Union reacts to reports Tops Markets is planning bankruptcy

ORISKANY, N.Y. — In the wake of reports that Tops Markets is considering bankruptcy, the union that represents thousands of the grocery chain’s workers says it is monitoring the situation closely.

Bloomberg reported Friday that the Williamsville, N.Y.–headquartered Tops is struggling with debt and planning to declare bankruptcy.

Bloomberg said the debt was the result of the purchase of the chain by Morgan Stanley Private Equity in 2007 and a subsequent leveraged buyout by management in 2013. During the six-year period between the sales, Tops grew from 71 stores to 150.

Today, Tops has 170 stores and more than 14,000 employees in the Northeast, Bloomberg reported. Tops has more than 40 grocery stores in Central New York, according to its website.

Local One of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), which represents 12,000 Tops employees, issued a statement that said the union was aware of Tops situation and has been monitoring developments.

“Since mid January, UFCW Local One has been consulted by our legal team consisting of health care, pension and 401K attorneys and an attorney that specializes in restructuring and bankruptcy filings,” UFCW Local One President Frank DeRiso said in the statement.

The Oriskany–headquartered local added that Tops has been fulfilling its obligations to pay toward retirement and health plans and the current labor contract remains in effect.

“We have additional meetings set up this coming week to discuss more strategies to hit this situation head on,” the statement concluded.

Contact McChesney at cmcchesney@cnybj.com.