GOUVERNEUR, NY - Tops Friendly Markets announced yesterday that they have concluded an agreement with Price Chopper Supermarkets to sell the NNY P&C stores.

Tops acquired the former P&C stores as part of a buyout agreement under Penn Traffic's court-managed bankrupty that was settled on January 29th, 2010.

At the time, Price Chopper had also made an offer on the stores that had been pre-empted in bankruptcy court by Tops' offer on the stores despite Price Chopper offering a higher per-store price at the time.

Tops has agreed to sell the stores in Canton, Gouverneur, Massena, Potsdam, and West Carthage to Price Chopper for an as-yet undisclosed sum.  The remaining Northern NY P&C stores will presumably be operated by Tops as they agreed under the bankruptcy settlement though statements from Tops' CEO Frank Curci would not seem to support that.

Curci said "As part of our initial evaluation of all Penn Traffic locations, it was determined those stores [the NNY locations] were on the outer edge of our geographic footprint and would be best served by another retailer with more familiarity with those markets."

Curci's statements leave the status of the former P&C stores in Ogdensburg and Watertown on shaky ground.  Price Chopper already has stores in those towns and Tops' thinks the areas are better served by a competitor.