A&P Said to Close Farmer Jack DCs by Next Month

MONTVALE, N.J. -- The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. will close both of the local distribution centers servicing its 66 Detroit-area Farmer Jack stores by June 15, according to published reports. A&P put the financially foundering Midwestern chain up for sale last month.

Full-time union employees at the closing warehouses would be eligible to receive severance pay, The Detroit Free Press reported, citing an agreement distributed to drivers and DC employees last week. A&P has already given Farmer Jack employees 60 days' notice of possible store closings and layoffs, as required by law.

A management team interested in buying the Farmer Jack chain had informed the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 876 last week that it wouldn't pursue a deal to purchase the stores, after a report found that 40 percent of them were unprofitable, with the rest only marginally profitable.

Wisconsin-based supermarket researcher David J. Livingston, told the Free Press that A&P has informed winning bidders for Farmer Jack of the DC closures. These bidders are said to include Nash Finch, Spartan, Supervalu, and Kroger. Livingston said the bidders were given 35 days to close the deals.
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