Haggen grocery stores file for bankruptcy
– Haggen, the West Coast regional grocer with stores in Paso Robles and Atascadero, announced on Tuesday it has filed petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. The company has received commitments for up to $215 million in debtor-in-possession financing from its existing lenders to maintain operations and the flow of merchandise to its stores during the sale process.
The action follows a difficult transition that started in December 2014 when Haggen bought and converted 146 Albertsons and Safeway stores, including six stores in San Luis Obispo County. Haggen has laid off employees, closed stores and become embroiled in lawsuits.
In July, Albertsons filed a lawsuit against Haggen, accusing the grocer of fraud in failing to pay more than $36 million as part of the sale of 146 grocery stores. According to that lawsuit, Albertsons says that Haggen refused to pay for $36 million of inventory at 32 stores it acquired.
Haggen followed with its own lawsuit against Albertsons seeking more than $1 billion in damages related to the business deal. The suit says Albertsons engaged in coordinated and systematic efforts to eliminate competition and Haggen as a viable competitor in over 130 local grocery markets in five states.
During the bankruptcy, Haggen says it plans to continue day-to-day operations for customers, employees, vendors and suppliers, and other business partners during the restructuring. As part of that, it is seeking court approval to continue employee wages and certain benefits and honor certain customer programs.
“After careful consideration of all alternatives, the company concluded that a reorganization through the Chapter 11 process is the best way for Haggen to preserve value for all stakeholders,” said John Clougher, CEO of Haggen. “The action we are taking today will allow us to continue to serve our customers and communities while providing Haggen with a process to re-align our operations to be positioned for the future.”
Haggen has engaged Sagent Advisors to market for sale some locations in the five states it operates and to explore market interest for various store locations. Discussions are underway with interested parties to sell many of the company’s remaining assets.
Haggen grew from an 18 store regional grocer to 164 stores through the purchase of Albertson’s locations in December 2014.
The best resolution would be for Trader Joe's to buy the Paso store and hire the employees. We desperately need a Trader Joe's, and they need another store in the area — and one with plenty of parking.#traderjoes
If Trader Joes took any of the stores they might have to accept union contracts in those not a bad idea.
It could be a Whole Foods, that might be nice….or wait…even better….it could be a Vons…that was a great store….good people, fresh food, afforable prices…they killed my favorite store 🙁
I would love to see Von's come back in. Tried Haggen's when they first came into Paso. I now drive to Atascadero Von's. I will be glad to see Haggen's go, I just worry about the great employees. Wow…a Whole Foods would be awesome!!
I would live WINCO TO COME YES!!!
As I recall, Albertson's bought Safeway/Von's. As part of the purchase approval from the FTC, Albertson's was required to sell Safeway/Von's where they competed with an Albertson's (as in Paso). I believe Albertson's set up Haggens to fail as they well understood that a small chain (17 stores?) couldn't possibly swallow 130 more stores in one gulp and successfully gear up for a very large operation (suppliers, staffing, management, etc). Albertson's would love to see an empty store at Creston and Golden Hill. I usually cheer the little guy, but Haggens should not have bitten off so much. There were likely other more capable bidders that Albertson's didn't want in Paso. Welcome to the world of big business.
Let them sell to WHOLE FOODS!!!! in Paso!
Where do I start?
Let's see, a chain that was successful(?) with 18 stores thinks it can expand in less than a year to 10 times that size? Gee, who could'a predicted any sort of problem with that brainstorm? Or how about converting an affordable store into an expensive one, in a community like Paso Robles, which a FIVE MINUTE drive through the surrounding area would have revealed to even the most dunder-headed of Haggen executives that this was not a good fit. Duh. And how about "the powers that be" that thought they needed to solve some problem with Von's staying (that didn't exist), presumably to, what, avoid price gouging by a big, monopoly chain store by letting in a smaller chain store to perpetrate even worse price gouging?
Oh, didn't quite work out the way you all planned? Then let's just declare bankruptcy, excuse me, reorganization (which is lawyer-speak for "government permission to screw over creditors") so we can continue to beat this dead horse. I have no sympathy for Haggen, and suggest we just let them die on the vine. Billion dollar lawsuit? For what? Another money grab to make up for your ineptitude? It's called competition you morons. You tried for a big piece of the pie and fell flat on your face. You don't deserve a "bail out." And frankly neither do your investors who jumped on board this obvious train wreck. You all deserve to die the death of a mis-run company. You really want to "preserve value for all stakeholders?" Let the decision makers forgo their pay and bonuses and golden parachutes and donate that sum of cash to the employees!
Speaking of: I DO sympathize with the employees, of course, but they can look forward to getting hired back when Von's (or something similar) moves in. We don't need another Traders, or other specialty-type grocery store. We need an affordable grocery store with a good general assortment of quality food. I know, that idea is way out there, right?
If only they had asked me first, I could'a saved them a lot of trouble!! 🙂
Remeimder the good old days, Scolari's and William Bros. !
We do not need Whole Foods. Go to Slo if u have to buy that shit. Just shop at the store and shut the hell up. Our world had much bigger issues to deal with.
OMG. Can we finally get a decent grocery store up here? Fresh Foods, Whole Foods, TJ's, this isn't that hard is it?
The original Haggens Grocery is about a mile from our home in Bellingham Washington. A real treat to shop and meet neignbors and working members of the Haggen family. It seemed like the family sale to the Florida venture capitol group was the beginning of a sad downfall. The company philosophy seemed to change from quality and service to making lots of money quick.
Now we like WINCO—clean, great value and employee owned.
This really stinks of a hatche job.
Whole Foods is just as expensive as Haggen's
How does a company get to purchase over 100 stores and within a few months file Chapter 11? We the customers and the employees get screwed. I sure wish that I was the presiding judge handling this Chapter 11 mess!
How about a small Costco satallite store stocking raw almonds, pizza, and toilet paper. Since we are all wishing here.
The best resolution would be for Trader Joe's to buy the Paso store and hire the employees. We desperately need a Trader Joe's, and they need another store in the area — and one with plenty of parking.#traderjoes
If Trader Joes took any of the stores they might have to accept union contracts in those not a bad idea.
It could be a Whole Foods, that might be nice….or wait…even better….it could be a Vons…that was a great store….good people, fresh food, afforable prices…they killed my favorite store 🙁
I would love to see Von's come back in. Tried Haggen's when they first came into Paso. I now drive to Atascadero Von's. I will be glad to see Haggen's go, I just worry about the great employees. Wow…a Whole Foods would be awesome!!
I would live WINCO TO COME YES!!!
As I recall, Albertson's bought Safeway/Von's. As part of the purchase approval from the FTC, Albertson's was required to sell Safeway/Von's where they competed with an Albertson's (as in Paso). I believe Albertson's set up Haggens to fail as they well understood that a small chain (17 stores?) couldn't possibly swallow 130 more stores in one gulp and successfully gear up for a very large operation (suppliers, staffing, management, etc). Albertson's would love to see an empty store at Creston and Golden Hill. I usually cheer the little guy, but Haggens should not have bitten off so much. There were likely other more capable bidders that Albertson's didn't want in Paso. Welcome to the world of big business.
Let them sell to WHOLE FOODS!!!! in Paso!
Where do I start?
Let's see, a chain that was successful(?) with 18 stores thinks it can expand in less than a year to 10 times that size? Gee, who could'a predicted any sort of problem with that brainstorm? Or how about converting an affordable store into an expensive one, in a community like Paso Robles, which a FIVE MINUTE drive through the surrounding area would have revealed to even the most dunder-headed of Haggen executives that this was not a good fit. Duh. And how about "the powers that be" that thought they needed to solve some problem with Von's staying (that didn't exist), presumably to, what, avoid price gouging by a big, monopoly chain store by letting in a smaller chain store to perpetrate even worse price gouging?
Oh, didn't quite work out the way you all planned? Then let's just declare bankruptcy, excuse me, reorganization (which is lawyer-speak for "government permission to screw over creditors") so we can continue to beat this dead horse. I have no sympathy for Haggen, and suggest we just let them die on the vine. Billion dollar lawsuit? For what? Another money grab to make up for your ineptitude? It's called competition you morons. You tried for a big piece of the pie and fell flat on your face. You don't deserve a "bail out." And frankly neither do your investors who jumped on board this obvious train wreck. You all deserve to die the death of a mis-run company. You really want to "preserve value for all stakeholders?" Let the decision makers forgo their pay and bonuses and golden parachutes and donate that sum of cash to the employees!
Speaking of: I DO sympathize with the employees, of course, but they can look forward to getting hired back when Von's (or something similar) moves in. We don't need another Traders, or other specialty-type grocery store. We need an affordable grocery store with a good general assortment of quality food. I know, that idea is way out there, right?
If only they had asked me first, I could'a saved them a lot of trouble!! 🙂
Remeimder the good old days, Scolari's and William Bros. !
We do not need Whole Foods. Go to Slo if u have to buy that shit. Just shop at the store and shut the hell up. Our world had much bigger issues to deal with.
OMG. Can we finally get a decent grocery store up here? Fresh Foods, Whole Foods, TJ's, this isn't that hard is it?
The original Haggens Grocery is about a mile from our home in Bellingham Washington. A real treat to shop and meet neignbors and working members of the Haggen family. It seemed like the family sale to the Florida venture capitol group was the beginning of a sad downfall. The company philosophy seemed to change from quality and service to making lots of money quick.
Now we like WINCO—clean, great value and employee owned.
This really stinks of a hatche job.
Whole Foods is just as expensive as Haggen's
How does a company get to purchase over 100 stores and within a few months file Chapter 11? We the customers and the employees get screwed. I sure wish that I was the presiding judge handling this Chapter 11 mess!
How about a small Costco satallite store stocking raw almonds, pizza, and toilet paper. Since we are all wishing here.