The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. has asked a judge to extend its bankruptcy through 2017 to give it more time to work out a plan to distribute nearly $1 billion in proceeds from its liquidation to creditors, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. In court papers filed on Thursday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in White Plains, N.Y., lawyers for the grocery chain, known as A&P, asked Judge Robert Drain to extend its exclusivity period through Jan. 19, 2017. A&P filed for chapter 11 protection for a second time last summer with plans to liquidate. Since then, the company said on Thursday, a string of auctions and sales of its stores and other assets have garnered about $910 million and saved more than 18,000 jobs.
