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Haggen filed suit today against Albertsons for more than $1 billion in damages, claiming that Albertsons engaged in an illegal campaign against Haggen.
Haggen acquired 146 Albertsons and Safeway locations in December of 2014 as part of an FTC-mandated divestiture. The sale enabled Albertsons to gain FTC approval of a merger between the grocery store giants Albertsons and Safeway.
According to Haggen, Albertsons engaged in a number of “malicious and unfair actions” during the transition that “strained Haggen’s resources” and “created substantial distraction and diverted the attention of store-level and senior Haggen management.” On Aug. 14, Haggen announced it would close 21 of the newly acquired locations.
Among other accusations, the suit claims Albertsons:
- Provided Haggen with false, misleading and incomplete retail pricing data, causing Haggen stores to unknowingly inflate prices
- Cut off Haggen-acquired store advertising to decrease customer traffic
- Diverted customers by illegally accessing Haggen’s confidential data to gain an unfair competitive advantage
- Deliberately overstocked perishable inventory at Haggen-acquired stores prior to conversion, forcing Haggen to throw away significant amounts of inventory
- Removed store fixtures and inventory from Haggen-acquired stores paid for by Haggen
- Diverted Haggen inventory to Albertsons stores
- Failed to perform routine maintenance on stores and equipment
According to Haggen spokesperson Deborah Pleva, the claims made in the suit do not apply specifically to the Anthem location.
The suit comes on the heels of Albertsons suit against Haggen in July for breach of contract and fraud, claiming Haggen refused to pay more than $40 million for inventory in the newly acquired stores. Albertsons is seeking actual and punitive damages in addition to legal fees.
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