Choice Foods Market, Inc., is the largest national chain of supermarkets selling high-end organic food. Choice Foods wanted to acquire the assets of its main competitor, Naturally Select Markets, Inc. The relevant product market was defined to consist of only premium natural and organic supermarkets rather than all supermarkets.

Under this narrow definition, Choice Foods had an 80 percent share of the market, and Naturally Select had a 15 percent share.

Did this proposed acquisition constitute monopolization and thereby violate the Sherman Act? Yes.

Monopolization involves two elements: (1) the possession of monopoly ______________ in the relevant market and (2) the willful acquisition or maintenance of that ______________. In determining the extent of a firm’s market ______________, the market-share test measures the firm’s percentage share of the relevant market. This consists of the relevant product market and the relevant geographic market. The relevant product market can include all products with identical attributes. For products that are sold nationwide, the relevant geographic market is the entire United States. In this problem, the largest chain of high-end organic supermarkets wanted to acquire its main competitor. The merger would have given Choice Foods a 95 percent share of the defined relevant market—a significant increase in monopoly ______________ acquired willfully.