Penn Traffic Company has told some of its employees in a nutshell, “Good-bye and good luck. The pink slips are on the way.”
And before you know it, there goes the P&C supermarkets in sites like Massena, Canton, Ogdensburg and Gouverneur, leaving more Northern New York residents standing in the unemployment line – which is exactly the last thing the North Country needs right now with companies fighting for survival or just saying, “I quit.”
And leaving another empty building to fill, which seems to be a contagious disease in Massena these days.
We’ve got an empty GM Powertrain plant that hasn’t drawn much interest – probably because of all the contamination that needs to be cleaned up.
We’ve got empty storefronts in the downtown area because, from what I’ve been told, rent’s just too high for a little mom and pop store to survive.
You can hear the echoes in the St. Lawrence Centre Mall.
You get my drift. They’re leaving, and nobody’s coming in.
So, should P&C close, I suspect that unless another supermarket chain buys them out, the store in the Harte Haven Shopping Plaza is going to sit dead as a doornail for some time to come.
I’ll be sorry to see that, not if, but when it does happen.
But it’s time for a reality check. P&C just couldn’t compete with the Walmarts and other stores that offered the same products at a fraction of the cost.
I stopped going to P&C a long time ago when I realized that I could save a substantial amount on my M&Ms and soda. And a whole lot of other items.
But mainly the M&Ms and soda because, after all, that’s my daily diet.
I reckon – and this is just me talking out loud – that when Walmart opened their supercenter, people flocked there to spend their money. And, in order to survive, P&C had to jack up their prices to stay afloat.
Well, that didn’t work out so well now, did it, since they’re filing for their third bankruptcy.
I was never good at math, but I think if P&C would have kept their prices lower, they’d have had a chance to survive. The people would have continued to shop there if they knew they weren’t being charged an arm and a leg and their newborn for a loaf of bread. And perhaps that might have been the key to survival – actually having customers inside the store.
But instead they chose to go the expensive route, believing that if they charged more, they’d make more.
And the people stopped shopping there.
And now the employees may be getting a letter that says, “Sorry about your luck. We tried.”
But they didn’t try hard enough. I would have continued to shop there if I could have afforded it. I’m not a big Wally World fan, but when the prices can’t be beat, the prices can’t be beat and you’re not going to head anywhere else if you can save a few bucks in this day and age.
But a co-worker brought up an interesting point that he’d heard today. Suppose P&C goes out of business and we’re left with an empty shell of a building. That means Walmart has once again crushed the competition with their rock-bottom prices and, with that under their belt, what’s to say they won’t jack up their prices now that the “other store” is gone.
We’ll have to wait and see what transpires, I suppose.
And if P&C should bite the dust, all I can say is, “It was nice knowing you, but your upper-level management blew it for you by not keeping up with the times and customers’ desires.”
I'm not sure, but it sounds to me like you might be bashing P&C. I worked for P&C for the last 3 years through high school and college, they are the best employer I have ever worked for. Also they are the only grocery store around with a union. I am a poor college student, but honestly I would rather spend a few extra dollars to support a store like P&C then WalMart. Look at the north country since supercenters started popping up everywhere, stores closing left and right. Its not just Massena that it has happened to, look at Potsdam and Malone. I hate WalMart and I choose not to support the empire. The north country is loosing a good grocery store. They may be a bit pricey, but they actually care about their customers, unlike WalMart where your cashiers glare at you or throw your change at you.
I don't believe he was bashing P&C at all. He was being honest…which is something that you are not being. I worked at Wal~Mart and they do care about their customers. The majority of the staff is very friendly and helpful. I have not had any of the cashiers glare or throw change at me. I am quite sure you have not either. On occasion any store will have a grumpy cashier or a cashier that is just having a bad day. As for being "a poor college student" I don't buy that either. If you were or are a poor college student then you would be trying to save money and not paying more for the same product. I mean seriously what is that college you attend teaching you? Just because a company has a union doesn't make that company better. The union isn't doing much to stop the store from closing now is it? Just to make it clear, I am not bashing P&C either, as a matter of fact I shop there just as often as I do Wal~Mart. Don't blame Wal~Mart for poor choices Penn Traffic Company made.
Um wake up north country people! The north country is quickly drying up as far as businesses go and it's not entirely Wal Marts fault, its the population. There just simply not enough people to keep the element of competition alive. Lets face it it's not that people don't want to shop at Wal Mart but that is the rational choice unemployment rates have soared up there for years and there seems to be no end in sight. SO really instead of complaining about P&C going under look at the big picture: The North Country is simply endangered and there doesn't seem to be any light at the end of the tunnel. My husband and I moved out of the area to a little place known as Kansas and there are plenty of jobs out here. The area we are in is much smaller than the north country; however, it has what New York doesn't have: a government that has their crap together and promotes business.
P&C has been having trouble way before the WalMart Supercenters opened! After all, isn't this their THIRD try at banruptcy?
It seems like everything bad is WalMart's fault. Why do people dislike something that saves them money?
Welcome to the unenjoyment line.
Walmart has been around the North Country far longer than the first P&C bk.
There are multiple factors that killed P&C but I'll agree with Bob that Walmart is a -major- factor in this, though as said its their 3rd Bankruptcy, first in 1999 then again in 2003. And this hurts more than just the employees of the store, bankruptcy also means they do not have to pay their vendors, screwing the small businesses that provided their services. Vendors are the ones who provide many of the goods in a store, ice, soda, chips, bread and so forth. But with this downfall of P&C, people are going to go to Walmart, and buying at Walmart is more or less giving your money to China, who makes most of the cheap crap you buy from their stores. People need to look around their area and buy from their small local merchants, its not overly hard.
People of Massena, you still have Hannafords which I personally shop at, their prices are good and their service is good, the store is clean and nice. I know they got a lot of flack for being non-union when they came to Massena but I think we're past that by now.
People of Potsdam and Canton can go to the Big-M on Route 11 just off Market Street near the library, I'm unsure of their prices but its an independant store so it shouldn't be closed, since the Big-M name is just a sub-company of P&C.
People of Malone have Price Chopper near the intersection of Route 11, 37 and 30.
And in the end, the big wigs of P&C don't care about their customers anymore, just getting out from under the crushing debt they have created for themselves. Price Chopper DID call P&C about buying at least the stores in the North Country, so did Hannafords, both asked the price and were horrified at what P&C quoted them. Price Chopper claimed they didn't know about P&C's filing, quoted in an article yesterday about the bankruptcy, but being a vendor I know what really happened.
And last just a quickie, I always felt that we killed Downtown Massena in the 1960s when we built Harte Haven Shopping Plaza, that was the first nails in the coffin, Saint Lawrence Centre put in the final nails. It is sad, but I doubt we'll ever see downtown for what it was.
Gouverneur needs another business to close! Hey, does anyone know if the Scozzafavas were involved with P&C, too?!
Our little town had 3 grocery stores. Walmart Super Center came in and one closed almost immediatly. The 2nd store has actually thrived and expanded. Their secret, they had planned to be competetive when a Walmart came to town. The manager told me that they always knew that sooner or later, Walmart would come to Deming. So now we have 2 really good places to shop for groceries.
As one other person mentioned P&C has been in trouble WAY before Walmart came around. And to the person who said they would rather spend a few extra dollars at P&C rather than shop at Walmart…apparently you’re going to continue being poor. I went to College for 3 yrs and would make a drive out to Ogdensburg Walmart once a month to get my groceries rather than go to P&C and spend a ton of money. You do NOT spend “A FEW EXTRA”. Please, come with me someday and we shall compare receipts. I’ll pick up the same exact things from Wally and you get the same things from P&C and I BET YOU I will save AT LEAST $20.00 OR MORE bucks. Compare bread, coffee, baby food, diapars, milk, eggs, and you will see. Sorry P&C, I don’t know anyone who goes to you anymore and it has nothing to do with Wally, it has to do with your prices. DARE TO COMPARE.
To John Q. Public…I believe that P&C specializes in groceries…something that I do not think WalMart was involved in the North Country in 1999!
My point is that everything is not bad about WalMart.
If D.W. is worried about his money going to China, I hope someone is watching who owns our Obama debt!
I personally shop at a Big M!