Penn Traffic Co. is looking for a new owner after it filed for bankruptcy.
The Syracuse, N.Y.-based company, which owns supermarkets in Pennsylvania, upstate New York, Vermont and New Hampshire under the BI-LO, P&C Foods and Quality Markets banners, filed for bankruptcy in a Delaware court on Nov. 18.
Penn Traffic listed $150.4 million in assets and $136.9 million in liabilities.
In a news release, Penn Traffic officials said its board of directors determined that the interests of the company’s creditors and other stakeholders would be best served by voluntarily requesting Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to help it orderly sell its stores and assets.
“Our P&C, Quality and BI-LO supermarkets remain open for business to serve our customers and communities,” president and chief executive officer Gregory J. Young said in the release. “We intend to continue to work closely with our vendor partners to provide the fresh products and good value that our customers have come to expect from our stores.”
Last year, Penn Traffic posted a $17.6 million loss on $872.3 million in sales. For the quarter that ended Aug. 1, Penn Traffic reported a $7.3 million loss on $208.7 million in sales, according to media reports.
Penn Traffic operates 79 individual stores.
The bankruptcy filing is Penn Traffic’s third filing since 1999.
(Note on correction: This story originally listed an incorrect number of Penn Traffic's assets in the third paragrah.).