As A&P conducts its final round of going-out-of-business sales in North Jersey and elsewhere, the Montvale-based company also is asking the court for more time to complete its liquidation and its bankruptcy plan so it can sell more of its stores, The Record reported today. The bankrupt supermarket chain is expected to ask U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Robert D. Drain on Friday to extend its exclusive right to control the company's chapter 11 reorganization to March 16, and the solicitation period for approval of its chapter 11 plan to May 16. Currently those rights expire on Monday and Jan. 15, respectively. Meanwhile, A&P is holding final clearance sales at six stores in North Jersey expected to close at the end of next week. The A&P stores in Pompton Lakes, Wayne, West Milford and Woodland Park, and two Pathmark stores in Hackensack and Ramsey, are expected to shut on Nov. 19 or Nov. 20. A&P has stated in court documents that it hopes either to hold additional auctions for the unsold stores in North Jersey and elsewhere, or sell the stores through private sales "over the next few months." Thus far, A&P has received court approval for the sale of 167 of its 297 stores for a total of $615.7 million, and it has pending offers totaling $81 million for 20 more stores. The company said it expects to raise an additional $61 million by selling store inventories. A&P also received $42 million for selling its pharmacy records from 109 of its stores.
