99 Ranch coming to Tustin? Still no takers for the OH Haggen. Time for a Food4Less?
Haggen bids: Which O.C. locations might be turned into 99 Ranch Market, Smart & Final, Gelson's?
Nov. 10, 2015 Updated 1:50 p.m.
By HANNAH MADANS / STAFF WRITER
Two more players have made offers for Haggen properties in Orange County following a bankruptcy auction Monday.
Tawa Inc., which operates the Asian supermarket chain 99 Ranch Market, and Tustin Safe LLC, have made baseline bids for Tustin stores that shuttered last month. All bids will require court approval.
Haggen, a Northwestern grocer that expanded into the Southwest earlier this year, has put 95 stores up for auction as it exits the region following its bankruptcy filing in September. Of those stores, 59 have received baseline bids, including three in Orange County, according to documents filed Friday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware.
Tawa and Tustin Safe each placed $100,000 baseline bids on stores at 550 E. First St. and 17662 17th St., respectively. Tawa operates three 99 Ranch Markets in Orange County, including two stores in Irvine and one in Anaheim. In January, Tawa shuttered a 99 Ranch in Fountain Valley.
Haggen, in October, announced a deal with Gelson?s Markets and Smart & Final to buy 36 of its stores, including five in Orange County.
Pending court approval, Gelson?s would buy eight California stores including Haggen locations in Ladera Ranch and Laguna Beach.
Smart & Final has bid on 28 Haggen stores, including locations in Trabuco Canyon, Corona del Mar and Yorba Linda. The Commerce-based chain last week also bid on the Haggen unit in Laguna Niguel, with a baseline offer of roughly $2 million.
Three Orange County Haggens have no bidder: the Irvine and two Mission Viejo locations.
Albertsons also has bid on 36 Haggen stores, none of which are in Orange County.
On Sept. 24 Haggen announced it would exit the Southwest and refocus its operations around the company?s 37 ?core stores? in the Pacific Northwest. While four stores have already closed in Orange County, the remaining will shutter later this month.
The troubled Bellingham, Wash.-based grocery chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Sept. 8, just six months after debuting in the Southwest. The move was called one of the quickest collapses to hit the supermarket industry in decades.
The road to expansion was tumultuous for Haggen, which acquired 146 stores in January when Albertsons and Vons divested 168 locations to satisfy federal regulators during a merger with Safeway.
In a deal grocery analysts valued at nearly $2 billion, the company grew from 18 stores to 164 in a matter of months. By early summer, Haggen had opened 83 locations in California.
Almost immediately, trouble erupted as customers balked at high prices and limited inventory.
Supermarket analysts said Haggen underestimated the steep competition in Southern California, a $44 billion market that includes endless food buying options ? from deep discounters like Wal-Mart to niche operators like Trader Joe?s and Costco.
Contact the writer: hmadans@ocregister.com or Twitter:
Haggen bids: Which O.C. locations might be turned into 99 Ranch Market, Smart & Final, Gelson's?
Nov. 10, 2015 Updated 1:50 p.m.
By HANNAH MADANS / STAFF WRITER
Two more players have made offers for Haggen properties in Orange County following a bankruptcy auction Monday.
Tawa Inc., which operates the Asian supermarket chain 99 Ranch Market, and Tustin Safe LLC, have made baseline bids for Tustin stores that shuttered last month. All bids will require court approval.
Haggen, a Northwestern grocer that expanded into the Southwest earlier this year, has put 95 stores up for auction as it exits the region following its bankruptcy filing in September. Of those stores, 59 have received baseline bids, including three in Orange County, according to documents filed Friday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware.
Tawa and Tustin Safe each placed $100,000 baseline bids on stores at 550 E. First St. and 17662 17th St., respectively. Tawa operates three 99 Ranch Markets in Orange County, including two stores in Irvine and one in Anaheim. In January, Tawa shuttered a 99 Ranch in Fountain Valley.
Haggen, in October, announced a deal with Gelson?s Markets and Smart & Final to buy 36 of its stores, including five in Orange County.
Pending court approval, Gelson?s would buy eight California stores including Haggen locations in Ladera Ranch and Laguna Beach.
Smart & Final has bid on 28 Haggen stores, including locations in Trabuco Canyon, Corona del Mar and Yorba Linda. The Commerce-based chain last week also bid on the Haggen unit in Laguna Niguel, with a baseline offer of roughly $2 million.
Three Orange County Haggens have no bidder: the Irvine and two Mission Viejo locations.
Albertsons also has bid on 36 Haggen stores, none of which are in Orange County.
On Sept. 24 Haggen announced it would exit the Southwest and refocus its operations around the company?s 37 ?core stores? in the Pacific Northwest. While four stores have already closed in Orange County, the remaining will shutter later this month.
The troubled Bellingham, Wash.-based grocery chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Sept. 8, just six months after debuting in the Southwest. The move was called one of the quickest collapses to hit the supermarket industry in decades.
The road to expansion was tumultuous for Haggen, which acquired 146 stores in January when Albertsons and Vons divested 168 locations to satisfy federal regulators during a merger with Safeway.
In a deal grocery analysts valued at nearly $2 billion, the company grew from 18 stores to 164 in a matter of months. By early summer, Haggen had opened 83 locations in California.
Almost immediately, trouble erupted as customers balked at high prices and limited inventory.
Supermarket analysts said Haggen underestimated the steep competition in Southern California, a $44 billion market that includes endless food buying options ? from deep discounters like Wal-Mart to niche operators like Trader Joe?s and Costco.
Contact the writer: hmadans@ocregister.com or Twitter:
