bottom dollar

Bottom Dollar's sign reflects in a puddle in the parking lot at the Woodbury store the morning after parent company Delhaize Group announced plans to shutter their 66 sites. (Greg Adomaitis | South Jersey Times)

WOODBURY — The company that owns Bottom Dollar Food announced plans late Wednesday to sell their 66 stores to ALDI, Inc. ahead of closing up shop in the U.S. and shuttering their sites.

Bottom Dollar currently has 46 stores in the greater Philadelphia area and employs about 2,200 workers. Woodbury's location opened last July. The lights were on early Thursday morning at the Broad Street store, but nobody was home.

“This decision was difficult given the impact on our associates, customers and communities in which we operate,” Gene Faller, vice president of retail operations for Bottom Dollar Food, said in a statement on the company's website. “We want to thank our associates, customers and communities for their support over the past four years.”

A nine-hour job fair last year offering 60 part-time positions at the Woodbury location drew more than double that figure. Another Bottom Dollar in Glassboro — which replaced previous discount supermarket Food Basics — opened back in December 2011. Another local Bottom Dollar sits near the Cherry Hill Mall off Route 38.

"We look for opportunities where Bottom Dollar Food can serve local communities by meeting consumers' needs," a company spokesperson told the Times in 2011 ahead of the Glassboro site's opening.

The $15 million move, according to local media reports, is aimed at Delhaize Group's strategy of focusing on the "traditional" supermarket segment, according to the company.

Belgium-based Delhaize anticipates all 66 stores to stay open until year-end. The transaction announced Wednesday is expected to close during the first quarter of 2015.

After that, Bottom Dollar will close the stores and "retire the banner's operations," the company said, adding their plans to offer every employee with severance and "eligible associates" with other options.

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Greg Adomaitis may be reached at gadomaitis@southjerseymedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregAdomaitis. Find the South Jersey Times on Facebook.