The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (A&P) has filed a motion with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York seeking approval to close 14 underperforming stores in four states as the Montvale, New Jersey-based grocer prepares to emerge from Chapter 11. The store closures are expected to be completed in A&P’s fiscal first quarter, subject to court approval.
“We are continuing to take the steps necessary to position A&P to emerge from Chapter 11 with a strong future and ensure that we remain focused on our top priority–providing great value and service to our customers every day,” said President and CEO Sam Martin.
Meanwhile, Delhaize America, parent company of Food Lion, Bloom, and Bottom Dollar Food announced this week key strategic actions in its efforts to strengthen its U.S. portfolio. The company will close 113 underperforming Food Lion stores, primarily in markets in which the company has the least store density. The company will retire the Bloom banner and covert 64 Bloom stores and six underperforming Bottom Dollar Food stores in overlapping Food Lion markets. All affected stores will close within 30 days, and store conversion will begin immediately.
Delhaize America also said it will convert one Food Lion store in Florida to a Harveys store; discontinue operations of its distribution center located in Clinton, Tennessee, and accelerate the roll out of the Food Lion brand strategy in an additional 600 to 700 stores.
“Today’s actions will continue to solidify our U.S. operations and enable our company to focus on our successful brand strategy repositioning at Food Lion and the expansion of Bottom Dollar Food in new markets,” said Ron Hodge, CEO of Delaize American.
