Senator Avella Releases A&P Supermarket Bankruptcy Update

Tony Avella

October 10, 2015

For List of All Affected Locations and Their Status, Consult: 
http://www.local338.org/news/HomepageNews/APUpdate.cfm


(QUEENS, NY) Today, State Senator Tony Avella released an  update concerning the A&P bankruptcy to inform his constituents how various supermarkets in his district have been affected. Of the seven supermarkets in Northeast Queens affected by the bankruptcy, six sales have been approved by the United States Bankruptcy Court and those locations will reopen under the ownership of another supermarket chain. The seventh one, located in Whitestone, has also been approved; however, it remains unclear whether the facility will reopen as a grocery store.

Earlier this year, A&P announced the bankruptcy of roughly three-hundred of its stores across the northeast of the U.S. At the beginning of September, Senator Avella created a resource platform where members of his constituency and other concerned parties could register to a mailing list for updates on the status of stores affected by the A&P bankruptcy.

At the time, preliminary information cross-referenced by the Senator indicated accurately that the Waldbaums located on Francis Lewis Boulevard in Bayside and the Waldbaums located on Horace Harding Expressway in Fresh Meadows were slated to become a Key Food. Furthermore, the Waldbaums on 26th Avenue in Bay Terrace would be converted into a Stop & Shop, along with the Farrington Street Pathmark in Flushing.

Having met with Union representatives from Local 338 and Local 1500, Senator Avella can now confirm the approved sale of the aforementioned locations to the respective buyers and will be hosting a link to the Union’s list of each affected supermarket’s status on his Senate website. In addition, Senator Avella can now also confirm the auction of the College Point Waldbaums on 20th Avenue to Wakefern Food Corp., and the Glen Oaks Waldbaums located on Union Turnpike to Key Food.

The Whitestone Waldbaums that had no determined buyer at the time of the Senator’s last release has been officially transferred to a group of real estate entities Feil Whitestone LLC and East 11th Holding LLC, leaving the future of the supermarket unknown.

“As A&P filed for bankruptcy, it was imperative that the community remained aware of how these transitions would affect them. For many people, the affected locations that were scheduled to be sold were the only readily accessible grocery store in their surrounding area and I’m pleased to understand that all but one have been confirmed to re-open under the ownership of another supermarket operator. As for the Whitestone location, we will continue to monitor for any developments and make that information available to everyone interested,” commented State Senator Tony Avella.

The supermarkets sold to Stop & Shop will be undergoing week-long renovations, starting with the Bay Terrace location this week.