NEW YORK Would-be buyers of about 80 soon-to-be-defunct A&P supermarkets filed into the lobby of a Fifth Avenue office building Thursday morning, stopping at the sign-in desk before being allowed up to where a series of auctions that could last through the day and night were held.
Among the bidders with enough money to make an offer for one or more A&P supermarkets were nearly two dozen union representatives deemed "consultation parties" who were allowed in to observe the proceedings. Lawyers representing the many creditors due money in A&P's bankruptcy case also were allowed in. Barred from the proceedings, though, were members of the press who were given no explanation for the prohibition.
At the top of the long list of stores auctioned off Thursday was the A&P in Mount Kisco. The acknowledged crown jewel of the beleaguered supermarket had an annual operating cash flow of more than $9 million, and was expected to receive one of the highest sale prices of the auction. Stop&Shop had offered $23 million to buy the store but apparently someone was willing to spend more, prompting A&P start the auction off with that store.
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