• The International Brotherhood of Teamsters said yesterday that it is "formally opposing the merger of The Kroger Company and Albertsons Companies, Inc. currently under review at the Federal Trade Commission. The Teamsters represent more than 22,000 members across both companies’ stores, distribution centers, and manufacturing plants nationwide.
"'Kroger and Albertsons management likes to talk the talk on job security when they’re sitting in front of Congress but talk means little when it comes protecting our members,' said Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien. 'We expected better from these two longtime Teamster employers. Clearly, they are more interested in guaranteeing big payouts for management'."
The Teamsters said that "the decision to oppose the proposed merger comes after months of discussions with both Kroger and Albertsons to protect the most basic interests of Teamsters employed by the companies."
• From the Wall Street Journal:
"The owner of the Westfield San Francisco Centre said Monday it is turning the shopping mall over to its lender, in another blow to the city’s struggling downtown.
"The decision comes six weeks after the mall’s main anchor, Nordstrom, announced it was shutting down the location.
"San Francisco Centre owner Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield cited 'challenging operating conditions' in downtown San Francisco, which it said have led to declines in sales, occupancy and foot traffic. There has been an exodus of retailers and other businesses from the mid-Market Street area of downtown amid rampant public drug use and homelessness.
"'We have made the difficult decision to begin the process to transfer management of the shopping center to our lender to allow them to appoint a receiver to operate the property going forward,' the French mall operator said in a statement."
