Tops Evaluates P&C Closures

MARK HAMSTRA

WILLIAMSVILLE, N.Y. — Tops Friendly Markets here plans to close "a handful" of the Penn Traffic stores it is acquiring, the company said.

As expected, a bankruptcy court judge on Monday approved Tops' bid of $85 million plus other considerations for the 79 stores operated by Syracuse, N.Y.-based Penn Traffic, which filed bankruptcy last November for the third time in 10 years.

Tops is expected to finalize the acquisition this Friday, and to begin announcing some store closures soon afterward. A local report in the Syracuse Post-Standard said the P&C in Norwich, N.Y. — which had previously been a Tops location — was among those slated for closure.

Additional closures could be announced following further evaluation by Tops and after a 30-day antitrust review by the Federal Trade Commission.

Burt P. Flickinger III, managing director, Strategic Resource Group, New York, said he believes there is very little overlap between Tops' location, which primarily operate in western New York, and Penn Traffic, which primarily operates in the central part of the state.

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