Tops Markets Mulling HQ Move: Report

Tops Markets LLC is considering whether to merge several corporate offices into a single site in Amherst, N.Y., according to a published report citing paperwork filed with the Amherst Industrial Development Agency.

The 98,000-square-foot site, at 1760 Wehrle Drive, is currently occupied by PHH Mortgage, a subsidiary of Mount Laurel Township, N.J.-based PHH Corp., and  across the street from the Erie Community College North Campus, The Buffalo News reported. Its workforce diminished by job cuts, PHH is reportedly planning to vacate the site by the end of the summer.

According to the filing cited by the News, Tops plans to bring 300 employees to the site in September. The company currently has most of its headquarters operations less than 2 miles away, at 30 Spindrift Drive. “We are interested in the Wehrle Drive location, but certain conditions must be reviewed and met before we would make any decision," Tops Chairman and CEO Frank Curci said in a statement quoted by the newspaper, which added that a company spokesman had declined to reveal what the conditions were.

Williamsville, N.Y.-based Tops operates 172 supermarkets, with five additional franchisees under the Tops banner. The company employs more than 15,000 associates in New York, northern Pennsylvania, western Vermont and north central Massachusetts.