Effect of sale on jobs worries P&C workers

Barbara A. Thompson has spent nearly 21 years working as a part-time cashier at the Canton P&C Foods store, relying on the job’s weekly paycheck and health insurance benefits.

The 48-year-old mother now faces losing that job at a place she considers her second home.

When Price Chopper Inc. takes over former P&C stores in early April, employees including several veteran workers close to collecting retirement will lose their P&C positions. Schenectady-based Price Chopper last week agreed to purchase six former P&C stores from Tops Markets, Buffalo.

Workers can apply for jobs with Price Chopper Inc., but there’s no guarantee they’ll be rehired.

Some P&C employees said Monday that they’re left with a mix of anxiety, sadness and frustration.

“I’m discouraged and sad,” Ms. Thompson said as she restocked bottles of shampoo. “I’m going to miss my co-workers and customers. They’re like family to me. They really are.”

She said she plans to apply for a job at Price Chopper.

Price Chopper purchased P&Cs in Canton, Potsdam, Massena, Gouverneur and West Carthage in the north country and a store in Lincoln, N.H. The stores are expected to close in early April and reopen under the new brand in late May.

“I’m not going to give up. Most of my co-workers have already applied,” Ms. Thompson said. “I always looked forward to coming here. I was always glad I had a job.”

Price Chopper is a non-union store, unlike P&C and Tops, where employees are members of United Food & Commercial Workers Union Local 1, Utica.

As a P&C employee, Ms. Thompson said, she does not pay any contribution toward her health insurance premium. She also receives dental coverage at no charge.

She said $76 a week is taken from her paycheck to provide health benefits for her two sons, Adam B., 18, and Patrick N., 14.

“That’s what a lot of people are worried about, their health benefits,” Ms. Thompson said.

For now, she said, she can only hope for the best.

“Last night I went to church and prayed for all of us,” she said.

Meanwhile, customers are benefiting from the coming conversion to Price Chopper stores.

People looking for bargains are snatching up items at the five north country P&Cs where inventory is being sold off to make way for Price Chopper’s takeover.

Liquidation sales started over the weekend at stores in Canton, Potsdam, Massena, Gouverneur and West Carthage, where large yellow banners announce, “Store closing. Everything must go.”

At P&C stores in Ogdensburg, Watertown and Lowville, it appeared to be business as usual Monday, with no special sales under way and no signs suggesting change is forthcoming.

Tops Markets has not disclosed its plans for those stores. They were not included in Price Chopper’s $14 million purchase last week.

At the stores slated to be converted to Price Choppers, items have been discounted by 10 percent to 50 percent, depending on the department. A liquidation company has been working with store managers to set up the sales, which are expected to last the next few weeks.

On Monday, Ginney L. Green and sister Danielle R. Aldridge, both of Norfolk, were at the Potsdam P&C stocking up on products for their daughters, including baby cereal, jugs of nursery water and pacifiers.

“We came to check out the sales. We’re finding some good deals,” Mrs. Aldridge said. “This pacifier is marked down to $1.”

Other shoppers said they were disappointed that most food items, including meat, produce and dairy, were discounted by only 10 percent at this point.

Deborah M. LaPlante, Massena, said she usually buys groceries at the Massena P&C, but she was in Potsdam for a dentist appointment so she decided to stop at the P&C there after noticing its large sale signs.

“I needed a few things, so I thought I’d check it out,” Mrs. LaPlante said. “I’m not finding a lot of bargains. I’m not going to buy anything unless I’m really getting a good deal on it.”

Thomas S. Burch, Canton, filled his cart at the Canton P&C, 111 E. Main St., with a six-piece outdoor patio set that was marked down 30 percent, from $169 to $118.

“I think that’s a pretty good deal,” he said. “Now I have to wait for the snow to melt.”

Sales in this week’s P&C advertising fliers are not being honored at the five affected stores, as their liquidation sales continue.