Tag Archives: safeway

Port Orchard Safeway will reopen April 27

0729_KSLO_bethel-copy Safeway is hiring 75 employees in Port Orchard as it prepares to reopen its Bethel Road store on April 27, company spokeswoman Tairsa Worman said.

The store was previously operated by Safeway but was acquired by Haggen in early 2015. Haggen declared bankruptcy last fall and closed the Port Orchard location Dec. 5. Albertsons bought the store back from Haggen and returned it to the Safeway banner.

The company is hiring full- and part-time workers for all areas of the store, including deli, meat, customer service, bakery and produce, according to a news release.

Benefits for eligible employees include health care, paid vacation and discounts at Safeway and Albertsons.

Worman said priority is being given to former employees of the store.

News of the Port Orchard store opening was welcomed by UFCW 21, which represents local grocery workers.

“We are looking forward to having this store re-open,” UFCW 21 spokesman Tom Geiger said. “Once store opens, we will get a list of employees from the employer and then come in and sign up members to make sure workers there get all the benefits of having a union grocery job.”

Safeway is holding open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday at the store, at 3355 Bethel Rd. SE. Job seekers can also apply at www.careersatsafeway.com.

Report: Albertsons buying more Haggen stores, but not in Kitsap

Tad Sooter

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.

Gig Harbor Safeway reopens Feb. 3; no date for Port Orchard store

Tad Sooter

The Gig Harbor Safeway that became a Haggen will become a Safeway again on Feb. 3.

But Safeway spokeswoman Sara Osborne said no reopening date has been announced for the vacant Safeway-turned-Haggen in Port Orchard, also set to return to the Safeway fold.

Safeway parent company Albertsons LLC. bought back both stores from Haggen in a bankruptcy auction last fall.

Haggen stores in Silverdale and East Bremerton were not purchased during those auctions and remain empty. The Bucklin Hill Road and Wheaton Way locations were previously operated by Alberstons.

The Port Orchard Haggen is also closed

Tad Sooter

PO.haggen

Haggen has left the county.

The grocery chain’s store in the Port Orchard Bethel Junction shopping center was closed and cleaned out last week. Haggen shuttered its stores in East Bremerton and Silverdale at the end of November.

PO.haggen.2 I haven’t heard exactly when the Port Orchard location shut down. If you happen to know, please drop a comment below.

Unlike the Bremerton and Silverdale Haggens, the Port Orchard store already has a new owner in place.

Albertsons LLC. bought the location in a bankruptcy auction last month and plans to return it to the Safeway brand. A timeline for the reopening has not been announced.

The three Kitsap County stores were among 146 Haggen acquired from Albertsons and Safeway early this year, as the two mega-grocers completed a merger.

The East Bremerton and Silverdale stores were previously operated by Albertsons. The Port Orchard store was a Safeway.

Haggen’s bold expansion ultimately flopped. The company filed for bankruptcy reorganization in September and held auctions to begin selling off assets.

The Bellingham Herald reports Haggen will try to sell the remainder of its stores, including its original Whatcom County locations, at an auction scheduled for February.

Haggen was in business in Kitsap for less than 9 months:

Report: Haggen plans to close Kitsap stores

Tad Sooter

Click here for our story on the proposed Haggen store closures.

Update: Citing bankruptcy court documents, the Bellingham Herald reports Haggen plans to close stores in East Bremerton, Gig Harbor and Silverdale, in addition to the Port Orchard store.

The Seattle Times has a map of proposed store closures here. The closure plan requires court approval.

Haggen plans to close most of its newly-acquired stores and regroup around 37 “core stores” in the Northwest, according to a Thursday news release.

The Seattle Times reports Haggen has selected about 14 Washington stores for closure, including the former Safeway in Port Orchard. Haggen also operates former Albertsons stores in Silverdale and East Bremerton.

In an email, a Haggen representative said a full list of stores slated for closure would be released at 5 p.m. Thursday.

Affected employees will be given 60-day notice before their stores are closed, according to the release.

The reorganization is part of an ongoing bankruptcy for the Bellingham-based grocer. Haggen acquired 146 former Albertsons and Safeway locations across the west early this year but struggled to compete in some of its new markets.

The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Sept. 9.

If you’re a Haggen employee and want to share your perspective on the situation, please contact me at tad.sooter@kitsapsun.com or 360-475-3783.

The full news release is posted below: Continue reading →

How a Bremerton Safeway got its liquor license suspended

Tad Sooter

Customers who stopped to grab a six-pack last weekend at the Callow Avenue Safeway left empty handed.

Shoppers found the alcohol aisle shrouded in black plastic. An orange sign warned the store’s liquor license had been suspended from Aug. 13 through Aug. 18.

How did one of Bremerton’s busiest grocery stores get its liquor license temporarily pulled?

Through a series of missteps, according to a spokesman for the state’s Liquor and Cannabis Board.

It began in June, when the Safeway was cited for selling alcohol to a minor during a routine compliance check.

Because it was the store’s first citation in the past two years, management was given the choice of a $500 fine or five-day suspension (repeat offenders are automatically suspended).

Naturally, the store chose to pay the fine.

The problem, according to the Liquor and Cannabis spokesman, was Safeway failed to deliver a check to the board within the 20 days allotted for payment. Missing the deadline triggered a five-day suspension and the orange signs went up.

How unusual is it for a store to get its liquor license suspended? Pretty unusual, it turns out.

In the past 12 months the Callow Safeway was the only store in Kitsap County to have a suspension handed down.

East Bremerton Haggen opening May 28

Tad Sooter

The Albertsons in East Bremerton will become a Haggen Northwest Fresh store a week from now.

The Wheaton Way Albertsons is scheduled to close May 26 for conversion, and reopen May 28 under the Haggen banner.

Here’s the schedule provided by Haggen:

Bremerton- Albertsons Store at 2900 Wheaton Way

6:00 pm, Tuesday, May 26 – Store closes
12:01 am, Wednesday, May 27- Haggen takes ownership of the store
4:00 pm*, Thursday, May 28 – Store opens as Haggen (*Opening time is tentative)
NOTE: The pharmacy will remain open during the conversion starting late morning May 27

Two other Kitsap grocery stores have already converted to Haggen. A Silverdale Albertsons and Port Orchard Safeway made the change in March.

Bellingham-based Haggen acquired 146 Albertsons and Safeway stores this spring as part of a divestiture required for the merger of the two grocery titans.

You can read all my posts about Haggen’s arrival in Kitsap here. Haggen posted a FAQ about store conversions.

Haggen hosting meet-and-greet Thursday

Tad Sooter

Haggen’s first two Kitsap County grocery stores have been up and running for about 10 days now.

In an effort to get to know their new neighborhood better, Haggen representatives are hosting a community meeting Thursday in Port Orchard.

Haggen is holding these meetings in all the new markets it’s moving into this year.

According a news release, Haggen wants to hear from small farmers and producers interested in selling wares in the stores, nonprofits interested in Haggen’s charitable work, and small businesses interested in co-marketing campaigns, as well as community members.

The meeting is scheduled for 5-6 p.m. Thursday at the Port Orchard Pavilion, 701 SW Bay Street.

Haggen is taking over 146 former Albertsons and Safeway locations this year, including three in Kitsap County.

The Bellingham-based grocery chain converted a Silverdale Albertsons and a Port Orchard Safeway to the Haggen Northwest Fresh brand on March 7. An East Bremerton Albertsons will follow in June.

A Gig Harbor Safeway became a Haggen on March 11. A community meeting is scheduled for 5-6 p.m. March 23 at The Inn at Gig Harbor, 3211 56th Street NW.

If you’ve already been shopping at the Haggen stores I would love to know what you think. Drop a comment below.

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 →