Employees at three Hudson Valley Stop and Shop supermarkets report that they've been told the stores are up for sale.

In June of last year Stop & Shop announced a merger with the company that owns and operates Hannaford supermarkets. When complete, the deal would create a new mega-company worth over $29 billion serving over 50 million customers a week.

Employees say that they were informed the stores were up for sale and could possibly be 'closing down' if a buyer is not found.

In what could possibly be a result of the impending merger, employees at three area Stop & Shop supermarkets have received word that their stores may be closing. Employees say that they were informed the stores were up for sale and could possibly be "closing down" if a buyer is not found. The supermarket locations that are reportedly up for sale are in New Paltz, Rhinebeck and Wappingers Falls.

All three Stop & Shop supermarkets that are reportedly for sale are in close proximity to already-existing Hannaford supermarkets. The Wappingers Falls Stop & Shop is less than a mile from the Hannaford on Route 9 at Myers Corners Rd. In Rhinebeck, the Hannaford supermarket is just north of the current Stop & Shop on Route 9. And the Stop & Shop on Main Street in New Paltz is also very close to an existing Hannaford supermarket in nearby Modena.

We reached out to Stop & Shop's corporate offices who referred us to their parent company, Ahold USA. Although local management confirmed to us that they were informed of the impending sale, Ahold USA gave us the following statement:

Ahold USA, Inc., parent company of Stop & Shop, continues to work toward the successful completion of the proposed merger between Ahold and the Delhaize Group. The merger is currently under review by the Federal Trade Commission and remains on track for completion in mid-2016. As part of any merger approval process where there may be store divestitures, store visits may be conducted by potential buyers but it's too early to speculate on the outcome of the FTC review process. We do not anticipate any store closures as part of the FTC review process.

We want to know what you think. Are you disappointed to hear that Stop & Shop may be closing three area locations? Or do you think that the merger with Hannaford would make them redundant?