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Penn Traffic
The Penn Traffic Company was a food service company founded in 1854 in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
The company eventually evolved into a general merchandise department store. By the early 1960s, it also returned to the food business through the acquisition of Super Value Corporation, which operated the 10-store Riverside supermarket chain.
In 1982, the company sold its department stores and concentrated solely on the food and supermarket business. A series of financial troubles led to Penn Traffic's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in November 2009, and sale of assets to Tops Markets in early 2010.
At the time of sale, Penn Traffic was the parent company for 79 retail supermarkets in the Northeastern United States, concentrating mostly in Central New York. Its headquarters were in Syracuse, New York. Penn Traffic formerly had operated supermarkets in Pennsylvania, Vermont, and New Hampshire under the Insalaco's, Bi-Lo/Riverside/U-Save, P&C and Quality trade names. The company also operated a wholesale food distribution business, purchased in 2008 by C&S Wholesale Grocers, which served approximately 121 independent operators.
Penn Traffic traces its origins back to the 1850s, when it was a trading post in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Over the years, Penn Traffic evolved first into a general-merchandise department store and later a large retail and wholesale supermarket company.
In 1922, it established Johnstown's first radio station, WTAC, which was licensed until early 1926. Riverside, founded in Brookville, Pennsylvania, in 1928, became part of the Penn Traffic family in 1962, and began developing the Bi-Lo format in the 1980s, unrelated to the chain in the Mid-Atlantic. Penn Traffic operated 43 supermarkets under the Bi-Lo trade name across Pennsylvania, and also distributed food to 51 franchised and independent supermarkets from its DuBois, Pennsylvania, distribution facility. Quality Markets, founded in Jamestown, New York, in 1913, joined the Penn Traffic family in 1979. Penn Traffic operated a total of 34 supermarkets under the Quality trade name in southwestern New York and northwestern Pennsylvania.
Penn Traffic's flagship department store in Johnstown, challenged by economic decline, permanently closed after the 1977 flood. The company sold its six department stores and two women's specialty-store leases to Crown American Corporation, owner of the Hess's department store chain, in 1982 in order to concentrate on the supermarket business.
Miller, Tabak, Hirsch & Company, a New York City-based investment group, began its takeover bid for Penn Traffic in 1986. Early takeover attempts were resisted by management but by 1987, Penn Traffic agreed to an offer by an affiliate of the investment firm and the company was briefly taken private for $131 million (~$309 million in 2024).
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Penn Traffic
The Penn Traffic Company was a food service company founded in 1854 in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
The company eventually evolved into a general merchandise department store. By the early 1960s, it also returned to the food business through the acquisition of Super Value Corporation, which operated the 10-store Riverside supermarket chain.
In 1982, the company sold its department stores and concentrated solely on the food and supermarket business. A series of financial troubles led to Penn Traffic's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in November 2009, and sale of assets to Tops Markets in early 2010.
At the time of sale, Penn Traffic was the parent company for 79 retail supermarkets in the Northeastern United States, concentrating mostly in Central New York. Its headquarters were in Syracuse, New York. Penn Traffic formerly had operated supermarkets in Pennsylvania, Vermont, and New Hampshire under the Insalaco's, Bi-Lo/Riverside/U-Save, P&C and Quality trade names. The company also operated a wholesale food distribution business, purchased in 2008 by C&S Wholesale Grocers, which served approximately 121 independent operators.
Penn Traffic traces its origins back to the 1850s, when it was a trading post in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Over the years, Penn Traffic evolved first into a general-merchandise department store and later a large retail and wholesale supermarket company.
In 1922, it established Johnstown's first radio station, WTAC, which was licensed until early 1926. Riverside, founded in Brookville, Pennsylvania, in 1928, became part of the Penn Traffic family in 1962, and began developing the Bi-Lo format in the 1980s, unrelated to the chain in the Mid-Atlantic. Penn Traffic operated 43 supermarkets under the Bi-Lo trade name across Pennsylvania, and also distributed food to 51 franchised and independent supermarkets from its DuBois, Pennsylvania, distribution facility. Quality Markets, founded in Jamestown, New York, in 1913, joined the Penn Traffic family in 1979. Penn Traffic operated a total of 34 supermarkets under the Quality trade name in southwestern New York and northwestern Pennsylvania.
Penn Traffic's flagship department store in Johnstown, challenged by economic decline, permanently closed after the 1977 flood. The company sold its six department stores and two women's specialty-store leases to Crown American Corporation, owner of the Hess's department store chain, in 1982 in order to concentrate on the supermarket business.
Miller, Tabak, Hirsch & Company, a New York City-based investment group, began its takeover bid for Penn Traffic in 1986. Early takeover attempts were resisted by management but by 1987, Penn Traffic agreed to an offer by an affiliate of the investment firm and the company was briefly taken private for $131 million (~$309 million in 2024).