Court approves 47 Haggen store sales

U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware approved the sale of 47 Haggen stores on Nov. 25.

The deals include stores in Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona and Nevada, but no Whatcom County locations, according to a Haggen press release.

The transactions aren’t final and remain subject to “certain conditions,” the press release said.

If those conditions are met, Albertsons is in line to buy 30 of the stores, Smart & Final and Sprouts Farmers Market are approved for four stores each, Tawa Inc. will get three stores, and the following companies will each get one store: Yoke’s Foods, Tustin Safe LLC, Regency Centers L.P., Donahue Schriber Realty Group, Good Food Holdings and Stater Bros. Markets.

Bellingham-based Haggen held an auction for the stores and about 50 others on Nov. 9-11 as part of its strategy to cut losses and reorganize under chapter 11 bankruptcy.

During the auction, Haggen received bids on 55 stores totaling $47 million, according to a press release. The court didn’t approval all 55 sales because the companies involved couldn’t reach lease agreements for eight of the stores, a Haggen spokesperson said.

Haggen bought the 47 stores earlier this year from Albertsons and Safeway as part of a 146-store deal. Albertsons and Safeway needed to sell the stores to gain Federal Trade Commission approval on their massive merger, which they completed in January.

Federal Trade Commission officials have said in the past that before Albertsons can buy stores back from Haggen the commission needs to review the deals.

In total, Haggen has sold 83 stores this month; the grocery chain also made package deals to sell eight stores to Burbank, California-based Gelson’s Market and 28 stores to Smart & Final, based in Commerce, California. Bankruptcy court approved those sales on Nov. 13., according to a Haggen press release.

Haggen went from owning 18 stores to 168 in its failed expansion earlier this year. After filing for bankruptcy in September, the company announced that it would attempt to sell all but 37 profitable stores. Earlier this month, however, Haggen asked for court approval to auction all its remaining assets, including those profitable stores.

That auction would be Jan. 8, according to court filings.

Here’s a list of all the approved sales in Washington state, including buyer and store location:

Albertsons LLC —  First Ave. S.,  Burien, WA.
Albertsons LLC — Petrovitsky Road, Renton, WA.
Albertsons LLC — Evergreen Way, Everett, WA.
Albertsons LLC — NE 4th Ave. Renton, WA.
Albertsons LLC — Aurora Ave. N., Shoreline, WA
Albertsons LLC — Bethel Rd. S.E., Port Orchard, WA
Albertsons LLC — Pacific Ave. S., Spanaway/Tacoma, WA
Albertsons LLC — Point Fosdick Dr. NW, Gig Harbor, WA
Albertsons LLC — Canyon Rd. East, Puyallup, WA
Albertsons LLC— Milton Way, Milton, WA
Yoke’s Foods, Inc. — N. Liberty Lake Rd, Liberty Lake, WA

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