Redmond-area shoppers flock to new Haggen store

Published 11:42 am Thursday, March 12, 2015

Manager Ben Floyd and his associates couldn’t wait until 4 p.m. They were thrilled to unveil their new Haggen supermarket with customers, so they opened the doors a few minutes early on Tuesday.

With the conversion from Albertsons to Haggen complete at 3925 236th Ave. N.E. in unincorporated King County near Redmond, shoppers strolled through the doors and up the aisles to check things out. Kids were excited to get free hats and balls and they tagged along with their parents with their eyes fixated on the abundance of colors inside.

“My family, we liked the new paintings (of green hills, produce and farms),” said Redmond’s Dawn Meyers, who learned of the grand opening from a friend the day before.

Added Ruby (last name withheld) from Fall City: “They’ve done a nice job up here. The produce is really nice. We bought some cabbage and bananas. My grandson works here and he seems to think it’s pretty nice. If the employees like it, the people are probably going to like it.”

Pat Harris, another Redmond resident, was pleased with the conversion and plans on making plenty of return trips to Haggen.

Floyd, who was also the manager for Albertsons before the switch-over, said they closed at 6 p.m. on March 8 to begin the conversion. While workers changed the signage and dug into a plethora of major tasks, the pharmacy was open to customers on Monday and Tuesday.

“We worked many, many hours. I like to work side by side with my crew out here,” Floyd said. “I walked in Monday morning about 5 a.m. and I had hundreds of construction workers in here, from painters, the floor guys, people putting in my produce department. It was a big team effort.”

All of Floyd’s roughly 70 associates from Albertsons have remained on board at Haggen.

As he looked around the store, Floyd pointed to the expanded produce department, which features a large organic section. He added that they will receive produce deliveries seven days a week from Seattle.

Floyd’s eyes lit up when he mentioned that they’ll make fresh salads in the deli every morning; in the meat section, they’ll offer Double R Ranch beef and Kobe steaks; and the expanded seafood section features fresh and local items.

“Some of the offerings that we have for our customers, it’s been what our associates have been wanting in this area for a long, long time,” Floyd said. “Now we get to take care of our customers and that’s the most important thing.”

Floyd added that there will be two more stages of the conversion to come, including the liquor department and other sections.

The Redmond-area store is among 26 Washington Albertsons and Safeways being converted to Haggens. Overall, the Bellingham-based company plans to acquire and convert 146 stores in Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada and Arizona in the first half of this year.

There will be an informal public meeting from 5-6 p.m. on April 3 at the Trilogy at Redmond Ridge Cascade Club, Crystal Room, 23225 N.E. Greens Crossing Road. At the meeting, local farmers and producers can discuss selling their wares on Haggen’s shelves; nonprofit organizations can learn about Haggen’s community giving; and small businesses can explore co-marketing programs.

With each store opening, Haggen plans to partner with five local nonprofits, donating $1,000 to a single organization on the first day the store opens and 2 percent of sales to four additional organizations on four consecutive Saturdays.