
Update: Haggen confirmed the deal in a news release
Friday.
Albertsons is preparing to gobble up more stores from
Haggen, but not the shuttered locations in
Siverdale or East Bremerton.
According to
reports from several news sources, the grocery giant is
finalizing a deal to acquire Haggen’s remaining “core stores,”
which include the original Haggen stores in Whatcom
County. (The Oregonian
posted a full list.)
The news was
attributed to a grocery workers union and was not confirmed by
Haggen, Albertsons, or the Federal Trade Commission.
The list of stores being sold does not include former
Haggen locations in Silverdale or East Bremerton, which were
designated as “non-core stores.”
Haggen already sold off most its non-core
stores — including
one in Port Orchard — during bankruptcy auctions last
fall. The stores in Silverdale and East Bremerton didn’t sell.
Both closed in late November and remain empty.
Haggen has not responded to my requests for
information about plans for its discarded Kitsap
locations.
The grocer owns the property off Wheaton Way in East Bremerton.
It leased the Bucklin Hill Road space in Silverdale from a
real estate investment group.
If Albertsons does buy Haggen’s core business, it will add
another twist to an already improbable retail saga.
A year ago Haggen, a small, Bellingham-based chain, acquired
146 stores from Albertsons and Safeway as the mega grocers
finalized a merger agreement. The FTC required the sale to prevent
the combined Albertsons/Safeway chain from gaining
monopolies in some markets.
Included in the
divestiture were Albertsons stores in Silverdale and East
Bremerton, and a Safeway in Port Orchard.
Haggen’s rapid expansion
scheme proved devastating. The company filed
for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September.
Albertsons bought back many of its old stores from Haggen last
fall, including the Port Orchard location, which will reopen as a
Safeway sometime this year (an opening date has not been
released).
Now Albertsons is poised to absorb the remainder of
Haggen’s crumbling empire.