BELLINGHAM, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – Haggen grocery stores are being buffeted by another major merger.
Albertsons has agreed to make the brand that was founded in Bellingham part of its divestiture in the proposed merger with Kroger.
An updated plan released by the companies adds the 15 Haggen stores in Washington to those Albertsons would sell to New Hampshire-based C&S Wholesale Grocers. Kroger’s QFC stores would also be among the 579 stores that the chains would sell-off nationwide.
The companies promise the stores will stay open after the sale.
Haggen also became involved in the 2014 merger of Albertsons and Safeway. It initially agreed to buy over 100 stores those companies sold off but was forced into bankruptcy by the sudden expansion. The Haggen brand was then taken up by Albertsons.
The proposed Kroger/Albertsons merger has raised anti-trust concerns among federal regulators.
