Court OKs Haggen’s sale of local stores

Haggen stores in Flagstaff, Prescott, Prescott Valley, Anthem, another site in Tucson and two sites in Scottsdale received no bids.

The Times adds that in an earlier document, Haggen reported that Albertsons’ starting bid for its NE 4th Street location in Renton was $1.7 million, while its opening offer for the 1st Ave South store in Burien was $1. Of the stores up for auction, 40 did not find buyers.

It has found buyers for ninety one of its stores among hundred and fifty four stores.

Haggen also identified backup bidders in case the winning bidder doesn’t fulfill its agreement to buy the stores, but that seems unlikely in the case of Albertsons, which now operates more than 2,200 stores across 33 states.

Albertsons has about 30 locations in Southern Nevada and Sprouts has five, according to their websites.

The 18-store Haggen operation had bought and begun rebranding 146 Albertsons, Vons, Pavilions and Safeway locations, which regulators had ordered sold as part of the merger between Safeway and Albertsons. Albertsons was forced to sell the stores a year ago by the Federal Trade Commission when it merged with Safeway.

However, Haggen quickly sank under its own girth. Numerous groceries, formerly Albertsons or Safeways, had just been converted to Haggen-branded stores in May and June.

Total proceeds from auction sales will reach $139 million, Haggen said. But at Village Center, the phone number has been changed, and calls to the new number led to an outgoing message that said the phone “does not accept incoming calls”.