King Soopers and City Market can no longer give Colorado customers gasoline discounts based on grocery purchases, a federal district court jury has ruled.
Two independent gasoline dealers in Montrose were awarded a total of $1.4 million in damages after the jury ruled that King Soopers and City Market had illegally sold gas below cost – a violation of Colorado’s Unfair Practices Act.
King Soopers said it will appeal the ruling, which was issued Friday. King Soopers and City Market are owned by Cincinnati-based Kroger Co.
While the ruling names only the Kroger chains, it will apply to all grocery and big-box retailers that sell discounted gas in Colorado, such as Safeway, Albertsons, Sam’s Club, Wal-Mart and Costco, according to King Soopers officials and the attorney for the Montrose independent dealers, Parish Oil and Ray Moore Tire & Petroleum.
“We appreciate the jury’s verdict, which protects the ability of small gas stations to compete on a fair playing field with large grocery stores and big-box retailers that also sell fuel,” said Andrew Shoemaker, the attorney for the Montrose gas stations.
Under the King Soopers program, customers using their Sooper Cards could qualify for a three-cent-a-gallon discount. In addition, if they bought $100 in groceries over a 30-day period, they qualified for an additional seven-cent discount.
The three-cent Sooper Card discount is still legal, said King Soopers spokesman Trail Daugherty. But to comply with the ruling, the chain discontinued the additional seven-cent discount effective at midnight Tuesday.
Customers who had bought the qualifying $100 in groceries in October or November and had not yet used the fuel discount will get a certificate for 5 percent off a grocery purchase, Daugherty said.
“It has been a very successful and very popular program with our consumers,” he said. “We never had the intent to do anything illegal, and we disagree with the court’s decision.”
Customers said they were disappointed to hear the program ended.
“I think it is unfortunate if they are ordered not to do it,” said Olga Gonzalez, who lives in Aurora and was filling up at the King Soopers at 2810 Quebec St.
She said any amount of money she can save is helpful. She said it might affect whether she continues to buy gas at King Soopers.
“I’m always looking. Whoever has the best deal, that’s where I’m going to go,” she said.
Carolyn Wilkins of Denver said she gets her gas almost exclusively from King Soopers “because you pretty much do get that discount.”
“They should have the right to make an offer like that,” she said. “The independent gas people, they could do the same if they wanted to.”
Staff writer Kelly Yamanouchi contributed to this report.
Staff writer Steve Raabe can be reached at 303-954-1948 or sraabe@denverpost.com.
