Wall Street analysts investors are indicating what they expect to happen to Fry's Food Stores parent Kroger Co.'s planned $24.6 billion acquisition of rival Albertsons Cos. Inc. — the owner of Safeway stores in the Valley — now that closing arguments have wrapped up in the grocers' court battle with the Federal Trade Commission over the deal.

PORTLAND, Ore. – Attorneys for the Federal Trade Commission and Kroger and Albertsons ended their three-week court battle the same way they started: diametrically opposed over whether the two grocery rivals should be permitted to join forces.

Katie O’Connell became a regular at Portland’s Cully neighborhood Albertsons store, just two blocks from her home, during the COVID-19 pandemic as prices climbed at other nearby stores. Now, she divides her shopping between the Albertsons for pantry staples and a Safeway on Northeast Sandy Boulevard for fresh produce and meats,