A United States Bankruptcy Court Judge has approved Tops Friendly Markets' request to close some of its stores to help offset some of the company's debt.
Tops filed a motion to close some of its underperforming stores back in April as part of its plan to battle back from Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
At the time, a company spokesperson said no decisions have been made about potential store closings, adding there will be no further comment while the situation is in court proceedings.
Court documents obtained by 7 Eyewitness News show Judge Robert Drain approved the request on May 10, 2018.
The motion also authorizes Tops to conduct "Store Closing Sales" at the stores it chooses to close.
The court documents don't specify which of Tops' stores will be slated to close.
A Tops Spokesperson sent 7 Eyewitness News the following statement:
On May 10 TOPS' motion outlining procedures when filing store closings was approved by the court, allowing TOPS to close any underperforming stores should the supermarket chain decide to do so in the future. No timetable nor decisions about store closings have been made.
Tops filed for bankruptcy in February. Tops Markets LLC received a commitment for a $125 million debtor-in-possession term loan and a $140 million asset based revolving loan.
The company operates 174 stores in Upstate New York, Northern Pennsylvania and Vermont and employs more than 14,000 people.
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