Attention

The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not represent our advertisers

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Super Fresh Closings Could Mean 1,500 Layoffs

Nearly 1,500 workers are in danger of losing their jobs under a reorganization plan by the Superfresh supermarket chain that would sell almost all its stores in Maryland, most of which are in the Baltimore area.

The workers will lose their jobs unless other supermarket chains buy the Superfresh locations and retain their employees.

State regulators said Monday that the company filed notice about the layoffs and said that store closings could begin as soon as July 6.

Superfresh has 24 stores in the state, and all but two locations — both in Ocean City — are for sale. The bulk of the workforce is in the Baltimore area, where 1,100 people at 16 stores face pink slips as part of the grocer's plan to emerge from bankruptcy protection.

A spokesman for the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. of Montvale, N.J., which owns Superfresh, said the company would close any stores that are not sold, ending the chain's existence in the Baltimore area.

READ MORE …

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

its ok joe, thier union will take care of them


oh wait thats most likely the issue.
grocery stores cant pay $30 and hour and compete on prices and make a profit.

superfresh will close, and non-union stores will open in their place

remember safeway?

Anonymous said...

o 8:15 How stupid are you? The union will not help any of the employee that loose their jobs after July 6th.They will loose all benefits at the end of the month. They will stop paying union dues, so why would they help? As for the $30 an hour, againi how stupid are you? No one makes that much and hour including the store manager. I see 1500 will be out of a job, I hope and pray you also have to experience the joys of no income,no medical and could loose their home and not feed their family. Who in the hell said the Eastern Shore is such a nice place to live has never met those who are glad to see so many out of work The employee do not have any control of prices, and lots of other things out of their control in running the store.

Anonymous said...

9:39 You must not know anyone who works for Superfresh and is a union member.
I do, and I can tell you I know one that actually makes MORE than $30.00/hr and has done so for some time. This guy has been with this company for many years.
Maybe all Superfresh had to do was bargain with the unions and end their double coupons for all of the extreme couponers out there. The store can't make any money when merchandise is going out of their store without cash coming in!
They don't receive the full value of that doubled coupon back from the manufacturer.
As far as I can tell, Superfresh has done very little to nothing to try and survive. Maybe it's just a way to get the union out and then the stores will reopen under a new name?

Anonymous said...

8:15 hit the nail on the head. The prices are higher at Super Fresh because they do pay their employees more then the non-union grocery stores. Dresser Wayne is gone because of the union, Crown Cork and Seal the same and yes Safeway too.

Anonymous said...

9:39 - i know many people that work at superfresh. the store managers get bonuses that range in the 40k+.

employees do make $20+ an hour


and yes i have lost a job due to obamanomics. but i went to work the next day at another, in a diff field.
there is no reason to be unemployed.
you may not make as much, but there are jobs out there

Anonymous said...

Its a sad state when the companies that pay their people well and offer benefits and do everything the right way have to close their doors because someone else like walmart will pay people only minimum wage and be solely focused on profit at the top. Some people on here are bashing super fresh but I would think no one in their right mind would turn down the $20/hour if it were offered to them if their alternative was $9 at the store down the street.

Anonymous said...

2:26 Why should you have to pay someone $20 an hour for a $9 an hour job? If you don't like the pay go back to school and get a better job. I went back to school when I was 34 and now I'm a little better off for it. Unions are out dated and not needed since minimum wage has been set by the Federal Government.

Anonymous said...

2:26
there is nothing wrong with offering those wages. but superfresh didnt have a choice as to what they could pay. the union set the scale.

theres a problem when your employees tell you what you will pay them.

Anonymous said...

There is not one union employee that has ever made 30 per hour, and no manager earns more than 30% of his pay in bonus, and that is if they make every incentive in sales and profit. Obviously you idiots think that unions and super fresh colluded to bankrupt the company and put all of us out of work. Gosh, people like you should have been execs. Maybe we could stay open with intelligence like yours.