A small Pacific Northwest grocery chain has decided to step up their game and include Santa Clarita a  massive expansion.  The Haggen grocery store chain will take over the Vons location Bouquet Canyon and the Pavilions location on McBean Parkway as well as 81 other locations in California, including Woodland Hills and Burbank nearby.  Haggen currently operates 18 stores in the Pacific Northwest, many of which feature a full pharmacy, and will control over 160 stores after the completion of their acquisition.

Haggen operates a similar philosophy to Whole Foods, promoting locally sourced products from regional farms, ranches, fisheries and other businesses promoting a sustainable local food economy, according to a company press release.

The two Santa Clarita stores are part of a total 146 stores in the Western United States that Haggen is acquiring as part of a major divestiture of stores required as part of the Safeway(Vons)/Albertsons merger which began last year.  The acquisition does not appear to affect any of the Albertsons locations that were previously closed prior to the announcement of that merger.

We’ll have more on Haggen and their plans for Santa Clarita soon.