Haggen Food & Pharmacy Grocery store will open its first area location in Palmdale on Tuesday. A former Albertsons at 5038 West Ave. is the first of 13 supermarkets in the greater San Fernando Valley to be converted by the Bellingham, Wash. grocery chain. Albertsons at 6240 Foothill Blvd. in Tujunga, 7800 Telegraph Road in Ventura and 2100 Newbury Road in Newbury Park are scheduled to open under the Haggen banner by the end of April. The stores’ ownership change comes as the result of last year’s $7.6 billion merger of Boise, Idaho-based Albertsons and Pleasanton-based Safeway Inc. by New York private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management. To win approval for the deal from the Federal Trade Commission, Cerberus agreed to sell more than 250 stores owned by Albertsons and Safeway, which operates Vons and Pavilions stores. Haggen entered an agreement to purchase 164 of the stores in Nevada, Washington, California, Oregon and Arizona. The 13 stores in the greater Valley are among 25 within the Los Angeles region. The remainder of the local area stores will be converted by the end of summer. Haggen officials said the converted stores will feature more fresh produce, higher quality meats and seafood. There also will be décor and design changes.