[LuisSuarez]

Interesting article by Frank Moore on the reason why haggens have failed.


Frank Moore ·
President at Antelope Valley Astronomy Club

What had been an 18 store grocery chain out of the Pacific Northwest is bought by a Florida based investment capital group and decides they want to look for markets in which to expand. Quite fortuitously, an FTC ruling requires that merging competitors must divest themselves of some stores to compete their merger. Haggen/Comvest, thinking they could play with the big boys in the West and Southwest, and with capital from their corporate "sugar daddy", buys those stores. They go from having 18 stores to having 164 almost overnight and moved into markets with which they weren't familiar and did not understand.

When they moved into the western markets, they brought their inflated WA and OR grocery prices with them to places like Los Angeles, Bakersfield, Tucson and beyond, and did not adjust. Their own corporate byline sets up the attitude that ensured they would fail describing themselves as, "Operates a chain of HIGH-END grocery stores in the Pacific Northwest...." They converted what had been "neighborhood markets" into their vision of a "high-end" market and it did not sell to the locals.

Here's how poorly they understand the market. In a recent Southern California ad, Haggen was selling "California-grown cotton candy grapes” for $3.99 per lb., Valley Produce Market was selling a pound of California-grown “champagne grapes” for 69 cents. A pound of green seedless grapes could be found at Sprouts for $1.98, Vons for $1.99, and Ralphs for $1.88, while Food 4 Less and Albertsons were selling them for 99 cents. (Courtesy LA Daily News)

In the same ad , Haggen advertised white peaches from Fresno for $1.49 per pound, but Food 4 Less and SaveMart was selling a pound of white peaches for 99 cents.

This type of over-pricing went on across the board in all departments and in all locales where they opened new stores. In some markets, Haggen went so far as to blame the pricing problem on a "computer error" but customers did not buy it and never came back. Haggen claims Albertsons gave them "inaccurate retail pricing information". How about some due diligence and researching it on your own folks? Six months post merger, and they are still trying to sell merchandise at uncompetitive prices.

Albertsons previously filed a $41.1 million lawsuit alleging that Haggen failed to pay for the inventory in 38 of the stores it acquired. It seems Haggen (and no doubt their corporate parent) is trying to one up them, tie the whole thing up with litigation and counter-litigation, and perhaps hope to get an out-of-court settlement.

[ddrhazy]

Never saw a Haggen grocery store here in Las Vegas.

[Tek_Freek]

Village Center has one. Went there once. Freaked at the prices. Never going back.

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q...egas+locations

[nitro1320]

The one on Lake Mead & Buffalo is a ghost town. It's days have to be numbered. Too bad, when it was a Von's they had a great crew working there.

[icarian]

I have one about 300 meters from me in the Anthem / Inspirada area. It is a ghost town in there every time I go in. And like others, I do not go in except for a couple items that don't make it worth it to drive further. Sad, really.

[Merrily Gather]

Originally Posted by nitro1320

The one on Lake Mead & Buffalo is a ghost town. It's days have to be numbered. Too bad, when it was a Von's they had a great crew working there.

Really? I just happened on that exact one today and went inside to check it out as it was my first time inside one. I found it was very busy. It was after 4 pm this afternoon. I never shopped at it as a Von's so I don't know how it was before this.

Then I realized I forgot something and went to Trader Joe's in the 5 pm hour and it was super packed like Haggen's was. I think it might be after work and school that these stores get crowded because everyone was waiting in lines and all the registers were full.

[UTES]

Bill

[skugelstadt]

Originally Posted by icarian

I have one about 300 meters from me in the Anthem / Inspirada area. It is a ghost town in there every time I go in. And like others, I do not go in except for a couple items that don't make it worth it to drive further. Sad, really.

Yep, It doesn't help that postings on Nextdoor hammered them too in that neighborhood. I only shop there when things are on sale

[C_A_Braun]

Originally Posted by skugelstadt

Yep, It doesn't help that postings on Nextdoor hammered them too in that neighborhood. I only shop there when things are on sale

I needed OJ in a jiffy at about 11PM this past weekend. I ran down to the Bicentennial Haggen and paid $14 for two 1 gallon bottles. I don't buy OJ often so for all I know that is a great deal, but I sure felt ripped off.

[ScoopLV]

Since the juice in those jugs was likely about one year old, I'd go with "rip-off."