SAN DIEGO—Two specialty grocery retailers, Gelson's Markets and Smart & Final are bidding to purchase a total of 36 soon-to-close Haggen grocery stores. The submitted bids are for a group of stores including outlets in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Diego counties, according to a Monday press release from Bellingham, WA-based Haggen.
GlobeSt reported last week that the 82-year-old Haggen Food & Pharmacy, currently undergoing Chapter 11 bankruptcy, would sell most of the stores it acquired less than a year ago. The company says it will retrench in Washington and Oregon and reduce its number of outlets to 37 from 164.
Haggen says Gelson's hopes to eight eight California stores—in Carlsbad, Del Mar, Ladera Ranch, Laguna Beach, San Diego, Rancho Mirage, Santa Monica and Thousand Oaks.
Smart & Final has made a bid to purchase 28 Haggen outlets—27 in California and one in Las Vegas.
69 California store locations coming to market, including eight in San Diego, and several others throughout Southern California.
A dozen Haggen stores in Nevada and Arizona will also close as the company retreats to the Pacific Northwest. The former Von's stores stores, divestitures from Albertson's and Safeway, were acquired in a deal that began last year, but was completed in January 2015.
Haggen is seeking a court hearing on October 19 to hear the company's proposed global bid procedures. Parties interested in participating in the sale of stores need to submit an indication of interest by October 26. The procedures provide for a deadline for submission of bids on November 2, with an auction scheduled on November 9. All dates are tentative and subject to bankruptcy court approval.
Gelson's operates 17 specialty stores in Southern California, and is owned by private investment group TPG. Smart & Final Stores, Inc. operates approximately 250 grocery and foodservice stores under the Smart & Final, Smart & Final Extra! and Cash&Carry Smart Foodservice banners in California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Nevada, Idaho and Northern Mexico.
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David Phillips
David Phillips is a Chicago-based freelance writer and consultant with more than 20 years experience in business and community news. He also has extensive reporting experience in the food manufacturing industry for national trade publications.
