Haggen to Divest 6 More Stores

Haggen is reportedly adding six more locations to the list of 127 stores that it's looking to sell or close as part of its bankruptcy plan.

The six stores in question – three in each Washington and Oregon – would leave the Bellingham, Wash.-based grocer with 31 core stores in its operations, following the divesture of a majority of the locations it bought as a result of the Albertsons-Safeway merger in December.

Most recently, Haggen entered into asset purchase agreements for 36 of its stores – 28 will be sold to Commerce, Calif.-based Smart & Final, while Los Angeles-based Gelson's Markets will take eight stores. Both Smart & Final and Gelson's have been named stalking horse bidders for the 36 stores in question, most of which are located in central and southern California.

Haggen has struggled to gain its footing following its 146-store acquisition in December. The troubled grocer announced plans to close 27 of its newly acquired stores in August, as well as to exit the Pacific Southwest market all together in late September.