Haggen to Close Anthem Store and 4 others in AZ (Phoenix: buying, stores)

[Pink Jazz]

Originally Posted by johnp292

Haggen announced today they are going to close all the remaining stores in AZ, CA and NV as well as many of the stores they acquired in the PNW.

I actually wonder if Publix would be interested in these stores. I understand that Publix is concentrated in Florida and the Southeast, however, it would be interesting to see them expand into Arizona, Nevada, and the West Coast.

[ScottsdaleMark]

Originally Posted by johnp292

Haggen announced today they are going to close all the remaining stores in AZ, CA and NV as well as many of the stores they acquired in the PNW.

Is it just me or was this a colossal screw-up on their part? You acquire all these stores and almost immediately have to close almost all of them. Time for new leadership, I'd think.

Edit: Looks like they fired a top exec -- but not the CEO -- and filed for bankruptcy earlier this month (LINK). Whoops!

[Leaving Arizona]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

I've never recovered from Lucky's being taken over.

Gracious, I haven't heard the name of that grocer since, what, junior high? Wow.

[johnp292]

Originally Posted by Pink Jazz

I actually wonder if Publix would be interested in these stores. I understand that Publix is concentrated in Florida and the Southeast, however, it would be interesting to see them expand into Arizona, Nevada, and the West Coast.

I doubt that. More likely companies that already have a presence in the region might have some interest, but I suspect many of these locations now have a taint on them that will make other supermarkets think twice before acquiring them.

I'm worried what will happen at the Anthem location. It was a poorly performing store when it was a Safeway and I can't imagine any other grocer wanting to go in there with the huge Frys 5 minutes away. For those of us who live on the northeast end of Anthem, though, it really hurt to lose that Safeway from a convenience standpoint. Losing the Haggen is no loss, as you had to be insane or truly in a huge rush to shop there. Or oblivious to how badly you were getting fleeced.

Even with their going out of business sale, until the discounts hit 40% or higher you were still overpaying on many items.

[johnp292]

Originally Posted by johnp292

I read in one of the articles in the California papers about the first round of layoffs that if the Haggen employees present a copy of their layoff notice they can be considered for employment by Albertsons/Safeway.

Apparently this was inaccurate. The FTC ordered the one year non compete to prevent Haggen employees from working for Albertsons. News reports and Haggen's website now report that Haggen has petitioned the FTC for a waiver so the displaced employees can apply for jobs at Albertsons/Safeway.

[Zippyman]

Originally Posted by asufan

Well shopping for one is easy, I could do that in 10 minutes too at one point even at Fry's

I just looked up Aldi and the things that would keep me away is the paying a quarter for a cart, and then going all the way back to get your quarter back, and the fact that they don't take credit cards. Not sure how their prices compare to Fry's, probably similar.

aldis will blow frys away on price - aldis is all the staples & none of the fluff. Milk, eggs, cheese, butter at rock-bottom prices- no coupons, no discount cards or other nonsense. Aldis has their own branded products & much like costco, theyre usually quite good. The stores are small & the cashiers are legendarily fast. In my old hometown, they would routinely run out of bread, because caterers & restaraunts were buying it all (cheaper than the restaraunt supply) The cart thing is weird at first, but you're free to leave your cart in the lot & someone will quickly snag that thing up. Which is kinda nice, cause the carts are always where they're supposed to be & not getting blown into cars in the lot..

[klotone]

It wasn't that long ago that Haggan replaced the Albertsons at Via Linda & Frank Lloyd Wright. I went in when Haggan first opened, but didn't return because of their crazy high prices. Even now, with 30% off, the prices are still too high and most of the food shelves are full! The only good thing is 60% off cards and party supplies.

[johnp292]

Two recent developments...

1. Albertsons/Safeway is bidding to buy back some of the stores it sold to Haggen. Not the Anthem store, though.

2. Haggen filed a motion with the bankruptcy court for permission to sell ALL of its stores. Sounds like they are getting ready to go completely out of business.

[johnp292]

Originally Posted by ScottsdaleMark

Is it just me or was this a colossal screw-up on their part? You acquire all these stores and almost immediately have to close almost all of them. Time for new leadership, I'd think.

Edit: Looks like they fired a top exec -- but not the CEO -- and filed for bankruptcy earlier this month (LINK). Whoops!

There Is some speculation bubbling around in the trade press that this was planned all along, right up to the bankruptcy, as a real estate ploy by Comvest ( the PE firm that owns Haggen). One item that was recently disclosed was that the same day Haggen bought the Albertsons/Safeway stores, they sold all the underlying real estate to a REIT in Arizona and then leased the stores back. I wonder if they paid the rent.....

[ScottsdaleMark]

Very interesting, JohnP. Thank you so much and keep us posted to anything else you hear. I agree it is unusual / curious that Haggen could go belly-up so quickly and spectacularly during a stable economic environment. As I said earlier, it would be hard to drive a company into the ground any faster than they did.