Dozens of discount grocery stores closed Monday in the Philadelphia area.
Bottom Dollar Food initially announced it would close 46 locations in Philadelphia and 20 in the Pittsburgh area by Jan. 15. On Monday however the company announced all locations were officially closed.
Company officials said that 2,200 affected workers will receive severance pay, and some will get job counseling.
Bottom Dollar's parent company announced in December that it was selling the locations to the Aldi supermarket chain. The transaction had been expected to close in the first quarter of 2015.
Aldi has previously said it plans to expand operations in the United States, but has not committed to reopening the Bottom Dollar sites.
The Bottom Dollar locations were touted as cures to food deserts in depressed neighborhoods of Philly and the surrounding suburbs.
Bottom Dollar is operated by Delhaize America, a North Carolina-based subsidiary of Belgian parent company Delhaize Group.
Local
Breaking news and the stories that matter to your neighborhood.
