Haggen Food & Pharmacy

They came in jacked up the prices, went out of business and then abandoned this location and every location in California. Haggen… was this just a play for real estate? You’ve blighted an entire city block in my neighborhood. The store two blocks from my house is now boarded up. I never thought I would say this but I miss the Albertson’s that was there originally. Does anyone know what’s coming or will it be empty until Haggen gets top dollar? They’ve decimated my neighborhood store.

I was so hopeful when I heard that the Vons was being replaced. I was looking forward to having a local grocer with great produce and organic meats. I am so disappointed. The produce was terrible and the selection of meats wasn’t great. Basically, nothing changed. If anything it seemed a worse.

If this store had a face I would punch it!
I live two blocks from this store and I will NEVER set foot in there again.
Haggen has taken over almost every old Albertsons in San Diego. When they did, they JACKED UP the prices of every product. At Whole Foods you expect to pay more because alot of the products are specific to the store. This place sells the exact same thing as the Vons that is less then a mile away at more than twice the price.
I went in recently looking for Tortillas (Very Simple Request). When I asked a worker where I could find them, he explained that Haggen does not carry Tortillas. What? Are you out of your mind? I left again without making a purchase. This is not the first but defiantly the last time I will both going to this location.
I also need to mention it was 9:00pm on a Wednesday night and there was not a soul in the place. I went into the Vons on 30^th and it was packed.
Goodbye Haggen. Good Riddance.

Horrible. Since this company took this store over the prices went up, selection went down, and staffing is non existent.
Oh and their house brands are inedible.
Go over to Von’s or Ralphs

I was a regular shopper when this store was Albertson’s. I have been to this store as Haggens several times and find myself walking out with nothing because of the inflated prices.
I hope this great location for a grocery store changes hands again because I’m not going back. As long as they want to rip off the public I hope they close.

Did you like Albertsons in this location? Okay. Imagine this place as an Albertsons that’s exactly the same but has higher prices on virtually everything. That seems to be this place in a nutshell.
I guess Haggen, Inc. bought over a dozen Albertsons stores in San Diego County.
It has the same layout and same products as Albertsons. They didn’t even bother to move them. The only difference is the prices for virtually everything have skyrocketed. For example, the turkey I used to buy for $ 2.99 is now $ 4.79. That’s over a 50% price hike. It’s a similar story for everything else I used to buy here.
«Oh, but it has a new wooden pallet look and new bland colors! 5 stars!» Really? Give me a break.
If the comment posted earlier about a store employee shouting «no one deserves a free handout» as their justification for not accepting WIC is true (and I have no reason to believe that it isn’t since there were signs plastered everywhere), that is absolutely disgusting. It’s a nutrition program for new mothers with low incomes. Your pompous attitude means people in our neighborhood will have to commute farther to feed their children. With the amount you’re charging for turkey and everything else, that’s unacceptable. (They might be accepting WIC now — I’m not sure — but they deserve the low score for their past actions.)
I’m not a new mother nor am I eligible for anything like EBT, but those of us with cars and decent incomes to spend on groceries, myself included, will drive elsewhere. And based on how empty the store seems to be, I don’t think you’ll be here long. Good riddance.
It’s clear that you don’t even understand San Diego, Haggen. (What the hell is «pop»? Do you mean soda?)
Go back to Washington; you have no idea what the fuck you’re doing here.

I really like this store and their employees. Everyone is so helpful and friendly. They have a wonderful organic vegetable and fruit selection which I use frequently when Whole Foods is too crowded. I love the spacious parking area as it is easy to get in and out of for we local residents. I ordered a cake through their bakery for a friend’s acceptance in to law school and it turned out perfectly. I love the chocolate buttercream frosting that the frosted the cake with, it well good with my Stout. ;P
I don’t care for the high prices. The prices here are unnecessarily high for regular household items like for the Springfield brand. I expect to pay a little more for organic chicken, for that kind of food it’s the same prices as Whole Foods and Sprouts. Regular items that you would find in Vons are at least two to three dollars more.
I stopped purchasing anything that is in the center aisles of this store as they are over priced. I do just run in to get organic chicken, organic veggies, fruit and yogurt. Other than that, I take my business elsewhere.
This isn’t yuppieville in Seattle where my family is. People get paid a HELL of a lot better than they do down here because we have a lot of weather refugees from the Midwest and East Coast here now. In a neighborhood where there are service industry workers who work three jobs just to get ahead, retirees who are pretty elderly and people with families, this store is just not a good fit. Perhaps they are more successful in Hillcrest/​Mission Hills area where people will pay over a million dollars for a two bedroom one bath Condo or pay 5 million for a home from 1915 but in this area no. Not a good fit.
I wish them well but they need to do something about their prices and include more store coupons to be successful.
Edit: Bought Extra Lean Jenny O Turkey breast here that went bad in two days even though the date stamp said one week later. I am very disappointed. Looks like they are filing Chapter 11 so they may get replaced anyhow.

gave it another shot… about five times now. Can see the prices increasing again ugh. Produce section is mediocre. I only come here for the chicken wings, but today they gave me a different flavor than I asked for. The only thing good is a few of the employees I will miss since they laid them off!
If you want produce, hit a sprouts!!! Thankfully Vons is across the street!

Way over priced. Even Ralph’s Grocery Store has lower prices. The girl working in the Bakery/​Deli was brain dead, I asked her two questions and she did not know anything. I asked where they had the flour tortillas she did not know. The Peaches looked okay but they were very over Ripe.
They had frozen shrimp almost $ 20.00
Quaker Oat instant Oatmeal pkg. of 10 /​$ 5.49
Springfield brand pkg. of 10/​$ 1.49.

This place is still the lackluster overpriced albertsons with a weak produce section. I give it one star for being open and one more star for offering plenty of parking.
Also, the organic baby carrots we bought seemed to already be on their last leg.

The stores in Washington are very very different from how I have experienced it.
I just use this store now and then for some specific products, buying something off their weekly add, or a last minute grab. More than that I wouldn’t recommend.
The workers here aren’t that great either. The guy was doing squats when I came in out of boredom, and when I checked out he was yelling Spanish to another worker. It was just kind of a weird, rude, yet expensive experience. hmm

Lang the cashier is pretty annoying and makes my check-​out experience very unpleasant and awkward on a consistent basis.
I am surprised that they allow someone that obviously doesn’t work well in a team environment and clearly aggravates customers consistently to work as a cashier.

I think just about every time I look over in produce I find something moldy… :(
So alcohol is on sale now! But I have to buy at least 4 bottles just to get any kind of discount. And the items that are on sale in the liquor department are few and far between.
The store is clean.
The employees are nice.

Bummer deal. Didn’t know what I was expecting, but this wasn’t it. I had hope for maybe a version of a baby Whole Foods, or a more commercial Sprouts, like one that sells regular shampoo and toiletries that aren’t all-​natural, vegan, alternatives, but this? Really? It’s like they didn’t to anything to the old Alberston’s except change the sign. After all the hype this really didn’t live up.

When I found out Haggen was replacing the North Park Albertsons, I envisioned a fabulous new grocery store befitting the area. At the least, it would have to be a considerable improvement on Albertsons. Well it was not to be.
Why anyone would come in and replace a mediocre Albertsons with an even MORE mediocre Haggen is beyond me. Must have made business sense to those involved. I’ll stick to the other, much better markets in the area.

It’s a regular grocery store, I thought maybe there was the off chance that since it’s a small chain it would be a bit cheaper, but the prices seem to be the same add albertsons. It’s also arranged similar to how an albertsons wound be.
I don’t have that much to say, I really only stopped in because I was on the way home from Hillcrest and needed BBQ sauce. They have a good selection of everything from what I could see. I’m glad they had self checkout lanes.

Not much of a difference from Albertsons, except the higher prices. Haggen is honestly a little sketchy to me, they have a very «green» look, however I was dissapointed to see most of the produce had been replaced with Monstanto owned products. It’s great that the employees kept their jobs, however, at the trade off of working for a greedy company who accepts no food stamps or doesn’t sell bus passes — something Albertson’s always offered.
Looks like I’ll be taking that extra couple blocks down to Ralph’s for my weekly essentials.

I really thought I was going to love this store. In my mind it was going to be a welcomed alternative to the busy Sprouts off Park Blvd. I was wrong, oh so wrong…
After my first two visits, the only thing they still have going for them is that the company is based out of a really cool town in Washington. The store might as well still be the same old run down Albertson’s. I really don’t see much difference. I mean, I wasn’t expecting a Whole Foods, but I thought Haggen would have a little nicer aesthetic. Nope, the store is still just as crusty as ever. They did add a few more items to the produce section, but it is still small and overpriced. I wish they at least offered a bulk bin section.
I guess Haggen did not have much to work with, considering the old building and the «character» of the neighborhood, but I still expected more from them. I’m not sure who their target demographic is with the combination conventional grocery/​natural market concept. The business model is a bit confusing. Perhaps the adolescent company will continue to evolve, but for now, I will be sticking to Sprouts.

Unfortunately, I experienced a very unpleasant encounter by a worker there named Fernando. I noticed a new sign out front stating ‘No more WIC’. With that said, this area has its share of people that need government assistance. This new store came in last week, raised their prices, and claim no more WIC?! You are depriving children, no one else. When I asked the employee why, he started shouting and saying ‘no one deserves a hand out’. I was appalled. I spoke to an asst. mngr. and was directed to speak with the store manager on a following business day. Going thru my receipts, I’ll take my $ 800 a month grocery shopping elsewhere.
Good Riddance!

I have been shopping here (Albertson’s) regularly — 3 – 4 times a week (spending $ 500+ a month) — for over 9 years.
Sure, it was rough, but the employees were nice (give or take… the older guy with the white hair seems to hate his job).
Anyway, prices have always been a bit high compared to nearby stores, but I attributed that to the small size of the store. (not to mention the riff-​raff that frequents the store, stealing). The convenience was worth the extra cost and occasional weirdos and «drama.» In fact, the cops showed up the first time I was shopping there as a «Haggen» — that will never change.
So, now here we have a little fresh paint. A little bit of new flooring, and the check stands have been fixed (overdue). New signs over the aisles.
Most of it is pretty much the same. Products are in basically the same place, and I’m very glad that the employees got to keep their jobs.
First thing that threw me off… the soft drink aisle. The sign over the aisle now says «Pop». Really? LOLOMGWTFBBQ — Obviously the marketing people are NOT from here, and didn’t do their homework. Seriously. Nobody in California calls it «pop.» If you say «pop», I expect to turn around and see someone from the Midwest, or maybe Spokelahoma, WA. Definitely not Southern CA (or this whole corner of the country). I even took a picture of it to share with friends, because it was so absurd.
I could go on with the quirks, but honestly, I am not sure it is even worth the time. Unless the surrounding community completely changes, this store is not going to last.
The worst part, is that they basically «cleaned up» the store (which was just cleaned up a few years ago), and then raised the prices on everything, when it was already overpriced to begin with. Particularly the meat, produce, alcohol, and «pop.»
I went in, knowing that the items I would need should cost X amount, and it ended up costing me about ¹⁄₃ more. I was going to buy steaks, but not at over $ 20 for 2. A honeydew melon cost me $ 10!
It is really sad. I feel like I have gotten to know some of the people there over the years, but I cannot afford to shop there anymore, and will no longer be a regular customer. I will go out of my way to Trader Joe’s and Ralph’s — with their parking mess and all — from now on.