Penn Traffic requests to sell nine stores

The Penn Traffic Co is seeking permission from the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York in White Plains to sell nine Big

from staff and wire reports

Dec. 8, 2003

The Penn Traffic Co is seeking permission from the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York in White Plains to sell nine Big Bear supermarkets in Ohio by mid-December.

Penn Traffic is asking the court to approve the sale of a group of five Big Bear supermarkets to Giant Eagle for approximately $40,250,000 and a different group of two stores to Giant Eagle for about $6,500,000. It also intends to sell its Big Bear in The Plains OH to Bob Bay and Son Co, and the Chillicothe (OH) Big Bear to Needler Enterprises Inc. Penn Traffic rejected a previous bid by Kroger Co to purchase 11 Big Bears.

These agreements are a result of an auction of assets of the Big Bear division that Penn Traffic held recently. Penn Traffic and its affiliates filed voluntary petitions May 30, 2003, for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code.

The company operates 211 supermarkets in Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, upstate New York, Vermont, and New Hampshire, as well as a wholesale food distribution business.