Penn Traffic
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| Public | |
| Industry | Retail |
| Fate | Assets sold to Tops Markets |
| Founded | 1854 |
| Defunct | 2010 |
| Headquarters | Syracuse, New York, U.S. |
| Products | Bakery, dairy, deli, frozen foods, meat, pharmacy, produce, seafood, snacks |
The Penn Traffic Company was founded in 1854 in Johnstown, Pennsylvania as a food service company for stagecoaches. It eventually became a general-merchandise department store but by the early 1960s had also returned to the food business through the acquisition of Super Value Corporation, operator of 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 had also operated a wholesale food distribution business (purchased in 2008 by C&S Wholesale Grocers) serving 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. 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 (not related 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.
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