Tops, Former Penn Traffic CEO Reach Deal for 3 Stores

JON SPRINGER

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Tops Friendly Markets here has asked the Federal Trade Commission for approval to sell three former P&C stores to a group headed by the former chief executive of their previous owner, Penn Traffic.

The sale of the stores, located in Ithaca, N.Y., Cortland, N.Y., and Sayre, Pa., would be a part of FTC-mandated divestitures resulting from Tops’ 2010 acquisition of Penn Traffic.

The proposed buyer of the store, Hometown Markets, is headed by Gregory Young, the former CEO of Penn Traffic, along with former Penn Traffic executive Myles da Cunha. Both Young and da Cunha previously worked together at C&S Wholesale Grocers and at Penn Traffic, where Young was CEO and president and da Cunha senior vice president of marketing and merchandising until the chain was sold to Tops.

The stores would be rebannered with a new P&C Fresh logo and “committed to offering exceptional value in a service-based environment, with an unwavering focus on variety and fresh foods,” Tops said in a petition to the FTC asking for approval of the deal.

Tops said P&C stores in Ithaca and Sayre that it is not selling to Hometown would be rebannered under the Tops name. Hometown Markets intends to establish its headquarters in Ithaca. It has agreed to a contract with union workers at the stores as well as with C&S on a new supply contract.

The FTC last year ruled that Tops was required to sell seven stores to settle anticompetitive concerns related to its acquisition of Penn Traffic. The commission said it would decide on whether to approve the sales after a public comment period ending June 6.