Abbott Brant

Poughkeepsie Journal

Some local residents will soon be doing their grocery shopping at a Tops Friendly Markets, with the company planning to buy four supermarkets in Dutchess and Ulster counties.

The Erie County-based company plans to purchase the Stop & Shop stores in Rhinebeck, New Paltz and Wappingers Falls and the Hannaford supermarket in LaGrangeville, according to a statement.

The purchase of these four stores is part of a six-store acquisition that will bring the company, which operates supermarkets in western New York, northwestern Pennsylvania and western Vermont, into the Hudson Valley and Massachusetts.

“We are very excited about this growth opportunity for Tops, especially since these stores are a natural extension of our current footprint,” Frank Curci, Tops Markets’ chairman and CEO, said in a statement. “We are looking forward to having these stores, the associates and the surrounding communities become part of the Tops family, and for both our customers and us, it will be business as usual.”

Attempts to reach a spokesperson for the company were unsuccessful. It was unclear what differences consumers may find if Tops buys the stores.

The purchase of these new stores is subject to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s approval and clearance of the merger between the parent company of Stop & Shop, the Netherlands-based Ahold Group, and the parent company of Hannaford, the Belgium-based Delhaize Group.

Ahold and Delhaize announced intentions to merge in June of 2015, and received conditional approval to merge in March, according to a press release from Delhaize Group. In the release, the company stated that their U.S. subsidiaries reached agreements with "well-established supermarkets," including Tops, to divest a total of 86 stores in locations in which both stores operate.

There are more than 750 associates in total employed at the future six store locations, according to Tops. Tops will offer all associates continued employment with Tops and operate all six stores without any interruption in service, the company said.

On Facebook, Dutchess County residents voiced their opinion on Tops making its way into town, many saying they rather a Wegman's take the place of current Stop & Shop or Hannaford locations.

"I would have preferred a Wegman's if they had to bring a new one in," said Pleasant Valley resident Kim Garrison in a Facebook post. "I went to college in Niagara Falls, and Wegman's was definitely a nicer store than Tops."

Abbott Brant: abrant@poughkeepsiejournal.com; 845-437-4809; Twitter: @AbbottBrantPoJo