Supermarket chain Haggen filed Tuesday for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after struggling for months with a huge expansion into new states including California.
The Bellingham, Wash.-based grocer has been floundering since buying 146 Albertsons, Vons, Pavilions and Safeway grocery stores, including 83 in California, mostly in the south. Albertsons and Safeway were ordered by federal regulators to divest those locations as part of their merger.
With one move, Haggen expanded from an 18-store chain in the Pacific Northwest to a regional player all down the West Coast. The company spent the earlier part of the year converting its new stores to the Haggen brand.