P&C STORES FACING CLOSURE

Yet another bankruptcy filing by Penn Traffic Co., owner of P&C markets, could be the death knell for stores throughout the north country.

A certified letter from Penn Traffic Co. to P&C employees and municipal officials in affected communities delivered the news that the company will be forced to close its grocery stores by Feb. 15 if they are not sold.

"There are certainly real concerns. A grocery store is a central part of a community," Canton Mayor Charlotte C. Ramsay said. "I am very hopeful that the rumors of Price Chopper coming to Canton are true and that the transition is swift and smooth."

Canton's economic development office and the mayor's office, she said, will be focusing on keeping Canton's only major grocery store open.

The Syracuse-based company provided officials in Canton, Gouverneur, Lowville, Massena, Ogdensburg, Potsdam, Pulaski, West Carthage and the town of Pamelia with a breakdown of the number of jobs in jeopardy by the pending store closures. The Times was able to obtain numbers for most of those stores, ranging from 79 employees in Canton to 58 in Ogdensburg.

Canton officials have been looking to attract a second grocery store since Jubilee in Midtown Plaza closed in 2000.

"We are already feeling underserved when it comes to groceries. P&C closing would be disastrous for the community," said Canton Supervisor David T. Button. "We will do all we can to hold on to that store. We need these jobs in Canton."

Potsdam Supervisor Marie C. Regan said the P&C in Potsdam fills an important role, because the other grocery stores in Potsdam are very different markets. They include Big M, Save-A-Lot, Potsdam Food Co-op and Walmart.

"I've shopped there all of my married life. I was just there on Tuesday," Mrs. Regan said of P&C. "I'd hate to see all of those employees out of work, especially in this economy."

Gouverneur Mayor Dorothy L. Vorce said she also got a letter Friday warning of the grocery store's closure if another company does not purchase it. The Gouverneur P&C has 67 employees.

The Save-A-Lot store at 210 W. Main St. presents another option for village residents to buy groceries, she said.

Mrs. Vorce said she had heard several weeks ago that another large grocery chain might be interested in buying the P&C store there.

"I hope it does. We need it. I feel so sorry for the people who have worked there all this time. Some of them have been there forever," she said.

The P&C at 60 High St., West Carthage, employs 59 people.

"I hope one of the larger chains looks to the Carthage location as a potential store to purchase," said Scott M. Burto, mayor of West Carthage. "I hope to be able to attract a buyer, not only to provide a large-chain grocery store for the community, but to keep the jobs in the community."

In Lowville, 61 workers could be without jobs.

"We certainly hope that we can work to get another grocery store here," Mayor Mary E. Youngs said. "While the Lowville Walmart store includes a grocery section, it doesn't have a full spectrum like a traditional grocery store or a full Walmart Supercenter."

Penn Traffic in its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing Wednesday said it plans to sell its stores and other assets.

The letter about the closings, signed by Christine McMahon, Penn Traffic senior vice president of human resources, said that during the past few weeks, Penn Traffic has experienced a combination of declining sales, loss of market share, tight credit markets, upcoming expiration of its credit arrangements and liquidity-restricting actions by its lenders that make the company's future uncertain.

Companywide, P&C employs 5,700 people.

A Penn Traffic spokesperson in Syracuse referred all calls to media spokesman Jeff Schoenborn, who could not be reached for comment.

Times staff writer Alex Jacobs contributed to this report.