SILVERDALE — Albertsons grocery shoppers may notice a slight change to the Silverdale store next week as the store is converted to a Haggen brand grocery store.

The store, located at 2222 NW Bucklin Hill Road, will be temporarily closed at 6 p.m. on Thursday, March 5. After midnight, Haggen will take ownership of the store and beging converting it to the new brand. Interior and exterior signage will be switched out.

If all goes well, the store will re-open on Saturday, March 7 at 4 p.m. as Haggen.

The pharmacy will remain open during the transition.

The Silverdale Albertsons is one of 146 stores in five states that Haggen has acquired as a result of a divestment process brought about by the Federal Trade Commission’s review of the Albertsons LLC and Safeway merger.

The acquisitions mean Haggen will grow from 18 stores with 2,000 employees to 164 stores with more than 10,000 employees. Haggen stores will be located in Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada and Arizona.

Each store’s employees will be invited to become Haggen employees.

“Retaining the existing store employees was an essential part of the acquisition and we hope they all accept our invitation to join the Haggen family. These are great teams and these new employees will be an incredible asset to our growing company. Plus, these familiar faces will help ease the brand transition for long-time customers,” said Bill Shaner, CEO of Haggen Pacific Southwest.

Haggen will hold an informal community meeting for local farmers and food producers who are interested in selling their wares on Haggen’s shelves.

Also at the meeting, non-profit organizations can learn about Haggen’s community giving.

“We hope community members will join us for a fun evening to learn about how we can work together to strengthen our community,” said John Clougher, Haggen CEO, Pacific NW.

The meeting will be hosted 5-6 p.m. on March 19 at the Port Orchard Pavilion, 701 SW Bay St. in Port Orchard.

Grocery industry partners including Unified Grocers, SUPERVALU and Charlie’s Produce have supported the growth of Haggen, according to a press release.

Unified Grocers will be the primary supplier in the Pacific Southwest and a secondary supplier in the Pacific Northwest. SUPERVALU will be the primary supplier in the Pacific Northwest. Charlie’s Produce will be the primary and preferred supplier for produce for all Haggen stores. Haggen plans to announce many regional and local distributors in the coming months.

Starbucks and Haggen have agreed to continue operating the 78 Starbucks stores located in Haggen’s acquired properties, with remodeling planned for these existing cafes. Haggen will also be adding cafes to other locations. “We are proud to be continuing and expanding our partnership with Starbucks – another great Washington company committed to building stronger communities,” Clougher said.