Tag Archives: acquisitions

Map: Walgreens, Rite Aid stores abound in Kitsap

News broke Tuesday that Walgreens has reached an agreement to buy Rite Aid, in a deal that would spawn a new pharmacy juggernaut.

The deal won’t close until the second half of 2016, so it’s too early to know what changes Walgreens has planned.

FILE- In this June 20, 2011, file photo, a woman exits a Rite Aid store, in Philadelphia. The Wall Street Journal said Walgreens Boots Alliance is in advanced talks to buy Rite Aid. Walgreens declined to comment Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2015, when contacted by The Associated Press. The deal would combine the largest and third-largest U.S. drugstore chains, based on store counts. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File) — AP photo

The company has already alluded to a “harmonized portfolio of stores and infrastructure,” a line that probably sounds nice to investors and ominous to employees.

With a merger on the horizon, it’s worth taking a look at where Walgreens and Rite Aid pharmacies are located in Kitsap, and where stores may be in direct competition.

The two chains have a combined 10 stores in Kitsap, as far as I can gather, with another Walgreens under construction on Bainbridge Island. The map embedded below shows the locations, with Rite Aids in blue and Walgreens in red.

Some of these stores are spaced so tightly you’ll have to zoom in to see them clearly:

As you can see, Rite Aid and Walgreens stores are close neighbors in West Bremerton, Port Orchard and Silverdale. The stores on Bainbridge Island will also be intimately situated once the Walgreens there is completed.

The green pin on the map represents the CVS pharmacy in Poulsbo, which opened a year ago.

Its presence is worth noting because CVS will be the only major standalone pharmacy chain left to compete with Walgreens/Rite Aid once the merger is approved.

CVS is a newcomer to Washington State, but nationally the chain commands a 58 percent market share based on revenue, according to USA Today. Walgreens has a 31 percent share and Rite Aid trails with 10 percent.

CVS recently bought all of Target’s in-store pharmacies and plans to begin operating them.

First Kitsap Haggen stores open March 7

Tad Sooter

We finally have dates for the first Haggen store openings in Kitsap County.

The Silverdale Albertsons and Port Orchard Safeway will be the first to make the transition, reopening under the Haggen banner on March 7.

According to a news release, the two stores will close temporarily beginning on the evening of March 5, in preparation for the change (pharmacies will remain open).

Both stores are tentatively scheduled to reopen as Haggens at 4 p.m. March 7.

The two stores were among 146 Albertsons and Safeway locations acquired by Bellingham-based Haggen. The acquisition was part of a divestiture required for a recently-approved merger of Albertsons and Safeway.

Haggen is also taking ownership of the East Bremerton Albertsons and Gig Harbor Safeway. (See a map of acquired stores here).

The East Bremerton Albertsons isn’t scheduled for a rebrand until early June. The Gig Harbor Safeway will close March 8 and reopen as a Haggen March 10.

Haggen will hold a community meeting from 5-6 p.m. March 19 at the Port Orchard Pavilion, 701 SW Bay Street. According to the news release, the meeting is aimed at giving farmers, food producers, nonprofit leaders and residents a chance to talk to company representatives.

Haggen plans to select five area nonprofits to donate to in conjunction with each store opening. The company will donate $1,000 to a single organization on the first day the store opens, and 2 percent of sales to four additional organizations for four consecutive Saturdays.

You can read my Q&A on the Haggen acquisition here, and feel free to keep throwing questions at me in the comment section.

Haggen will add two Kitsap stores in March

Tad Sooter

An Albertsons store in Silverdale and a Safeway in Port Orchard are set to become Haggen stores in March.

A Gig Harbor Safeway will also make the transition to Haggen next month. The East Bremerton Albertsons store won’t switch to the Haggen banner until June.

The Bellingham-based grocery chain recently agreed to acquire 146 grocery stores as part of the divestment process required for the Albertsons and Safeway merger. Haggen released a tentative schedule for converting its 26 new Washington stores Wednesday.

Changes at the stores will include signage and product lines. Major remodels are not planned. See my Q&A on the Haggen acquisition here.

The full store conversion schedule released by Haggen is posted below:

Continue reading →

Haggen set to rebrand acquired stores

Tad Sooter

Haggen signs could soon be up at three Kitsap County grocery stores.

Supermarket News reports Haggen is set to begin rebannering 146 Alberstons and Safeway stores it recently acquired. Citing an unnamed source, SN says the brand switchover will begin next week with a store in Monroe.

Haggen expects to have all stores rebannered within four months. Fully reconfiguring the stores to Haggen’s model could take more than a year, according to the report.

Bellingham-based Haggen is taking over Albertsons stores in Silverdale and East Bremerton, and a Safeway in Port Orchard.

The acquisition was part of a required divestiture for the Albertsons/Safeway merger. The companies completed the merger Jan. 30.

You can read my Q&A on the Haggen deal here.

Town & Country buys Bellevue market

Tad Sooter

Town & Country Markets is expanding into east King County with the purchase of a Bellevue-area store.

The Kitsap County-based grocery chain announced the aquisition Monday of Matthew’s Fresh Market in Lakemont. Town & Country bought the store from founder Craig Mavis, who is retiring.

According to the release, Town & Country has few immediate changes planned for Fresh Market, and most of the store’s 51 employees will keep their positions. A new store name has not been picked.

Town & Country Markets owns and operates five other stores in the Puget Sound area: Central Markets in Poulsbo, Shoreline and Mill Creek; Ballard Market; and Town & Country Market on Bainbridge Island.

You can see the full announcement here.

John L. Scott acquiring Reid Real Estate in Kitsap

Tad Sooter

images John L. Scott Real Estate has entered into an agreement to buy the Kitsap County offices of Reid Real Estate.

John L. Scott will acquire Reid’s Bremerton, Port Orchard and Silverdale locations according to a news release. Reid Real Estate owner Jerry Reid will maintain his Mason County office in Belfair.

Reid founded his company in 1967. There are now more than 45 brokers working at Reid Real Estate offices in Kitsap.

“Jerry Reid set the standard for professional real estate service in Kitsap County and the real estate market would not be where it is today without his leadership for nearly 50 years,” John L. Scott CEO J. Lennox Scott said in the release. “It will be exciting to see two great teams join together to continue providing Kitsap County with quality real estate service.”

Reid said he also felt good about the sale.

“John L. Scott is a company that is a fixture in the Northwest,” he said. “I can trust that my colleagues, who have been instrumental in helping to build Reid Real Estate over the last 47 years, will be in capable hands.”

The transaction is expected to close Sept. 26. We’ll have more on the acquisition soon.