Any insight to Haggen Grocery Stores?? (Bellingham, Olympia: appointed, home, layoffs)

[CrazyDonkey]

Originally Posted by mkarch

Back before Whole Foods was popular, Haggen was the store just below the top - which at the time was Larrys.

How they're positioned now is probably going to depend on the neighborhood. Some of the Safeways are kind of ghetto, it's hard to see them moving up to a position just below Whole Foods.

Larry's modeled themselves as an upscale version of Haggen.

Here are lists of the stores that will be divested by Safeway and Albertson's:

http://www.albertsons.com/wp-content...yStoreList.pdf
http://www.albertsons.com/wp-content...StoreList1.pdf

The WA Safeway locations Haggen will be buying: Everett, Gig Harbor, Liberty Lake, Oak Harbor, Port Orchard, Renton, Tacoma, Shoreline.

The WA Albertson's locations Haggen will be buying: Olympia, Tacoma (2), Federal Way, Bremerton, Burien (2), Seattle (Bothell Way), Milton, Monroe, Port Angeles, Puyallup, Renton, Redmond, Silverdale, Snohomish, Walla Walla, Wenatchee, Tacoma (S. 38th St.).

Notice a pattern?

[Densi52]

Originally Posted by RVD90277

There is one in Woodinville. It took over another grocery store earlier this year (Top Foods?)

I like it. They have a nice bakery and stuff like that. The quality is a little better than Safeway and Albertsons although not quite Whole Foods / Whole Paycheck level.

Top Foods is a Haggen store. I don't know why there are two names for their stores.

[wutitiz]

Originally Posted by CrazyDonkey

Larry's modeled themselves as an upscale version of Haggen.

Here are lists of the stores that will be divested by Safeway and Albertson's:

http://www.albertsons.com/wp-content...yStoreList.pdf
http://www.albertsons.com/wp-content...StoreList1.pdf

The WA Safeway locations Haggen will be buying: Everett, Gig Harbor, Liberty Lake, Oak Harbor, Port Orchard, Renton, Tacoma, Shoreline.

The WA Albertson's locations Haggen will be buying: Olympia, Tacoma (2), Federal Way, Bremerton, Burien (2), Seattle (Bothell Way), Milton, Monroe, Port Angeles, Puyallup, Renton, Redmond, Silverdale, Snohomish, Walla Walla, Wenatchee, Tacoma (S. 38th St.).

Notice a pattern?

Why don't you tell us the pattern instead of leaving us to guess?

It looks to me like Haggen is mostly being relegated to the hinterlands in this deal by the DOJ. If I were Haggen I would have wanted locations in Bel-Red-Kirk-Issaquah, Seattle, Lake Forest Park, Newcastle, Renton, etc. They do get a store in Redmond, Shoreline, and Renton. If I were a Haggen exec I don't think I would be thrilled with this deal from the DOJ.

[RVD90277]

Originally Posted by Densi52

Top Foods is a Haggen store. I don't know why there are two names for their stores.

I guess what they did in Woodinville is renovate the Top Food store and then rebrand it as Haggen. The old Top Foods was ok but pretty dated.

RVD.

[Ira500]

Originally Posted by Densi52

Top Foods is a Haggen store. I don't know why there are two names for their stores.

Because they're not the same store. They just have the same ownership. Safeway owns Ralph's and Genuardi's Supermarkets, among others. Kroger has Kroger, QFC, and Fred Meyer, among others.

[CrazyDonkey]

Originally Posted by wutitiz

Why don't you tell us the pattern instead of leaving us to guess?

It looks to me like Haggen is mostly being relegated to the hinterlands in this deal by the DOJ. If I were Haggen I would have wanted locations in Bel-Red-Kirk-Issaquah, Seattle, Lake Forest Park, Newcastle, Renton, etc. They do get a store in Redmond, Shoreline, and Renton. If I were a Haggen exec I don't think I would be thrilled with this deal from the DOJ.

Didn't think it was all that hard to see. Other than at the very margins, all of the stores Haggen will be buying are outside of the Seattle or Tacoma urban areas. That does fit Haggen's current profile, which is focused on smaller (Bellingham, Boise, etc.) rather than larger metropolitan areas, so I'm not at all sure it is simply that they're picking up the left-overs. They're also adding a bunch of stores in California - I didn't look to see if the same pattern existed there or not.

While Safeway has a large presence in Seattle, the same can't be said for Albertson's, with only two stores in Seattle proper. So, it can't be said that competition will be hurt in Seattle. Adding Haggen into the mix would increase competition, of course, but the DOJ isn't going to insist on that.

[elkotronics]

I worked at the Everett, WA, Top Foods, starting in November of 1984. I was a maintenance worker. Tough to sweep the floor on Saturday's! The place was packed.

[Densi52]

Originally Posted by elkotronics

I worked at the Everett, WA, Top Foods, starting in November of 1984. I was a maintenance worker. Tough to sweep the floor on Saturday's! The place was packed.

If that's the one that used to be by the Everett Mall, it's now a WalMart.

[wutitiz]

Originally Posted by Densi52

I am surprised that Top Foods/Haggen is expanding. Their big store in the Crossroads area of Bellevue closed recently. When I lived in Snohomish, I usually shopped at Top Foods -- good produce and butcher counter. Most of the Safeways near me are run down.

Safeway was bought out by a private equity company called Cerberus (a Cerberus is a three headed hell hound from ancient greek mythology). Cerberus already owned Albertsons, so an antitrust review was conducted by the feds. Due to concerns about potential monopoly power, the feds require that Safeway sell off these stores, and Haggen agreed to buy them.

I hope I got that right, but as far as I understand that's the gist of the deal.

[elkotronics]

If that's the one that used to be by the Everett Mall, it's now a WalMart.

It was across from Everett Mall. I think it's the one you're thinking of, Densi52. Not a bad job, I started at $5.00 and after about a year of hard work I got a raise. Who wants ta guess how big my raise was? The winner gets ta bet against Seattle this weekend when they face the fearsome St.Louis Rams.