Albertsons Bidding for 3 Dozen Haggen Stores

There’s a surprise bidder in bankrupt grocery chain Haggen’s auction to shed most of the Albertsons stores it bought in its ill-fated expansion bid: Albertsons. The grocery giant was required to sell 146 stores to Haggen last year before the Albertsons-Safeway merger was approved by federal regulators. Now Albertsons is the “baseline bidder” for 36 of the 95 stores that Haggen is auctioning off starting Monday, according to bankruptcy court documents filed Friday.