Haggen Food & Pharmacy

Goodbye Haggen. Welcome back Albertsons. We missed you. Perhaps in Haggen home country it is acceptable to charge ridiculous prices for a sub standard product but as you found out we will not tolerate it here.
Update 12÷3÷2015. Store closed. Yay. Welcome back Albertsons.

I recently took a trip to Bodie, the best preserved ghost town in the country. Upon returning I went to Haggen and was filled with confusion; it’s like I never left the Sierras as this place was a frickin’ ghost town.
I’ve been to the Haggen on Pomerado a few times but realized this one is actually closer to me if I’m in the mood for crap that Sprouts doesn’t sell (and I mean crap, like candy and stuff). There’s never anyone here! The parking lot, which is actually pretty small for a supermarket, is always empty. When Albertsons was there it was another story.
Hey Haggen, what’s the point of selling your own brand items at the same price of the regular brand items? Whose brilliant idea was that? Like, your Haggen brand Triscuits are the same price as Nabisco. WTF???
They recently began their «going out of business» sale starting at 10−30% off. and they’re STILL overpriced.
Store is closing on November 24^th, the DAY BEFORE THANKSGIVING. Wow. These people are losing their jobs just in time for the holidays. Personally I hope all these folks find new jobs before then so there will be no one left to run the store by the 24^th. Let the executives from Haggen come down and manage things for a few days.
By the way, a couple people have commented on the employees not being the nicest; of course they’re not — they’re losing their jobs. I don’t blame anything in my review on the employees as this situation was simply bestowed onto them. They didn’t ask for a crappy supermarket chain to take over Albertsons, it just kinda happened. Wishing all the best for the employees here.
Enjoy some photos from the other day highlighted by open ice cream containers and a «rare» form of green blueberries.

This chain is bankrupt and this store is being liquidated.
But it’s still a ripoff. Candy is $ 5 a bag (half that at CVS), beer is priced higher than any other store, detergent costs 30% higher, even at 20% off.
There seemingly one employee left and she’s got the script from Mean Girls tattood on her neck.
Don’t give them a penny more.

Albertsons was bad enough; high prices, poor quality deli and meats. Haggens is ridiculous; sounded great in concept — specialty items along with everyday groceries, but their sky-​high prices and weak selection, along with so-​so quality «premium» items, and really weak newspaper «specials»; the writing was on the wall practically from day one. Hopefully a Smart & Final or Fresh & Easy can take over.

My wife and I were in NH for May — Aug and when we returned we found that everything had changed. Haggen had taken over the Albertsons. Our first shopping experience there was eye-​opening!!!
Everything cost a lot more.
The prices seem to be getting better, but it’s still hard to trust that we won’t pay more than what we could pay at another grocery store in RB. I’m in a wait and see mode for now.

This place is a ghost town. I’ve been there a few times and it’s pretty much just me and the employees. Prices are so high it’s shocking. I only buy what absolutely is necessary for that moment. Yesterday when I was in there I noticed the shelves are mostly empty, not being refilled, fruit is over ripe and not being rotated. There is a depressing feeling of failure in every aisle. Wow. Haggen sure failed fast. I know they filed for bankruptcy so I assume that they will try their hardest to stay open, but we all know what the end result is going to be. Epic fail. Closing this store. That was quick. Bye bye.

The absolute worst grocery story in the valley… they removed most of the name brand items and replaced them with THEIR HAAGENS BRAND… horrible…they think they can be exclusive… NOT…poor quality, high prices, STALE, STALE, STALE
when food has been on the shelf too long the SALE PRICES GO ON… because they can’t move anything… they fired fifty people apparently and the moral is frightening, I go to Starbucks and rarely shop there… I was spending over 800 a month now I go down the street to Albertsons… what a difference, everyone goes there now… this store is DULL AND DINGY… tonight I opened a sandwich that I just bought… bread was hard, the cheese was crusty and the lettuce was wilted… they seem to think that the people they let go will come back in high season… REALLY…it doesn’t work that way, people do not have a secure feeling working for them… I give them another six months… looks like a good spot for a GYM…
This company obviously knows nothing about the food industry… sad

I have nothing against Haggen & feel for the workers, I know of a friend who was just layed off at another haggen in san diego. The prices at the RB store were good for the first month after it was converted from Albertson’s but that was for only the clearance prices as they were liquidating the old albertson stock.
The foot traffic is now only a third of what it used to be when it was Albertson’s. Why. It’s no mystery, cause the prices are now msrp and the sales the locals liked are gone. With no discounts, smart customers who value their money drive a mile cross town to von’s or up pomerado road to sprouts, it’s almost insulting that corporate Haggen thinks consumers will pay full price. With the announcement yesterday that several Haggen’s are closing in san diego county it looks like the writing is on the wall for the other stores as well. It seems this conversion of albertson stores to Haggen may have been a move by Their accountants & lawyers to write off their loses on paper from the start. It’s all about prices & it’s hard to imagine they don’t know it

The prices are pretty much the same as elsewhere, except for sale items. They seem to have far fewer sale items than other stores, likely due to their small size. I bet they are hoping their purchase of many stores will allow them to negotiate better sale prices. So, this is going to be a wait and see game. Sadly, they are already closing 27 stores, although the RB location is not among the current set of closures. Hopefully they can improve before the next round of closures. They have awesome cinnamon rolls, and unlike the other stores in the area, have available parking and no long checkout lines. Though that will likely change if they improve.

Just not happy with the prices. If you are looking at name brands prices to be 15 to 40 percent higher. Not happy and will shop elsewhere most of the time.

Bakery goods are sometimes moldy, don’t carry products we used to buy there, meat not as good and overall, a poor replacement for Albertson’s. Staff is friendly and helpful as ever but not enough to keep our business.

While Haggen’s store in RB has had its growing pains, it has the potential to be much better store than Albertsons. They are recognizing the problems are doing something about them. Just yesterday the woman stocking the cheese cooler was just giddy. She said that «we are getting all of our cheeses back at lower prices!» Even if they do not get all of the prices back down, I am willing to pay a bit more for a more family oriented company than the Albertsons/​Vons/​Safeway conglomerate. For now, I do enjoy being able to find a parking space and and not have to stand in line too long. For the employees sake and need to keep that building full, that the customers will come back.

I love Haggen! I think a lot of people have never heard of this store & for some reason want to hate it. I moved from WA where it Haggen started as a family run business. I was thrilled when they came into RB! They have an excellent selection & high quality items. Think of it as a trader joes/​sprouts but also a regular grocery store. Their produce & meats are always high quality. Yes you can get some items cheaper but the quality isn’t as high. Give it a chance!!!

This store is not going to make it in Rancho Bernardo or Poway. The few times I’ve gone in to pick up prescriptions there were more employees than customers. When it was still Albertsons I was there several times a week.
Today I just needed a half pound of pastrami. They only carry one brand which cost $ 13.99 per pound, but I bought it anyway because I was craving a sandwich. Albertson’s premium pastrami went for $ 8.99 a pound and they had less expensive choices. I just tasted Haggen’s high price angus pastrami and its not nearly as good. I looked at the deli salads while waiting for them to slice my order. All the bowls were full. No one is buying them. I wonder how long those salads had been sitting there. I took a quick look at the produce section. They didn’t have corn on the cob or regular watermelons. The heirloom tomatoes were so over ripe you couldn’t pick them up. Hello its summer. What will the produce be like in the winter?
We’re moving to Encinitas soon, so when we go I’ll move our prescriptions elsewhere and hopefully never shop at Haggens again. I’d been shopping at Albertsons for 13 years. The RB store is the closest to our house. Epic fail. Out of business by this time next year or sooner. No way to turn this over priced, quality lacking, choice restricted and poorly thought out boat around. Know your demographics. What works in Washington state will not work in So. Cal.

I was worried when I heard that Haggen was going to be a «Safeway meets Whole Foods.» I really have no affinity for Whole Foods. If I wanted to shop there, I would probably live in La Jolla, Del Mar, or some other pricey beach community where they are located (maybe because THEY studied demographics). I live in POWAY. I was very happy with our neighborhood Albertsons which matched well with my (and imho other locals) tastes. Now with a full local Haggen attack taking out the three nearest Albertsons, their closest store is now in Escondido.
Dear Haggen: So far your prices are waaay too high for me and your weekly sales ads are a joke. What’s with the motto «No more hassle»? I find it insulting. Now I HAVE A HASSLE finding another place to shop with what I consider fair prices.
You are likely to lose your shirts if you think Poway/​RB shoppers are similar to your clientele in the Northwest. There is a reason we have Sprouts instead of Whole Foods. Your RB store is already becoming a ghost town and its only been open a month. Study the Albertsons playbook and give us back our store format before we all shop elsewhere. Or do us a favor; when the Chargers move north, go with them — PLEASE!

What an exciting concept! I no longer need to go to two or three stores to get the things I want AND they are adding new things every week! I was looking for an organic/​natural applegate sliced meats and they brought it in for me. Very friendly staff and the store manager, Tim, greets everyone a guest in his home.

It’s a pretty basic store, nothing special. I think the complaints about price are misguided, they don’t advertise themselves as a discount store. For me I just don’t see anything worth making a trip, except maybe for their seafood. I wasn’t terribly impressed with the produce or meats, but they had a fairly good selection of salmon, mahi mahi, halibut, good looking scallops, and more. Based on that, I bump them up to three stars over two.

I agree. Prices have shot up, and especially in a retirement centric area like RB they will lose clientele fast. Example: Albertsons turkeyroni $ 3.99, Haggen’s price? $ 5.99!
Plus, their fruit and vegetable area is really lacking and not good produce — we’ve already moved over to Sprouts for that.

Perhaps you should have spread your stores out a little in the area. You closed every Albertsons in close proximity and converted them to Haggens. RB Road, Pomerado Road and the PQ location. We have enough healthy/​organic food stores with escalated prices in our close driving distance. You replaced the deli salads and bakery goods that customers were accustomed to. Big, wide open store now, but that means less product. I compared pricing for identical items from Albertsons, Vons and Ralph’s and you came up a huge loser. I walked your entire store and found nothing that I wanted. Your weekly ad pretty much paints the dreary picture of what you offer. Your sale prices are more than regular prices elsewhere.
I now stop at Albertsons on W Valley Pkwy in Escondido on my way home from work. It’s not out of my way at all. They have all the good products I was accustomed to, for the same low prices I rely on.
Love you Seattle, but you can have your Haggens back.

I didn’t think I’d miss Albertsons, That was before Haggen, however. Think Albertsons with Whole Foods pricing and you get the picture. I checked pricing on a number of items I buy regularly and the prices have increased on all of them. The only positive, as far as I can tell, is that the Albertsons crew kept their jobs.
Go back to Seattle, Haggen. We won’t miss you.