Belle Foods is slated to close 12 Food World stores in Alabama and Florida and one Piggly Wiggly store in Georgia as part of its chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization. A judge made the ruling earlier this week, according to a report in the Birmingham News.
The company worked out a plan with creditors that call for closing the 13 stores and selling off the assets as Belle Foods looks to pay more than $42 million in debt. The closings will leave Belle Foods with 44 stores.
Under the ruling, made by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Jack Caddell, the stores will begin closing immediately with plans to have all the noted locations closed by Aug. 3.
The locations to close include the Food World groceries on Green Springs Highway in Homewood and Allison-Bonnet Memorial Drive in Hueytown. Other stores in Alabama are Food Worlds in Gadsden, Florence, Decatur and Mobile. Florida store closings include four Food World stores in Pensacola along with Food World in Mary Esther and one in Niceville. The Georgia store is a Piggly Wiggly in Tifton.
Belle Foods filed for bankruptcy on Monday, noting a number of factors that prevent it from paying creditors. Bill White, CEO of Belle Foods, refused to comment following the hearing in the federal courthouse in Decatur, according to the report.
Judge Caddell said he approved the closing of the stores because of the perishable nature of much of the stores' merchandise. Delaying the closings would only do harm to those goods without decreasing the likelihood the stores would eventually close anyway, he was reported as saying. Chris Carson, attorney with Burr & Forman representing Belle Foods, said the deal had been worked out with primary creditors as part of Belle Foods' reorganization plan.
