Posted on 09/01/2015 3:43:47 PM PDT by BenLurkin
According to the lawsuit, filed Tuesday in federal court in Delaware, Haggen said Albertsons started engaging in these competitive efforts after it sold 146 grocery stores to Haggen. Albertsons and Safeway were forced by the Federal Trade Commission to sell the stores as part of a merger. Among the stores are 83 in California, mostly in the south.
...
"Albertsons' illegal campaign includes premeditated acts of unfair and anti-competitive conduct that were calculated to circumvent Albertsons' obligations under federal antitrust laws, Federal Trade Commission orders and contractual commitments to Haggen," the lawsuit said.
That campaign includes illegally accessing Haggen's confidential data, using private store conversion schedules to execute aggressive advertising and providing "false, misleading and incomplete" pricing data, which caused Haggen to inflate prices, according to the suit.
As a result of Albertsons' tactics, Haggen "was forced to close 26 of the stores that it newly acquired ... and faces the potential closure of additional stores," the suit said.
Haggen has had a rough time since converting its newly acquired stores earlier this year. In a single move, the chain went from 18 stores in Oregon and Washington to operating more than 160 markets down the West Coast.
The Bellingham, Wash., company has recently laid off employees and cut worker hours in the face of what it called "unprecedented" competition.
Shoppers have complained that Haggen's stores charge higher prices for the same products than the supermarkets they replaced.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
It seems like a really one sided article. Any Freepers out there that can provide some balance?
Don’t know much about this but if Albertson’s is involved I wouldn’t trust them. They were fined several times in the State of Washington for advertising one price and the scanner price was higher.
Additionally they have always been proven to be the highest price grocery chain in the state.
We had a Vons that was replaced by Haggens and all the deals like $5 Fridays and club card discounts were discontinued.
Einstein Bagels every week sells 13 bagels of $6, Haggens sells them for 89 cents each, Vons charged 59 cents that is a 50% increase in price and in no way are they of the quality of Einstein bagels.
This is just one example, there are no lines at the check out now I cannot see them staying in business.
One older lady said to me shortly after the ownership changed that she will never pay those prices.
Its not like your shopping at Whole Foods, neither the products or service is up to Whole Foods, just the prices.
They have a store near where I work. The prices are higher now after the takeover plus they lowered the hours from 40/hrs to 29/hrs so the people you saw at the store for years had to leave to find a full time job. They also had the workers sign a 1 year non compete clause so they could not even get a job at another grocery store!
Then why did they buy the stores? Haggen is owned by an investment company that is more interested in the real estate the stores are on than running the stores.
Well, down here in Tucson they converted 3 Safeway stores. Two of those stores were one mile to either side of an Albertson’s on the same road and both Haggen stores are closing. I have no idea how significant that is but this story sure makes one wonder.
I occasionally shop at two Haggens stores that were previously Albertsons. The prices are higher. In the evening about 7:00pm there are more employees than customers in the store. People are price sensitive about food. The Ralphs down the road are doing fine.
They also had the workers sign a 1 year non compete clause so they could not even get a job at another grocery store!
This would be a great reason for a class action suit, and I can see someone like Trumka of the Service Employee Union going after them on it.
Also, sounds like an Obamacare issue where Haggens doesn’t want to be paying into Obamacare.
They are also pretty aggressive in lefty communities when fighting to oppose any expansion of Walmart or Target stores.
Had a neighborhood Albertson store bought by Haggen close recently. Thanks FTC. There is now less competition. And more workers on the street.
Of interest to old-time residents of Chicago, the Chicago suburbs, and parts of Northern Indiana and Iowa....Albertson's acquired the Jewel (originally the "Jewel Tea Company") chain some years ago.
Jewel is a major, popular and very successful chain in the above areas..... and it retains the name "Jewel" although owned by Albertson's now.
I was born and raised near our local Jewel store and always loved to shop there with my mom....they were little grocery stores in those olden days, but stocked with great goods of all kinds. They have always been semi-upscale in prices. My aunt was the daughter of one of Jewel's early presidents.
Albertson's opened a "Jewel" store near me in central Gulf coast Florida not all that long ago, but it closed in about a year. Just didn't catch on.
I guess Jewel is and always will be a damnyankee store.
Long may it live!
Leni
I shop at a Haggen’s which is just down the road from another supermarket and they do charge anywhere from a dollar to two dollars higher for the same product.
I went into the Hagens store in Yorba Linda on their first day. Prices were too high and the store was gloomy. Albertsons was always nice and inviting. I turned around with no purchases and have never been back. Sounds like the Hagens crowd got in over their heads. Sabotage from Albertsons, not so much.
They charged $23.99 for a box of Franzia red wine that Safeway was selling for $16.99!
Their Doritos were $4.99 while Safeway’s was $3.50.
Uniformly, across the board, their prices are 10-30% higher, for the same exact brands.
It’s such a foolish thing to do that I wonder if they WANT the stores to go belly up, maybe to break the union, or sell the land?
It’s insane to think Oregonians will pay Beverly Hills/Seattle prices.
ed
In this one town I visit from time to time you have a Haggens right across the street from a Safeway and a half-mile from a Fred Meyer. I don’t see how they stay in business. I’ve never been in there when there was a large crowd. The store though is very nice, very uppity kinda.
Haggens is expensive. I can’t shop there but I hardly shop at Albertson’s either because of their prices too.
Oh and this store near the Haggens sells Franzia for $14 sometimes on sale for $11 - Haggens sells them for $18 when on sale and like your Haggens normal price is $25 . BTW, I’ve put Franzia Merlot into an expensive wine bottle I got at a party - people remark over how wonderful it tastes...
Haggens took over our locaL Vons which we rarely used as they were higher than Stator Bros and Food4less. The only thing I have ever bought at Haggens was Balist Point Sculpin beer during a sale about six weeks back, they miss priced it at $7.99. They caught the error after a couple days and changed it to $10.99, still a good deal as it sells everywhere for $13.99 for a six pack.
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