Bellingham-based grocery chain Haggen has converted two Safeways and one Albertsons, three Tucson stores in total, to the Haggen brand. They are:
- Former Safeway at 10380 E. Broadway Blvd, Tucson;
- Former Albertsons at 1350 N. Silverbell Road, Tucson; and
- Former Safeway at 8740 E. Broadway Blvd, Tucson
According to public record, Hagen has also purchased the former Safeway store at 8740 East Broadway Blvd, for $3.9 million ($74 PSF) for the 52,566-square-foot anchor building, constructed in 1982.
As was reported December 22, 2014, in The Real Estate Daily News when AB Acquisition LLC (Albertsons) and Safeway Inc. (NYSE: SWY) first announced a merger subject to approval by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), to sell 168 stores across eight states to four buyers.
Haggen purchased the majority of these stores, a total of 146 stores across Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. The store conversion started in February in Oregon and has proceeded rapidly to convert all 146 stores, 83 stores in California, 20 Oregon stores, 33 in Nevada and 10 Arizona stores were converted throughout March, April and May.
“This momentous acquisition is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to rapidly expand the Haggen brand across the West Coast,” said John Caple, chairman of the Haggen board of directors and partner at Comvest Partners, a private investment firm that owns the majority share of Haggen. With the deal closed, Haggen has focused on seamlessly converting these 146 stores to the Haggen brand with each conversion taking but a couple of days to complete.
The company said in a written statement that during the transformation, each store’s employees were invited to become Haggen employees. Union leaders also reported that Haggen has assumed Albertsons' labor contract and that workers will keep their pay, benefits, pension and seniority.
Haggen expanded from owning 18 stores with 16 pharmacies to now 164 stores with 106 pharmacies; from 2,000 employees to more than 10,000 employees; and from a Pacific Northwest regional company with locations in Oregon and Washington to a major regional grocery chain now with locations in Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada and Arizona.
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[mepr-show rules="58038"]Sale price was $3,865,093 closed 5/29/2015 in an all cash deal.[/mepr-show]