Gelson’s to buy former Haggen store in North Pacific Beach

Haggen, the supermarket chain that attempted an expansion this year that proved catastrophic, plans to sell two Bakersfield stores back to Albertsons.

According to Haggen spokeswoman Deborah Pleva, five OR stores were auctioned off to private bidders on Friday morning, including the Beaverton location on Hall Boulevard, as well as stores in Baker City, Eugene, Springfield and Ashland.

Am I the only one in town who thinks a “bundled in bulk” bid by Smart and Final is not the solution for a full-service grocery store in Coronado?

The Hall Boulevard location will be the first 99 Ranch Market in Oregon.

Before the suit, Albertsons accused Haggen of fraud for failing to pay $41 million for inventory it acquired in the new stores.

The last day for the Tigard store is November 30. The store is performing well, Pleva said, and is considered by Haggen to be one of its “core stores”. “For the remaining stores that have not been sold, we know this brings great stress and uncertainty to our members and their families”.

On Friday Haggen announced in a press release that it would be selling the Panama Lane and Stockdale Highway stores back to Albertsons, pending approval of the bids by a bankruptcy judge.

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.

But the rollout was far from smooth. “Gelson’s purchased certain assets related to eight stores located in California for approximately $36 million”.

Gelson’s anticipates closing on the stores late this year and relaunch them early next year under its own brand with initial improvements to product selection and merchandising, followed several months later by redesign and construction.

The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and estimated it could save $57.4 million for the rest of the fiscal year and make an additional $125.6 million by liquidating the stores, the Los Angeles Times reported.

All told, the company auctioned off 91 stores at last week’s auction.