![]() In February 2020, a trustee for Tops Markets LLC creditors sued Morgan Stanley and other previous owners for $375 million, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing debt loads the supermarket company took on to pay dividends to the private equity owners. Tops struggled financially with heavy debt loads during the past decade, and in February 2018 filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization. “We will use every legal measure to make sure our members are treated fairly, and we look forward to working with the new management, as we always have, to ensure our members have stable employment,” DeRiso said. While he said that the union's contracts have "several years" to run, bargaining on a new labor agreement with those at Tops' Adirondack stores will begin "very soon," DeRiso said, adding that he "expect(s) no issues." "They have certainly been on a roller coaster ride hanging on in fear of what would happen to their job at each management milestone.” “UFCW Local One members from Tops Friendly Markets are not immune to changing management groups over the past 15 years," said Frank C. The United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local One represents Tops employees, while Price Chopper/Market 32 has a non-union workforce. "Getting people is one of the most difficult" challenges facing supermarkets, Grimmett said. Both companies are seeking to hire employees in the wake of a pandemic that has led to boosted grocery sales and challenged the nation's food supply chain. "Generally speaking, being a larger company allows us to get a bigger seat at the table," when negotiating with vendors and suppliers, said Grimmett.Īnd layoffs aren't likely. Tops Friendly Markets are typically found in more rural communities, although in recent years Price Chopper stores have opened in places like Warrensburg, where Tops already has a store.īut the combination will bring some immediate advantages. And while both operate in the Northeast, they have "a footprint that's almost perfectly contiguous," Grimmett added, with minimal overlap. ![]() "The two banners will be standalone companies that report to the parent," Grimmett said. The two companies will continue to operate in the near term under their respective names. “With our now-combined footprint of nearly 300 stores, we are better positioned to leverage increased value for customers advance shared opportunities for innovation and fortify the depth of our expanded workforce, community, and trade partnerships, making us stronger and more competitive.Still, the merger, which Grimmett expects will take until spring to complete, should be largely invisible to customers. “I’m excited about the future of this company and implementing the plans Scott and I have put in place,” Curci said in a statement. In 2013, Curci and six other Tops executives purchased the chain from Morgan Stanley. The second began in 2007, when Morgan Stanley Private Equity acquired Tops from Ahold and restored Curci, who helped with the acquisition, to the chief executive position.Ĭurci helped Tops grow its footprint significantly, overseeing the acquisition of 79 Penn Traffic stores in 2010 and 21 Grand Union locations in 2012. The first, which lasted from 2000 to 2003, ended after Curci took responsibility for an accounting scandal. ![]() He had two stints as CEO with the grocer. With Curci’s appointment to the top position, Northeast Grocery has an executive who’s intimately familiar with Tops and the Northeast grocery landscape. The initial expected timeframe was eight to 10 years. He joined that chain as executive vice president and chief operating officer in 2012, and before that spent nearly four decades at Safeway, where he rose to become president of the company’s Denver division.ĭuring his nearly 10 years at Price Chopper, he established the chain’s strategy to refresh stores and rebrand them under the Market 32 name - a process that has unfolded slowly. In 2019, f ive years after the announcement of the $300 million initiative, less than a quarter of the chain’s footprint rebranded. Grimmett, who had a 48-year career in grocery, was the president and CEO of Price Chopper/Market 32 when the merger was announced last year. After seeing Tops and Price Chopper through their merger and helping plot a strategic course for the combined companies, Grimmett is stepping away from a top role that he only briefly held. ![]()
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