Popular New York supermarket chain filed for bankruptcy and closure

The owner of Kings Food Markets and Balducci's filed for bankruptcy despite a sharp rise in food sales. The problem is that consumers in a pandemic are more likely to cook at home, and the growth in sales provided "short-term respite from liquidity problems." This edition writes Business Insider.

KB US Holdings, the parent company of two supermarket chains - Kings Food Markets and Balducci's - said in court filings that the pandemic-fueled sales growth provided "a short-term respite from liquidity problems."

But the pandemic, which has created "uncertain and unprecedented circumstances, will not continue indefinitely," the company said in a statement. “Accordingly, it is more important than ever for debtors to quickly implement their sales strategy and continue their work to preserve jobs and supply the population with the necessary goods,” the company said.

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KB US Holdings, which operates 35 grocery stores, will hold an auction to sell its assets. The company said it already has $ 75 million in bids from New York-based TLI Bedrock LLC.

KB supermarkets are located in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Virginia and Maryland. The company employs over 2900 people.

Two other regional grocery chains, Fairway Market and Lucky's Market, filed for bankruptcy this year and announced dozens of store closings.

More about the company

Kings Food Markets is a chain of food markets headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey with stores in northern New Jersey, New York and Connecticut.

In 2009, the Kings acquired Balducci's. In 2016, Kings and Balducci's were sold to Angelo, Gordon & Co. and MTN Capital Partners of GSSG Capital.

As ForumDaily New York wrote earlier:

• Today, the lines of hungry New Yorkers seeking free meals are reminiscent of the Great Depression. Read about what forces people to come to food distribution points before dawn. here.
• Public refrigerators have been installed all over New York. Residents of the city in need can take any products from them free of charge. Read about where they are located and who is behind such an initiative. in this publication.
• New York City certainly has a huge selection of supermarkets. You can find out about the 15 best in this material.