermarket chains, jewel, and Mariano's either clothes

or merch together. And, you know, especially in other markets like in the West Coast, I think

there's over 150 combined Kroger Albertsons stores in Los Angeles alone. They own Ralph's,

which is one of the major supermarkets in Los Angeles. Kroger and Albertsons have said

they're going to spin off 375 stores until like a new company, and that could include

just selling it off to, you know, competing grocery chains or other potential buyers. You

have to wonder, like, who's going to buy those stores? Who has the capital to actually

maintain competition with a newly joined grocery store behemoth of Kroger Albertsons? For

example, when Albertsons bought Safeway back in 2014, 2015, it had to sell off like 150

stores to a competitor called Haggons. Haggons ended up filing a suit against Albertsons for

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