The collapse of the Kroger-Albertsons merger Wednesday was greeted in the Seattle area with sighs of relief and lots of questions about the future of local grocery stores

Kroger’s proposed merger with fellow grocery chain Albertsons ended in acrimony this week as a judge granted the Federal Trade Commissions’s request to block the deal on antitrust grounds. Albertsons then sued Kroger for allegedly not fulfilling its contractual obligations.