If so, you may be in the minority, according to theLog In. In my area, they took over almost all of the Albertson's stores. While the latter was expensive and sometimes not the best maintained, they did have some great qualities.Self-serve wing bar. This was the first time - and probably the last - I tasted salt&vinegar and was surprised at how good it was.Their inventory also reflected the culture. One store had a lot of Asian products. The one in my old neighborhood had a crazy southern and Caribbean section - and it was fresh.The Haggen near me is Neat but very expensive and not much of a selection.
In my city most of the stores that were taken over are still under ongoing remodeling, so I have not idea yet on how good or bad this is going to be. However based on your experience, looks like the change is going to be a shame.
Before Haggen purchased 146 stores or whatever it was in the Southern California region, the company was doing great. The store was permitted to buy all of those stores in order for the government to let Vons/Safeway and Albertsons merge into one company. Haggen took the, at the time, smart opportunity to expand itself, and the move backfired miserably. It was a smart business decision that turned ugly for the company and set the company back despite helping Haggen expand into a new region. I had a great experience at my local Haggen, but Vons AND Albertsons are both closer.
I do not like Haggen at all. Everyone I know is still upset that we lost our Safeway to them several months ago. I have not been impressed by the changes they have made because even if they have better quality and service, that's not helpful for those of us who don't have the extra money to pay for it. They also took literally weeks to get new price tags up after they moved stuff around and they stopped selling Scott toilet paper, so everyone on septic tanks has to go to he other end of town to get it, which means they might as well just grocery shop elsewhere too and save money.
