Date: March 1, 2019
Contact: mediacenter@freeandfairmarketsinitiative.org

AMAZON’S NEW GROCERY PUSH IS AN ANTI-COMPETITIVE NIGHTMARE

Regulators Must Step In

Robert B. Engel, chief spokesperson for the Free & Fair Markets Initiative (FFMI), released the following statement in response to a Wall Street Journal report that Amazon is planning to launch a new grocery-store business in several major U.S. cities.

“If the reports are true and Amazon is planning to purchase regional grocery chains, then it’s yet another example of the tech giant knocking on the doors of local businesses and giving them an ultimatum: leave or lose. This kind of by-any-means acquisition strategy is a disaster for grocery store owners, their employees and consumers. And the dirty truth is Amazon is using taxpayer dollars to bankroll its growth.

Regulators must step in to stop this. Amazon is destroying fair competition and consumer choice, plain and simple.”

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ABOUT THE FREE & FAIR MARKETS INITIATIVE

The Free & Fair Markets Initiative (FFMI) is a non-profit coalition of businesses, consumer advocacy groups, workers and community activists committed to scrutinizing and highlighting emerging market trends that are stifling competition and innovation, influencing federal and local government spending, putting consumer data in harm’s way and limiting consumer choice. For a list of members, please visit https://freeandfairmarketsinitiative.org/about-us/members/. For more information on the Free & Fair Markets Initiative, please visit https://freeandfairmarketsinitiative.org.