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The deal expands Haggen from 18 stores in the Pacific Northwest to 164 throughout the West Coast and will for the first time put Haggen in California, Arizona and Nevada.

(Doug Beghtel/ The Oregonian)

Correction appended.

The first of dozens of new Haggen stores is about to open.

The Bellingham, Washington-based grocer takes ownership of the Albertsons in Monroe, Washington, at 12:01 a.m. Thursday.

The takeover is part of the divestment process resulting from the merger of Albertsons and Safeway.

(Divesting, or selling, stores to competitors is sometimes required by the Federal Trade Commission during a merger to prevent the new, larger company from monopolizing a market.)

The FTC approved the divesture on Jan. 27 and the Albertsons-Safeway merger was finalized Jan. 30.

The deal expands Haggen from 18 stores in the Pacific Northwest to 164 throughout the West Coast and will for the first time put Haggen in California, Arizona and Nevada.

It also means Haggen's two Oregon locations -- Tualatin and Oregon City -- will be joined by 20 more.

Haggen's chairman called the acquisition a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

"Now that the deal has closed, our team is focused on seamlessly converting these 146 stores to the Haggen brand over the next five months," John Caple, who is also a partner at Comvest Partners, a private investment firm with a majority stake in Haggen, said in a statement.

Haggen declined to disclose the terms of the sale.

Oregon stores affected

Albertsons stores to be purchased by Haggen:

Baker City

- 1120 Campbell Street

Beaverton

- 8155 SW Hall

Bend

- 1800 NE 3rd Street

- 61155 S Hwy 97

Clackamas

- 14800 SE Sunnyside Rd

Eugene

- 1675 W 18th Avenue

- 3075 Hilyard St.

Grants Pass

- 340 NE Beacon Drive

- 1690 Allen Creek Road

Keizer

- 5450 River Rd. N

Lake Oswego

- 16199 Boones Ferry Road

Milwaukie

- 10830 SE Oak

Sherwood

- 16030 SW Tualatin Sherwood Rd

Tigard

- 16200 SW Pacific Hwy

- 14300 SW Barrows Rd

West Linn

- 1855 Blankenship Rd

Safeway stores to be purchased by Haggen:

Ashland

- 585 Siskiyou Boulevard

Klamath Falls

- 2740 S 6th

- 211 N Eighth Street

Springfield

- 5415 Main Street

The conversion process



The takeover is a rolling process, moving from north to south with a few exceptions.

An Albertsons on Boones Ferry Road in Lake Oswego is tentatively slated to be the first Oregon store to make the transition in mid-March, said Deborah Pleva, a Haggen spokewoman. Most of the other Portland-area stores will change hands around the same time, she said.

The bulk of the new Haggen stores will change over by July, with one to 12 converting each week.

The individual store transitions won't take long. Each outlet will close for just a few days, at most. The takeovers will include varying degrees of remodels. Each store will feature new interior and exterior signs, as well as a new paint job and likely a rearranged produce department. Flooring will also be replaced at some locations.

Why is the turnaround time so short? One reason is that Haggen will acquire all inventory, Pleva said. So shoppers at newly converted Haggen stores will likely see some Safeway and Albertsons brands on the shelves for the first few weeks. As products are sold off, shoppers will start to see Haggen-branded products replace them.

Employees, Starbucks and grocery items

Employees at each new store will be invited to stay on, Haggen said in a statement.

In addition, the grocer said it would continue operating the 78 Starbucks cafes in the stores it's set to take over, though it will remodel existing shops. It will also be adding Starbucks cafes to other stores.

Haggen said SuperValu will be its primary supplier in the Pacific Northwest, with Unified Grocers as the primary supplier in the Pacific Southwest and a secondary supplier in the Pacific Northwest. Charlie's Produce will be Haggen's primary produce supplier for all its stores. In the coming months, Haggen will name additional regional and local distributors.

To supplement basic core foods, Haggen will also stock local products at its stores.

"Haggen is still small enough to be very nimble and responsive to each store's customers, Bill Shaner, CEO of Haggen Pacific Southwest, said in a statement. "What you find in a Bellingham store will differ from what you'll find in a store in San Diego."

-- Anna Marum

amarum@oregonian.com

503-294-5911

@annamarum

Correction: A previous version of this story contained incorrect information about the Monroe, Washington store. Haggen temporarily closed the store for remodels after it took ownership on Thursday. The store will re-open Saturday, Feb. 14.