Bellingham, Wa. – Haggen, a West Coast regional grocer that just took over the Bend Albertsons Stores as part of an Federal Trade Commission requirement is suing Albertsons. The complaint filed today in Federal court is seeking 1 billion dollars in damages.
In recent weeks Haggen announced it was closing 27 of the newly acquired stores. Five are in Oregon with the closest ones are in Klamath Falls and so far the Bend stores haven’t been impacted, but the company left the door open for that possibility.
In a news release today Haggen says the complaint was filed in United States District Court for the District of Delaware, and alleged that following Haggen’s December 2014 purchase of 146 Albertsons and Safeway stores, Albertsons engaged in “coordinated and systematic efforts to eliminate competition and Haggen as a viable competitor in over 130 local grocery markets in five states,” and “made false representations to both Haggen and the FTC about Albertsons’ commitment to a seamless transformation of the stores into viable competitors under the Haggen banner.”
The complaint also says “Albertsons sought out Haggen in order to convince the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) that Haggen would be a new competitor in local markets, which enabled Albertsons to gain the FTC’s approval of a merger between Albertsons and Safeway—a merger that created one of the largest food retailers in the United States, with over 2,200 stores and $61 billion in combined sales,”
Despite the FTC’s orders and Albertsons’ agreement to abide by all conditions of the sale, the complaint further alleges, Albertsons engaged in an illegal campaign against Haggen including “premeditated acts of unfair and anti-competitive conduct that were calculated to circumvent Albertsons obligations under federal antitrust laws, FTC orders, and contractual commitments to Haggen, all of which were intended to prevent and delay the successful entry of Haggen (or any other viable competitor) into local grocery markets that Albertsons now dominates.”
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