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Tops Markets Closing Saranac Lake Store, 9 Others In NY

Facebook: Tops Friendly Markets

Tops Markets is closing 10 of its 169 grocery stores as part of a financial restructuring. 

The Saranac Lake location and nine other “underperforming” Central New York stores are set to close by the end of November. The Williamsville, New York-based company says fewer than 600 of its roughly 14,000 employees work at the 10 stores, which account for nearly 4 percent of company sales.

Frank Curci, Chief Executive Officer of Tops, released the following statement in a company press release Thursday.

“We are making significant progress in our financial restructuring process and our operating results have remained strong," Curci said. "Receiving court approval of the global settlement with the UFCW is a major milestone in our court supervised restructuring process, as it helps pave the way for our reorganization and ultimate emergence from this process. We also recently completed a review of our store portfolio. The vast majority of our stores are profitable and we are seeing strong customer support continue to drive growth in these locations. That said, there are a few stores that are not performing to our standards, due to a number of factors including location, store size, lack of visibility, and lease costs. We are using the tools available to us through the court-supervised process to conduct an orderly wind down of these stores. We are pleased to continue serving our communities with existing locations that are all in close proximity to the affected stores and providing the same great service, value, and convenience that our customers expect from us.”

The company said in the release that it expects its remaining stores to stay open.

“We recognize the important role that our associates play in driving our success and serving our customers and our communities," Curci said. "We will treat affected associates fairly and with the respect that they deserve. Importantly, we have many openings across our chain of stores and to the extent possible, we will work with impacted associates to find them placement at nearby store locations.” 

Jim is WAMC’s Associate News Director and hosts WAMC's flagship news programs: Midday Magazine, Northeast Report and Northeast Report Late Edition. Email: jlevulis@wamc.org