As part of its reorganization under Chapter 11 bankruptcy laws, Haggen Inc. plans to exit the Southwest by selling all but 37 stores located in the Pacific Northwest.
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Haggen in December announced plans to acquire 146 Albertsons and Safeway stores in several Western states, including 82 in California.
In our area, those 60 days are already coming to an end. In mid-August Haggen officials announced they would close or sell 27 stores by mid-October.
Haggen, which filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this month, will attempt to rebuild its operations around a “core group” of 37 stores in the Pacific Northwest, according to a news release.
In addition, Haggen also wants to close a big chunk of its Northwest stores: seven in Oregon and 14 in Washington, where the grocer is headquartered.
The Federal Trade Commission required Albertsons and Safeway to sell 168 of their stores as a condition of a merger, to reduce the likelihood of monopolies and increase competition. The acquisition vaulted Haggen from a small Washington chain with 16 stores, to a regional player with 164 locations.
“These identified stores will have the best prospect for ongoing excellence”, Chief Executive John Clougher said.
“Haggen plans to continue to build its brand in partnership with its dedicated corporate support and store teams”.
And earlier this month, the Pacific Northwest chain sued Albertsons, accusing the grocer of “unfair and anti-competitive conduct” meant to eliminate Haggen as a competitor in the region. “Although this has been a hard process and experience, we will remain concentrated in the Pacific Northwest where we began”. The company didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment on the job postings.
Haggen has struggled with its huge expansion into the rest of the west, particularly in Southern California, where a pricing glitch made many customers think the store was way more expensive than its predecessors here (because it was, at first anyway).
A spokeswoman declined to say Thursday how many employees would be affected by the move or when, exactly, the Saugus store will be closing its doors.
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The Walla Walla Haggen store in Eastgate will continue to operate on Wilbur Avenue, according to bankruptcy court filings. According to documents filed with a bankruptcy court in Delaware, the U.S. Trustee’s office oversaw the case and picked United Food and Commercial Workers global as one of the 7 members of the unsecured creditors committee.
