Haggen stores in Port
Orchard and Gig Harbor could be bought back by Albertsons,
according to court documents.
Haggen is auctioning off dozens of stores this week as part of a bankruptcy reorganization, and Albertsons has emerged as a bidder.
Documents filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware Friday show Albertsons entered bids for 12 stores in Washington, including former Safeway stores in Port Orchard and Gig Harbor.
Albertsons submitted a baseline bid of $200,000 for the store in Port Orchard, and $500,000 for Gig Harbor.
No baseline bids were entered for Haggen stores in East Bremerton or Silverdale, which were formerly Albertsons.
Eighteen Washington Haggen stores will be auctioned Wednesday, according to documents. A hearing will be held Nov. 24 to review the auction results.
Albertsons is bidding on stores it was forced to divest to meet antitrust requirements as it completed a merger with Safeway this year.
Haggen scooped up 146 of those stores, including three in Kitsap County and one in Gig Harbor. The Bellingham-based grocery chain filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September and later announced it would sell or close all but 37 “core stores.”
Haggen stores in Kitsap are slated to close by the end of November and have begun to liquidate inventory. Many Haggen employees have already been rehired at Albertsons and Safeway stores, with permission from the Federal Trade Commission.
Supermarket News and the Seattle Times have more on the Haggen auctions this week. You can read all of my Haggen blog posts here.
UPDATE: Supermarket News reported Tuesday that Haggen will auction off all its stores. This includes the “core stores” Haggen initially said it would keep, and the chain’s original stores in the Bellingham area.
