Price Chopper/Market 32 and Tops Markets completed their merger on Monday, creating a powerhouse supermarket company with nearly 300 stores.
Under the terms of a merger agreement announced in February and approved this month by the Federal Trade Commission, the two chains will maintain their separate brand identities but will be owned and overseen by a new parent company, Northeast Grocery Inc.
Northeast Grocery and Price Chopper/Market 32 will be headquartered in Schenectady, while Tops Markets will retain its main office in Williamsville.
Scott Grimmett, the current president and CEO of Price Chopper/Market 32, will lead the new parent company. He will also serve on its board of directors, as will Frank Curci, former Tops Markets chairman and CEO.
The merger virtually doubles the two chains’ collective footprint in the Northeast and, with nearly 300 stores, their buying power.
Produce department in a Tops Markets store. Provided photo
In approving the merger, the FTC required the combined company to divest itself of 12 Tops stores (11 in New York and one in Vermont). The company said it will sell the 12 stores to C&S Wholesale Grocers. GU Markets LLC, an affiliate of C&S, will operate the stores.
The 12 Tops stores to be purchased by C&S are in Cooperstown, Cortland, Norwich, Owego, Peru, Rome, Saranac Lake, Sherrill, South Watertown, Warrensburg, Watertown, and Rutland, Vermont.
Blaine Bringhurst will serve as president of the Price Chopper/Market 32 business and John Persons as the president of the Tops Markets business. Dave Langless, chief financial officer of Tops, will serve as the parent company’s CFO.
“Completing the details of this merger marks a major milestone for the management teams of both Price Chopper/Market 32 and Tops,” said Grimmett. “And I’m confident that our teammates and associates are excited about it and will continue to deliver excellence.”
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