Many grocery chains are regional. The national ones (Kroger, Albertsons) are so huge they were probably out of Amazon's price range. Walmart and Target aren't f

Many grocery chains are regional. The national ones (Kroger, Albertsons) are so huge they were probably out of Amazon's price range. Walmart and Target aren't for sale. If the article is right, all Amazon may need to kick things into profitability is enough economies of sale (built in customers) that their perishables can be fresh. From there they can sustain a viable business, and they can increase its size as needed. In other words, one theory is it's not so much about buying market share, it's about buying a roughly viable business they can piggyback on while they build market share of something new.