Don Haggen, Former Haggen Inc. Chairman, Dies at Age 80

SN STAFF

BELLINGHAM, Wash. — A memorial service has been scheduled here Thursday for Don Haggen, former chairman of Haggen Inc., who died Friday at age 80 after a brief illness.

Haggen joined the family business — a single grocery store here operated since 1933 by his parents — in 1957 and, with his brother Rick, helped the company grow to become the largest independent grocer in the Pacific Northwest, with 29 stores — 13 Haggen Food & Pharmacy and 16 TOP Food & Drug stores in Washington and Oregon.

Don Haggen was named president in 1973 and chairman and chief executive officer in 1989, and he retired when the company was sold earlier this year to the Comvest Group, West Palm Beach, Fla.