After a wave of store closures, Haggen alleges that Albertsons misled the grocer during acquisition.
BY JACOB PALMER | DIGITAL NEWS EDITOR
After a wave of store closures, Haggen is alleging that Albertsons misled the grocer during the acquisition period.
The federal law suit is for more than $1 billion in damages.
The lawsuit alleges that bad-faith actions were part of an effort by Albertsons, newly merged with Safeway, to form monopolies in more than 100 markets along the West Coast, which the Federal Trade Commission had originally sought to prevent by requiring the sale of 146 stores to Haggen.
Haggen, which filed the lawsuit in Delaware district court, is in the midst of closing 26 of its newly acquired stores, which were formerly Safeway and Albertsons stores.
“Haggen never intended to close any of the Stores it acquired,” the lawsuit states. “To the contrary, Haggen saw these Stores as an exciting opportunity to transform itself into a super-regional grocer with a presence up and down the west coast.”
(SOURCE: OregonLive.com)
Albertsons spokesman Brian Dowling said in a statement: “The allegations in the lawsuit are completely without merit.”
Haggen’s lawsuit comes less than two months after Albertsons, which is based in Boise, Idaho, filed suit against Haggen for more than $36 million. Albertsons alleges that Haggen did not pay for 38 of the stores it purchased less than a year ago.
Haggen owns one of three supermarkets in Tualatin, along with Fred Meyer and New Seasons Market. Its location on Southwest Tualatin-Sherwood Road is one of 18 stores Haggen already had at the time of the Albertson-Safeway deal, in which the company acquired 146 new stores.
(SOURCE: Portland Tribune)
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