Acquisition and Integration of Haggen into Albertsons

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Re: Acquisition and Integration of Haggen into Albertsons

Post by VibeGuy »

My guess would be Oregon Ice Cream out of Eugene., f/k/a Dutch Girl.
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Re: Acquisition and Integration of Haggen into Albertsons

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VibeGuy wrote: November 1st, 2022, 12:28 am My guess would be Oregon Ice Cream out of Eugene., f/k/a Dutch Girl.
How about produce? Haggen always did a great job with produce that was Northwest sourced, and having many unique apple varieties. Roth's seemed to be involved in the same supply chain as Haggen and was also great at that (probably still is). Safeway... always the bare minimum on apple variety, last to get new varieties and rarely anything interesting.

My suspicion in Bellingham is Haggen had too many "nice" stores (though I recall one of the stores was quite small) and in reality the town only needed one store like that. The Safeway opening in Bellingham likely hurt them also.

Haggen really was screwed over badly with the Wal Mart entry and WinCo expansion that killed their Top Foods business. The problem was their prices were too high and these other operators came in and way undercut Top Foods. The Top Stores felt tired and outdated and that didn't help. The Haggen banner stores were too nice and operated at a level of staffing and mix that they were likely not overly profitable and I suspect buying power and profits from the Top Foods side (back when it was higher volume) were funding the Haggen side save for a few good performing Haggen Stores like Olympia, Marysville, Lake Tapps, and a couple around Bellingham. I believe Olympia was actually their top store. I don't know how much time you spent in Haggen Stores in the 2008-2012 period (including the Top Foods) but it was a very dark period for many of their stores (which subsequently closed) and you could feel it in the mood of the staff and atmosphere, yet that product quality on the produce and bakery side... never compromised. And service in their deli and prepared foods areas was always the most professional.
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Re: Acquisition and Integration of Haggen into Albertsons

Post by VibeGuy »

Yeah, I was a big, big Top fan up until the end - starting with when they opened the one near Everett Mall in the 1983ish? timeframe. I shopped Tacoma fairly regularly in the last years - probably my favorite conventional, actually, overall because of their center assortment + bakery + exquisite produce.

I don’t know that I’m completely convinced that Winco or Walmart was the death of Top, or even an accessory to the murder. Tacoma, Edmonds, Aberdeen, Everett, Lacey, Seattle - neither had a presence with grocery in that timeframe. Federal Way had Winco within five miles. Towards the end they may have hastened the demise but the patient was already terminal.

Back to Haggen today: I thought produce looked really good - including some very nice foraged local mushrooms. I don’t know if they’re hooked up with Charlie’s still (they were very badly burnt by the SoCal adventure and may hold a grudge like the former fluid milk and ice cream partner), but it wouldn’t surprise me. I was in the Snohomish store a little while back and also thought it might not be the Safeway produce supply chain.

Incidentally, once upon a time, Safeway was the exclusive supermarket retailer of the Elstar apple, a cross between Golden Delicious and Cox’s Orange Pippin, IIRC.
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Re: Acquisition and Integration of Haggen into Albertsons

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I don't think Safeway has any exclusives on produce anymore. They are wise to keep Haggen produce as Haggen produce was. I think Charlie's is still in business in SoCal but I know they lost $$$$$ in the bankruptcy.

The Safeway produce program is one of the worst out there, just basics, nothing special, double the price of Smiths on most items, and poor Organic mix and freshness. Out here in Reno they can't even get Gold Kiwi at Safeway yet this fall (Smiths, Sam's Club, Save Mart, Raleys, Wal Mart, have had them for at least the past six weeks). Smiths also has something new I've never seen before called a Red Kiwi (quite good actually, sort of like a Gold Kiwi but maybe cross with a Strawberry; grown in CA). Safeway put on a great show in produce in Reno for a few months last year when the new store opened with all kinds of specialty items/variety, but then it reverted back late last year to a really pathetic mix and all the special stuff was gone.

Las Vegas was the only market I've been to the past few years where I was even borderline satisfied with what I saw of produce at the Safeway/Albertsons operation. Everywhere else, including OR/WA, it is just a very marginal mix of items, overpriced, with questionable rotation outside the highest volume stores.

So what happened to Top? Did they literally just screw up so bad on pricing that they practically put themselves out of business before the discount operators even opened nearby?
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Re: Acquisition and Integration of Haggen into Albertsons

Post by Super S »

storewanderer wrote: November 2nd, 2022, 6:34 pm I don't think Safeway has any exclusives on produce anymore. They are wise to keep Haggen produce as Haggen produce was. I think Charlie's is still in business in SoCal but I know they lost $$$$$ in the bankruptcy.

The Safeway produce program is one of the worst out there, just basics, nothing special, double the price of Smiths on most items, and poor Organic mix and freshness. Out here in Reno they can't even get Gold Kiwi at Safeway yet this fall (Smiths, Sam's Club, Save Mart, Raleys, Wal Mart, have had them for at least the past six weeks). Smiths also has something new I've never seen before called a Red Kiwi (quite good actually, sort of like a Gold Kiwi but maybe cross with a Strawberry; grown in CA). Safeway put on a great show in produce in Reno for a few months last year when the new store opened with all kinds of specialty items/variety, but then it reverted back late last year to a really pathetic mix and all the special stuff was gone.

Las Vegas was the only market I've been to the past few years where I was even borderline satisfied with what I saw of produce at the Safeway/Albertsons operation. Everywhere else, including OR/WA, it is just a very marginal mix of items, overpriced, with questionable rotation outside the highest volume stores.

So what happened to Top? Did they literally just screw up so bad on pricing that they practically put themselves out of business before the discount operators even opened nearby?
There is a discussion on Groceteria about TOP, and a possibility that Haggen at one point might have been planning a franchise arrangement with Cub Foods (Pre-WinCo) and there are some hints that Haggen decided to take some ideas and go their own way.

https://www.groceteria.ca/board/viewtop ... =21&t=3216

TOP had some identity issues at times, I remember the Kelso store transitioned from bag-your-own to where they bagged your groceries, even installing new checkstands. The Kelso store struggled and prices were all over the place, and at the time there were three Safeways In Kelso-Longview as well as Fred Meyer, and local operators Shop 'N Kart (which was about as no-frills as they came with no service departments), as well as strong local operators Sinnett's Market Place and Park 'N Shop, which was IGA and later Thriftway. The local operators actually had better pricing than TOP. Haggen threw in the towel and sold the Kelso store to Safeway in the early 2000s. TOP did better where there was less competition. I gotta wonder though if Haggen would have been more successful if they did end up with the Cub franchise, although that might have not worked anyway as WinCo grew their presence in Oregon and expanded in to Washington.
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Re: Acquisition and Integration of Haggen into Albertsons

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I don’t know all the reasons, but there were a number of distractions.

First off was the push into the Portland area. Great stores but no scale. I recall a failure in Kelso, WA as well. (I see this has been well covered)

Next up, Haggen picked the ABSOLUTE WORST time to switch wholesalers. They survived the integration of West Coast Grocers into SuperValu, and I believe they were SuperValu Tacoma’s largest account by a substantial margin. They switched to Associated Grocers (Seattle) after QFC had left and they needed a volume partner. Oddly, though, their house brand was neither SuperValu nor Western Family - they were TopCo customers.

Third, the founder died. Dot was old but had maintained both ownership control and a degree of operational input for a long time. The kids brought in some guy from Sbux as CEO, and I think that was their first time with an outsider in charge.

Fourth, queue the decline and collapse of AG, where assessments were made proportionally.

The kids (who are in their 60s at this point), want a path to liquidity. Enter PE in the form of Comvest, who had zero particular knowledge of selling groceries in the PNW. They replaced the CEO with one of their guys, killed off Top as a brand and spent money rebranding to Haggen Northwest Fare or something. No longer Tough On Prices. Their original TOP format absolutely borrowed heavily from Cub-era Winco, but became more perimeter oriented over time.

PE shouldn’t be in grocery retail, but they did the usual playbook of trying to shrink their way to profitability and buff the good parts for sale. But they’d lost management focus, the uncertainty weighed on staff, the CapEx wasn’t going in the right places. I think they shrank 65% in that era.

Only then did they get involved with the divestiture disaster.

Yes, Walmart entered the western WA markets with food at that time, but they weren’t anywhere near a force. Same with Winco. Haggen’s death was terminal decline and PE held the pillow over their heads on two distinct occasions.

It’s a shame. They could have been the Wegmans of the PNW.
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Re: Acquisition and Integration of Haggen into Albertsons

Post by storewanderer »

I heard way back that Haggen functioned as a quasi-wholesaler and was involved in getting independent stores to join a buying group and do various group buys and shared ads. I'm not sure when this was, probably in the 80's.

I always found the private label arrangement odd that Haggen ran TopCo stuff yet ordered from non-TopCo wholesalers for other items. Raleys has a similar arrangement as they order a lot from Supervalu/UNFI including all drug, but also use TopCo brands (except they use Supervalu Equaline at Food Source- 2 stores left). I think some chains in the upper midwest also use UNFI as primary supplier but sell TopCo private label items. I don't entirely understand that arrangement.

Jim Donald from Starbucks was Starbucks CEO for a few years, he had decades in the grocery business. When Haggen hired him I thought they were on the road to recovery and getting him was an amazing catch. He was back at Albertsons in 2018-2020.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Donald_(businessman)

They basically were the Wegmans of the PNW. They are a poor fit for Kroger.

Given the family getting Haggen back isn't an option, I'd like to see URM take Haggen over as an upscale corporate banner to compliment Rosauer's and Super One. I don't see Kroger continuing to use the Haggen banner, they may as well just sell it with some stores. The banner has value in WA I believe. Definitely no value outside WA. I don't think they ever did particularly well in OR. Tualatin was my first interaction with Haggen back in the early 00's. Could have gone into Hillsboro Haggen in the late 90's and skipped the opportunity and went to Safeway across the street instead (dumb tourist looking for familiar store disease).
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Re: Acquisition and Integration of Haggen into Albertsons

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storewanderer wrote: November 3rd, 2022, 1:15 am I always found the private label arrangement odd that Haggen ran TopCo stuff yet ordered from non-TopCo wholesalers for other items. Raleys has a similar arrangement as they order a lot from Supervalu/UNFI including all drug, but also use TopCo brands (except they use Supervalu Equaline at Food Source- 2 stores left). I think some chains in the upper midwest also use UNFI as primary supplier but sell TopCo private label items. I don't entirely understand that arrangement.

Given the family getting Haggen back isn't an option, I'd like to see URM take Haggen over as an upscale corporate banner to compliment Rosauer's and Super One. I don't see Kroger continuing to use the Haggen banner, they may as well just sell it with some stores. The banner has value in WA I believe. Definitely no value outside WA. I don't think they ever did particularly well in OR. Tualatin was my first interaction with Haggen back in the early 00's. Could have gone into Hillsboro Haggen in the late 90's and skipped the opportunity and went to Safeway across the street instead (dumb tourist looking for familiar store disease).
Yeah, Lunds & Byerlys around Minneapolis/St Paul. They had both Equaline and TopCare products on the shelf in drug when I went in one. The Topco stuff might be coming from SpartanNash, who supplies L&B with the Our Family brand.
Off Topic
When my dad was in high school, he bagged groceries at the Lunds in Edina, MN (upscale suburb next to Minneapolis). That store was a National Tea until 1970 or so.
URM should maybe build a warehouse in the Seattle area to serve new customers, assuming they buy Haggen.

Tourist looking for familiar store disease explains why we my family shopped at an Albertsons in Gillette, WY, instead of going to the Smith's across the highway. This was during a road trip 10 years ago.
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Re: Acquisition and Integration of Haggen into Albertsons

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retailfanmitchell019 wrote: January 14th, 2023, 12:49 pm
storewanderer wrote: November 3rd, 2022, 1:15 am I always found the private label arrangement odd that Haggen ran TopCo stuff yet ordered from non-TopCo wholesalers for other items. Raleys has a similar arrangement as they order a lot from Supervalu/UNFI including all drug, but also use TopCo brands (except they use Supervalu Equaline at Food Source- 2 stores left). I think some chains in the upper midwest also use UNFI as primary supplier but sell TopCo private label items. I don't entirely understand that arrangement.

Given the family getting Haggen back isn't an option, I'd like to see URM take Haggen over as an upscale corporate banner to compliment Rosauer's and Super One. I don't see Kroger continuing to use the Haggen banner, they may as well just sell it with some stores. The banner has value in WA I believe. Definitely no value outside WA. I don't think they ever did particularly well in OR. Tualatin was my first interaction with Haggen back in the early 00's. Could have gone into Hillsboro Haggen in the late 90's and skipped the opportunity and went to Safeway across the street instead (dumb tourist looking for familiar store disease).
Yeah, Lunds & Byerlys around Minneapolis/St Paul. They had both Equaline and TopCare products on the shelf in drug when I went in one. The Topco stuff might be coming from SpartanNash, who supplies L&B with the Our Family brand.
Off Topic
When my dad was in high school, he bagged groceries at the Lunds in Edina, MN (upscale suburb next to Minneapolis). That store was a National Tea until 1970 or so.
URM should maybe build a warehouse in the Seattle area to serve new customers, assuming they buy Haggen.

Tourist looking for familiar store disease explains why we my family shopped at an Albertsons in Gillette, WY, instead of going to the Smith's across the highway. This was during a road trip 10 years ago.
I don't know quite what L&B is doing. They seem to supply certain items from different suppliers. I remember walking one aisle and seeing all Nash Finch brands and then walking to the next aisle and seeing Supervalu/UNFI brands. They don't have a particularly heavy mix of private label items in the first place in their stores based on the format they are running, which makes it even more interesting. My guess is they are cherry picking between the two suppliers to get not only the best deals but also in an effort to have the most diverse product mix they can. Their self checkouts had Albertsons clovers in the background (NCR self checkout) so evidently their IT is from Supervalu/UNFI.

So far I don't think URM has many (any?) customers around Seattle proper. They have The Markets LLC up in Bellingham area (Anacortes, etc) but I think that company closed most of its stores around Seattle some time ago.

Both the Albertsons and Smiths in Gillette confuse me. The Albertsons is supposedly original Albertsons but it sure doesn't look like one. This must be a multiple times expanded Albertsons. The Smiths is supposedly a former Buttrey which I guess makes sense because while outside looks like an 00's Smiths, inside layout especially low ceiling around bakery etc. and department sizes in general do not look much like a Smiths. Also a little curious about the Smiths in Rock Springs- it has been a Smiths for a long time, but that thing looks like a former 70's Safeway with an expansion on pharmacy side...
Last edited by storewanderer on January 14th, 2023, 1:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Acquisition and Integration of Haggen into Albertsons

Post by retailfanmitchell019 »

storewanderer wrote: January 14th, 2023, 1:05 pm I don't know quite what L&B is doing. They seem to supply certain items from different suppliers. I remember walking one aisle and seeing all Nash Finch brands and then walking to the next aisle and seeing Supervalu/UNFI brands. They don't have a particularly heavy mix of private label items in the first place in their stores based on the format they are running, which makes it even more interesting. My guess is they are cherry picking between the two suppliers to get not only the best deals but also in an effort to have the most diverse product mix they can. Their self checkouts had Albertsons clovers in the background (NCR self checkout) so evidently their IT is from Supervalu/UNFI.

So far I don't think URM has many (any?) customers around Seattle proper. They have The Markets LLC up in Bellingham area (Anacortes, etc) but I think that company closed most of its stores around Seattle some time ago.
I can imagine L&B is what's giving Hy-Vee pressure around the Twin Cities. L&B stores have high quality perimeters. Pricing is not the best.

The Seattle area is dominated by UNFI (previously SuperValu/West Coast Grocery Co and Unified).
A footnote on West Coast Grocery Co: They were a wholesaler that SuperValu acquired in 1988 to get a presence in the Northwest. West Coast Grocery acquired the wholesale division of Fred Meyer in the late 70s. They supplied the Parade brand.
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