Aggregating purchases of multi-unit organizations The Commission rendered an advisory opinion in which it…

No. 145. Aggregating purchases of multi-unit organizations The Commission rendered an advisory opinion in which it concluded that it would not be permissible under Sec. 2 (a) of the amended Clayton Act to aggregate the purchases of three centraIly owned retail grocery stores for the purpose of cost justifying a lower price to those stores.

The reason for this " the Commission said is that discounts to multi-unit purchasers must be cost justified on a store-to-store basis where, as here, each store orders separately, receives separate delivery and is invoiced separately.

Concluding its opinion, the Commission said: Since independent and singly owned retail stores are served in identically the same manner, it '\vQuld confer an advantage on the multi- unit store, not by virtue of any savings in cost to the store but solely by reason of its membership in the centrally owned organization. Combining or aggregating purchases therefore, for the purpose of determining costs of a multi- unit organization is not related to the realities of the market since the independent or singly owned store competes \"ith the individual stores of the chain organization. The particular facts in the advisory opinion involved three centra1Jy o'W'Ted retail grocery stores. Each store placed separate orders with the wholesaler, had its goods delivered separately and was invoiced separately. In addition, some single owned stores bought in larger volume than the sma1Jest store which belonged to the centra1Jy owned organization. (File No. 683 7023, released Oct. 17, 1967.

ADVISORY OPIKION DIGESTS 1049