NORFOLK, Va. -- The Big Star supermarket chain is expected to announce Tuesday the closing or sale of 30 stores in eastern Virginia and North Carolina.
Grand Union, the chain's parent company, said Monday in Elmwood, N.J., it would have a 'major announcement' but refused to elaborate.
Local store officials met Monday at the firm's Norfolk distribution and division office center and told employees of layoffs, it was reported.
Reports of closings have been circulating for several months but Grand Union denied them as late as last week. There was no denial of Monday's reports.
Leaders of Local 233 of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union said they will hold meetings Tuesday to discuss the reports. They said had been expecting the stores to close.
Workers also made runs on the company's credit union, which responded by requiring 60 days' notice from members who want to withdraw funds.
The Federal Trade Commission told Grand Union to divest itself of its outlet in the Southeast within a year. The company acquired the Big Star stores in a $133 million merger in 1978 with Atlanta-based Colonial Stores Inc.
The divestiture order, subject of a debate before the full commission April 19, contended the merger hurt competition in the Southeast retail food industry.
The merger created a 652-store chain along the East Coast with sales of $3.5 billion in the latest fiscal year ending last April.
The company's third-quarter report listed sales of $939.79 million and profits of $6.95 million.
