Haggen has cut back on employee hours, laid off hundreds of staffers in its grocery stores in the Southwest, and is now waging a legal battle against Albertsons, a sign that the Bellingham grocer’s big expansion launched earlier this year has been a rough ride.
The chain’s store footprint ballooned ninefold and its workforce quintupled after it bought 146 stores throughout the West that were left behind by a merger between Albertsons and Safeway.
Critics warned about the high risks of diving into highly competitive markets in Southern California, Arizona and Nevada, where the brand was unknown. But the rewards were luring for the small grocer, which overnight joined the ranks of the top five grocers in the western U.S.
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