The Haggen grocery chain has agreed to sell 29 stores in Oregon and Washington — including its two in Bend — to Albertson’s for about $106 million, according to Haggen and court records.

Bellingham, Washington-based Haggen, which is seeking to reorganize in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, announced Friday that it has accepted a bid by Albertson’s LLC to acquire what Haggen calls its core stores, according to a Haggen news release.

The sale of the stores would occur in staggered closings over four months, according to documents filed in bankruptcy court, and it would also include Haggen’s corporate headquarters.

Haggen had scheduled and postponed several auctions for the core stores, and ultimately, Albertson’s submitted the only qualifying bid, Haggen states in court records.

It’s not clear whether the Bend stores would operate under the Haggen or Albertsons banner.

The sale would be to Albertson’s LLC, or its designee, court records state, and in an email Friday, a Haggen representative wrote that the company would make no additional comment.

The Bend stores, one on SE Third Street and the other on NE Third Street, were Albertsons grocery stores before Haggen bought them, changed their names and remodeled them in 2015.

According to the agreement filed in bankruptcy court, Albertsons would have to honor the contracts of union employees at the core stores and offer jobs to nonunion employees, subject to their completing interviews, background checks and drug tests.

The deal still has to clear several hurdles. The financing Haggen secured to continue operating the stores while in bankruptcy was scheduled to come due Friday.

“Without continued access to financing … (Haggen) will be unable to consummate the Albertson’s sale,” according to a court filing from Haggen’s lawyers.

So along with buying the stores, Albertson’s LLC has agreed to extend financing to Haggen, documents state. The bankruptcy court must approve both. Haggen has asked the court to schedule a hearing for March 29.

Haggen will also seek court approval to begin going-out-of-business sales for stores not included in the Albertson’s sale agreement, according to the news release. Employees of those stores are expected to receive notices of the pending closures within the next 60 days. They will continue to receive their pay and benefits through the normal course of business, the news release stated.

Haggen notified officials Wednesday in the Oregon Community Colleges and Workforce Development office it would be closing two Oregon stores, one in Happy Valley and the other in West Linn, eliminating 138 jobs. The notification, required under the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, also went to officials in Washington state, where two stores with 125 total jobs will also close.

The Albertson’s-Haggen odyssey began in December 2014 as a result of the merger of Albertson’s and Safeway, two of the West’s biggest grocery chains. To secure approval from the Federal Trade Commission, the chains agreed to sell a combined 168 stores.

Haggen, which had 18 stores, agreed to buy 146 more from Safeway and Alberston’s, including the Bend stores, which became Haggen stores in spring 2015.

But Haggen began having financial troubles soon after. By August, it announced it would sell more than two dozen stores. A month later it filed a lawsuit against Albertson’s accusing the company of unfair competition, and within a week, Haggen filed bankruptcy under Chapter 11 and quickly sought permission to sell about 100 more.

— Reporter: 541-383-0360,

tdoran@bendbulletin.com