Haggen Announced Today That it Is Exiting the Pacific Southwest Market and is Closing 101 More Stores

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Haggen today announced its plan to exit from the Pacific Southwest market and realign its operations around 37 core stores and one stand-alone pharmacy in the Pacific Northwest as part of the Chapter 11 process (Haggen filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on September 8th).

This will impact 101 stores, including all 5 stores in Arizona, all 7 stores in Nevada, all 68 remaining California stores and 21 stores in Washington and Oregon.

Impacted local stores include:

Previously announced closures in process:

My how things change...a year ago, Haggen owned 18 stores in Washington and Oregon. Then acquired 146 Albertsons, Vons and Pavilions stores in Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington (83 in California). In August Haggen announced it was closing 27 stores, including 3 in Ventura County.

Haggen indicated it is asking the bankruptcy court for approval to conduct store closing sales. All employees of these stores will receive 60 days notice of the closures and will continue to receive pay and benefits over this period, as approved by the court.

Haggen is supportive of employees securing work elsewhere and is continuing to work with Albertson’s in its request for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to waive the restriction in the FTC Order which restricts the hiring of Haggen employees. Because this is a modification of an order entered by the FTC, the waiver will require Commission approval, which the FTC staff is seeking to obtain on an expedited basis.

On a personal note, this may be the most unbelievably quick crash and burn business acquisition that I've ever seen.