Albertsons announced today it is terminating its proposed $25 billion merger agreement with Kroger and suing the grocer for breach of merger agreement following two rulings in Oregon and Washington issued yesterday blocking the deal.

The lawsuit, filed in the Delaware Court of Chancery and temporarily under seal, seeks hundreds of millions of dollars in damages, according to Albertsons, and accuses Kroger of “repeatedly refusing to divest assets necessary for antitrust approval, ignoring regulators’ feedback, rejecting stronger divestiture buyers and failing to cooperate with Albertsons,” per a press release.

Tom Moriarty, EVP, general counsel and chief policy officer at Albertsons, said Kroger “acted in its own financial self-interest,” impacting shareholders, associates, and consumers.

In terminating the agreement, Albertsons said it should receive a $600 million termination fee and “relief” from financial resources it exhausted and “unnecessary limbo” it experienced. Bloomberg reported in August the two grocers had spent more than $800 million on merger fees since the deal’s announcement in October 2022.

Keep reading here.—EC

In-store retail media deals continue to gain momentum, even during the holiday season.

Regional grocer Hy-Vee has struck a partnership with Grocery TV to manage its in-store and off-site retail media ads, the two companies announced on Wednesday.

With the deal, Grocery TV will power more than 10,000 screens at important customer touchpoints including entrance, checkout, service departments, aisles, and end caps, across 400 Hy-Vee stores. Grocery TV will connect Hy-Vee’s retail media network, called RedMedia, with cloud-based ad buying platform The Trade Desk.

Keep reading here.—VC

On Wednesdays, we wear pink spotlight Retail Brew’s readers. Want to be featured in an upcoming edition? Click here to introduce yourself.

Nicholas Kratochvil is director of digital at Sloomoo Institute, a children’s slime exhibit and shop with locations in New York City, Chicago, Atlanta, Houston, and Los Angeles.

How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in retail? We have two primary sales touch points at Sloomoo Institute—our web platform where guests buy tickets for our experiences and our gift shops, where we showcase our latest slimes and apparel. I experiment with web checkout design, variable ticket pricing, and experience upgrades to increase our guest count and revenue ahead of their visit. Additionally, I distribute attendance more evenly throughout open hours so they have a better time, and identify product performance trends to help ensure our best selection is available when they arrive at our shops.

One thing we can’t guess about your job from your LinkedIn profile? I’m not very savvy on LinkedIn, so there are likely plenty! I’m just thankful that the founders have given me the opportunity to ideate, innovate, and iterate tests and concepts. It’s thrilling to try new things and collaborate with our experience teams to exchange ideas, learn what is working, and inform the next best actions.

What’s your favorite project you’ve worked on? We recently opened a new location in Los Angeles. It’s a real standout on Fairfax—a big, magenta building with its own eyeballs, where our guests can enjoy memorable experiences and take some slime home with them, all thanks to the collective effort of a great team.

Keep reading here.—EC

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