Sept 24 (Reuters) - Grocery operator Haggen said on Thursday it would exit the Pacific Southwest market and realign its business around 37 core stores and a stand-alone pharmacy in the Pacific Northwest, as part of its bankruptcy protection process.
The company, based in Bellingham, Washington, filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this month, blaming its takeover of 146 stores from rival supermarket chain Albertsons, and had said it planned to reorganize around its profitable locations.
Haggen on Thursday said in a statement the core stores include 16 historical stores and 21 stores that were part of the Albertsons acquisition. The company did not disclose the specific locations of the 37 stores.
"The 21 newly acquired stores have proven successful under the Haggen banner and the Company anticipates they will continue to see increased customer counts and sales growth," the company said in an emailed statement.
Haggen operates stores in California, Arizona, Oregon, Washington and Nevada. A blog posting on the company's website listed the stores to be closed. The greatest number of scheduled closings are in California, with 68 stores, followed by 14 in Washington, seven each in Nevada and Oregon, and five in Arizona.
Haggen said it was seeking approval from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to carry out store-closing sales.
(Reporting by Abhirup Roy in Bengaluru and Tracy Rucinski in Chicago; Editing by Leslie Adler)