Consumers who shop at Tops Markets stores in Syracuse’s Valley Plaza, the Westvale Plaza in Geddes, and Fulton will soon have to find someplace else to buy their groceries. Tops Markets, LLC on Aug. 30 said it plans to close one store each in Syracuse, Geddes, and Fulton by the end of November. They’re among […]
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Consumers who shop at Tops Markets stores in Syracuse’s Valley Plaza, the Westvale Plaza in Geddes, and Fulton will soon have to find someplace else to buy their groceries.
Tops Markets, LLC on Aug. 30 said it plans to close one store each in Syracuse, Geddes, and Fulton by the end of November. They’re among 10 “underperforming” stores that Tops plans to shutter, the company said in a news release.
A Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) filing posted on Aug. 31 on the website of the New York State Department of Labor indicates the Westvale Plaza store closing impacts 67 workers and the Valley Plaza store closing cuts 57 jobs. The WARN notice covers seven of the stores to be closed with 492 workers affected. It didn’t list the Fulton store’s job losses.
Tops on Aug. 31 also announced that it has filed a reorganization plan and a related disclosure statement with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. The plan incorporates the company’s court-approved agreements with its unions and “is supported by certain of the company’s senior secured lenders that hold more than 87 percent of its senior secured notes due 2022.”
“The filing of our plan moves Tops another step closer to a successful completion of our financial restructuring,” Frank Curci, CEO of Tops Markets, said in a statement. “We are pleased to submit a plan that will establish a sustainable capital structure and provide the financial flexibility to create an even more exceptional shopping experience for our customers and emerge from this process as a stronger competitor.”
A hearing to consider approval of the disclosure statement is scheduled for Sept. 27. Following approval of the disclosure statement, the company said it intends to seek confirmation of the plan on Nov. 8.
New York City–based Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP is serving as legal counsel to Tops, while another New York City–based firm, Evercore Inc. (NYSE: EVR), is the grocery-store operator’s investment banker. Baltimore, Maryland–based FTI Consulting, Inc. (NYSE: FCN) is Tops’ restructuring advisor.
Store closures
The Syracuse Tops store is located at 4141 S. Salina St. in the Valley, the Geddes store is at 2120 W. Genesee St. in the Westvale Plaza, and the Fulton location is at 909 West 1st Street S.
Other Tops stores on the closure list include two locations in Rochester and single locations in Fairport, Lyons, Geneva, Elmira, and Saranac Lake.
Tops said it made the announcement “following a comprehensive evaluation of its store portfolio and in connection with its ongoing financial-restructuring process,” per its news release.
The grocery-store operator is closing the stores “as it continues to focus on strengthening its financial position so it can invest further in its [existing] stores… and compete more effectively in today’s highly competitive and evolving market,” Tops explained.
The impacted stores are currently open and continuing to serve customers. Fewer than 600 of the of the company’s 14,000 employees work at the affected stores and these stores “represent less than 4 percent of Tops’ overall sales,” per the release.
“… 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,” Frank Curci, CEO of Tops Markets, said in a release.
Other than the 10 stores indicated, all other stores are “expected to remain open and are either on the list to be assumed or in the final stages of documentation.”
Tops Markets, which is headquartered in the Buffalo suburb of Williamsville, operates 169 supermarkets. Franchisees operate five additional locations under the Tops Markets banner. The company operates stores in upstate New York, Northern Pennsylvania, and Vermont.