BELLINGHAM, WA – A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge approved the sale of 36 Haggen stores late last week, and a hearing to approve the sale of another 55 will be held later this month on Tuesday, November 24.
Combined, the 91 stores will sell for a total of $139 million.
Among the approved sales, Haggen said Friday that Gelson’s Markets will acquire eight stores across California for $36 million and Smart & Final will acquire 28 stores in California for $56 million.
As for the approval-pending locations, Albertsons was the biggest buyer of them all, interestingly enough. Albertsons submitted bids for 33 stores, including three in Arizona, three in Nevada, four in Oregon, twelve in Washington, and eleven in California.
Here’s the breakdown of some of the other big buyers, who, in total, bid for 55 stores for $47 million. Smart & Final submitted bids for four additional stores in California; Sprouts Farmers Market offered to buy four stores as well, three in California and one in Nevada; Tawa Supermarkets sent in three bids for stores, two in California and one in Oregon; Stater Bros. Markets submitted a bid for one store in California; and Carnival Supermarkets offered to buy two in California. The remaining locations went to other interested parties in California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington.
Haggen’s 32 ‘core’ stores may also be up for sale, as we previously reported. These are what Haggen calls its most valuable stores as they are profitable and carry strong brand reputation in their respective locations.
It’s been a tumultuous year for Haggen, having gone from 18 stores to 164 after buying more than a hundred locations from Safeway and Albertsons and ultimately having to put those stores back on the market. We will have to see how these continuing sales will change up the dynamic retail market, but in the meantime, stick to AndNowUKnow for the latest developments on Haggen.
