America 1919

Chapter 737: 253, Shocking Result_2

Although the salespeople at A&P were trying their best to explain, they still couldn’t placate the consumers’ rage over the loss of several million US Dollars.

Seeing such a situation, Julie Mina realized that the national shopping frenzy was over.

She shook her head, walked out of the A&P chain disappointed, and didn’t buy anything!

This situation was naturally spotted by the media in New York and other cities right away!

These newspapers immediately began investigating the matter; after all, this was big news!

Whether it was the PR department of A&P or the PR department of Apollo Chain, their phones were bombarded by the media at this time.

Soon enough, these media outlets learned the truth, and it was precisely because they knew the truth that they were shocked.

Although they had confirmed that the promotion battle would change the retail industry in the United States, they had not anticipated such a massive shift in the landscape!

No matter how shocked they were internally, these individuals began writing the latest press releases immediately, hoping to be the first to feature the story in their newspapers.

But they were ultimately a step behind!

This evening, ABC News Channel and the Finance Channel both broadcasted the event timely.

“This is not just a result that changes the American retail industry but also transforms the American snack industry!”

“According to reliable sources from this station, the promotion war that changed the lives of the American people between Apollo Chain and A&P has ended today. The outcome, however, was beyond everyone’s expectations.

The owner of Apollo Chain, Mr. Donnie Block, through his Crest Investments, acquired a portion of A&P’s shares and is now the largest shareholder of A&P. However, Mr. Donnie Block made it clear that he is very optimistic about Mr. John Hardford leading A&P, so he will continue to support Mr. John Hardford as the President of A&P, leading the company forward.

Meanwhile, Grain Empire Foods has also closed a deal with A&P, purchasing all of A&P’s shares in Kraft Foods, and has bought shares of Kraft Foods from several of its shareholders. Now, Grain Empire Foods is the largest shareholder of Kraft Foods.

Moreover, according to reliable information, Grain Empire Foods is in talks with Mr. James Cuff, the current president of Kraft Foods, about acquiring the specific details of his shares in Kraft Foods.

Both of these transactions can be considered acquisitions that change the American industry landscape.

As is well known, A&P and Apollo Chain are respectively the first and second-ranked retail companies in America. Now that Mr. Donnie Block has completed the acquisition of A&P’s shares, even though these two companies have not merged, it is believed that a consensus has been reached, and they have become allies.

One could say that the trust of the American retail industry has officially taken shape at this time!

In addition, Grain Empire Foods and Kraft Foods are also ranked first and second among snack producers in the entire United States. With Grain Empire Foods nearing the completion of its acquisition of Kraft Foods, in other words, a trust in the American snack industry has also been formed!

A promotion war has accelerated the formation of two trusts, and this promotion war is bound to be recorded in the commercial history of the United States!”

This report shocked everyone; what everyone thought was simply a retail promotion war turned out to be an event that led to the formation of two industry trusts?

By the next day, major newspapers across America also placed this news on the front page of their publications.

‘A great war, two trusts!’ — “The New York Times”

‘In just two months, Donnie established his dominion over the retail industry!’ — “The Wall Street Journal”

‘This is a battle that affects the lives of the people!’ — “Philadelphia Forum”

“This is not a good thing!”

After completing the agreement on the transfer of A&P shares held by Kraft Foods, Maholi said to Donnie with a somewhat solemn expression.

“Although the Harding Administration’s policies on trusts are relatively lax at the moment, the fact that this matter has become so big could likely trigger a backlash among the public!”

Maholi had a reason to worry; Donnie’s unofficial father-in-law, William Howard Taft, did swing his knife at quite a few American trusts during his governance.

The underlying reason was that the severe trust issue across various industries in America had caused a lot of public dissatisfaction, and in the face of numerous protests, many trusts were dismantled.

The shadow of this event still loomed over many businessmen!

Donnie waved his hand, seemingly not too concerned, indeed America was a nation controlled by businessmen, but to say that the businessman syndicates had such tremendous control over America was overstated.

It can only be said that business groups and the White House have a mutually adversarial relationship.

Either the east wind prevails over the west wind, or the west wind prevails over the east wind.

If faced with a strong President, many American businessmen are also helpless.

Take, for example, Donnie’s good friend Franklin Roosevelt, this strong figure became President of the United States just as World War II began to erupt. Franklin Roosevelt, in control of the military, was very assertive.

According to netizens from later generations, it would be said that Franklin Roosevelt could eat a syndicate for lunch every day!

But that was Franklin Roosevelt, not Harding, nor Harding’s successor, Coolidge.