Albertsons purchase of Haggen gains approval of federal judge

A federal judge on Tuesday approved Albertsons’ purchase of the remains of Haggen, the bankrupt Bellingham grocery chain.

A federal judge on Tuesday approved Albertsons’ purchase of the remains of Haggen, the bankrupt Bellingham grocery chain.

Of 29 so-called core stores in Washington and Oregon that Albertsons is buying for $106 million, 15 in Washington — including the one in Oak Harbor — will operate under the Haggen name. The rest will carry the Albertsons name.

Albertsons proposed its purchase in mid-March, but it needed judicial approval to execute its plan.

When former competitors Albertsons and Safeway completed their merger on Jan. 30, 2015, those chains were required by the Federal Trade Commission to divest themselves of 168 stores — the Oak Harbor Safeway among them — in order to win antitrust approval of the merger.

In December 2014, Haggen bought that store, as well as nearly 150 others.