Philly's Acme Markets' Layoffs 900 P-T Workers

Supervalu’s Philadelphia-based Acme Markets subsidiary is cutting 900 part-time workers in117 stores in South Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland “to align its work force with sales volume.”

The workforce reductions will be effective May 7, according to officials from the regional supermarket chain, and will primarily affect the least-senior employees who currently work about 12-16 hours per week. Associates impacted by the layoffs will be informed during the next several days.

"Unfortunately, we have more associates than we need to serve our current level of sales, and we must take immediate action to change our business," says Dan Sanders, Acme president.

The cost-cutting measures will enable Acme to lower prices and better compete with other grocers, according to Sanders, who added that the move “does not change Acme’s overall commitment to the Delaware Valley and its focus on driving sales through a solid plan of lowering prices, investing in the customer experience, and implementing programs designed to attract new customers to the stores.

Having established an aggressive plan last year to get its “business in line with our financial realities,” Sanders said the layoffs are a necessary part of the initiative as the chain continues “to look at the best ways to achieve success around our strategy to lower prices, improve customer service, reinvest in the business and align our workforce with today’s customer needs and economic realities. We are beginning to see positive results in some areas, but we still face significant sales challenges,” added Sanders.

Further, he said, “While eliminating positions is never easy given the impact on our people, this was a necessary step for us to take. Moving forward we will continue to execute our plan and look for ways to further strengthen our business and reduce costs with the simple, strategic goal of ensuring Acme's competitiveness and long-term survival.”

A 120-year-old institution in the competitive Philadelphia market, Acme Markets operates 117 stores in eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland and employs more than 14,000 associates.