Haggen Food & Pharmacy has asked the Bankruptcy Court for approval to conduct a Store Closing Sales on 100 stores as the company plans to close all of it within 60 days, according to a press release issued by Haggen.
The move is part of the company's plan to exit the Pacific Southwest market and realign its operations in the Pacific Northwest.
Haggen said in the press release that they are planning to realign their operations around 37 core stores and one stand-alone pharmacy as part of the Chapter 11 process.
The stores and the pharmacy are all located in the Pacific Northwest.
John Clougher, CEO of Haggen Pacific Northwest, said in the press release that the company has a "record of success" in the area and the identified stores "have the best prospect for ongoing excellence."
"Although this has been a difficult process and experience, we will remain concentrated in the Pacific Northwest where we began, focusing on fresh Northwest products and continuing our support and involvement in the communities we serve," he said.
The Oregonian adds that once the court approves of Haggen's request, the company will be abandoning its hopes of bringing Northwest Fresh to the Southwest and close down all its stores in California, Arizona and Nevada.
Haggen will also be closing down several stores in the Northwest area, which include Oregon and Washington.
The Oregonian adds that lawyers of Haggen said in the court filing that closing down the stores is "imperative" to the company.
The closing of the stores would help ease the negative cash flow of Haggen, which owes creditors more than $270 million.
Haggen also said in the filing that, together, the 100 stores are losing approximately $400,000 per day, according to The Oregonian.
The company said that it would save about $60 million over the remainder of the fiscal year if the stores are closed.
Haggen said in the press release that all employees of the non-core stores and the Pacific Southwest support office will receive a 60-day notice of the pending store and office closures.
All stores will still remain open during the process and employees will receive their pay and benefits through the normal course of a business day as approved previously by the court.
Haggen also said in the press release that, together with Albertson's, they are requesting the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to remove the FTC Order that restricts the hiring of Haggen employees.
This is a priority of the company to ensure that its employees can take advantage of every opportunity available to them.
A complete list of stores that Haggen will be closing down can be found in this page.
