Of the more than 5,000 Haggen creditors listed on 93 pages in the grocery chain’s bankruptcy filings, about 40 are located in Central Oregon, including a wholesale florist in Madr as, an ice supplier in Bend and a coffee roaster in Sisters.

A handful of them surveyed Friday expressed confusion and disappointment or an attitude of business as usual toward their relationships with the Bellingham, Washington-based Haggen. They continue doing business with the chain, which opened two stores in Bend earlier this year, but await further word on pending payments or future contracts.

“Right now, it’s just a matter of are they going to stay open and support local business,” said Justine Haney, owner of Justy’s Jelly, in Redmond. “We are continuing to deliver until we don’t get paid.”

Haggen owes more than $91 million to vendors, landlords and others, according to bankruptcy court records. The company filed for relief Tuesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court from its creditors while it reorganizes under Chapter 11. Sale of some of the 146 Albertsons and Safeway stores it acquired is part of the company’s plans to raise cash, according to its filings. It plans to retain 18 core stores in the Pacific Northwest and some of those it acquired and rebuild around them, the filings state.

‘Hyper-local’

Haggen acquired the two stores in Bend from Albertsons on opposite ends of Third Street. Before reopening those stores in May, Haggen gathered local businesses at Central Oregon Community College to explain its approach to stocking its shelves with locally made products, said Julie Leutschaft, vice president for sales at Straw Propeller, a maker of gourmet oatmeal and muesli, in Redmond. That excited many area business owners, she said.

“It was the first time I’ve ever heard ‘hyper-local,’ meaning you’re basically down the street” from the Haggen store, Leutschaft said. “The closer you are to hyper-local, the more likely they’ll take your product. They promoted that.”

Straw Propeller sold about $450 worth of its product to the two Bend stores, she said. Haggen also allowed Straw Propeller to make sales pitches to four more Haggen stores in the Willamette Valley. After news broke of the bankruptcy filing, a company representative emailed Leutschaft to say one of the stores she pitched to was involved in the filing but provided no further information, she said.

The Haggen account is comparatively small and has little impact if it goes away, she said. Other business owners said the same.

“We’ll be OK,” said Lesa Fadness, owner of O-Hana Salsa, in Bend. But, “there’s a lot of companies that started in the week of the bankruptcy that really need that check.”

‘A bit unsettling’

Joshua Hobbs, manager of Cascade Ice, in Bend, said the company supplied Haggen’s Bend stores with about 3½ tons of ice in 7- and 20-pound bags every week. Cascade Ice won the contract away from a big rival based in Portland, he said. The bankruptcy filing and the prospect of going unpaid or losing the contract is a bit unsettling, he said.

“They were a big customer; it does hurt us a little bit,” he said. “Usually we stay with a client, and it turns into years. We’ve never had a client go out within a month.”

Chell Williams, co-owner with his wife, Rebecca Williams, of Red Plate Foods, a maker of gluten-free and allergy-free foods in Bend, said their experience with Haggen is only positive. The grocery chain is current on its bills, and Williams said he’s expecting further orders.

“I feel good about their local management, and hopefully the corporate financial distress doesn’t trickle down to them making difficult decisions” to sell the Bend stores.

A Haggen spokeswoman said by email Friday the Chapter 11 filing does not change the company’s day-to-day operations. She had no immediate word on potential store closures.

“The stores are still up and operational,” wrote Deborah Pleva in an email. “However, as part of the Chapter 11 process, the company will evaluate potential sales/closures as part of its right-sizing strategy.”

— Reporter: 541-617-7815, jditzler@bendbulletin.com