The bold Southern California expansion by tiny grocery Haggen Inc., and the company's abrupt bankruptcy filing only six months after opening its first store in the region, came as little surprise to Jack Brown.
Brown is the longtime chief executive of the 168-store Stater Bros. chain, based in San Bernardino, and he's seen the rise and fall of many supermarkets since his entry into the business as a teenage box boy. Now 77, Brown even keeps a list of the chains that have disappeared — once-familiar names such as Lucky, Alpha Beta and Mayfair.
"I have seen everything in the food industry come and go in Southern California," he said.