Announced Actions for September 17, 1996

Applications for prior approval of transactions: The FTC has received an application for prior approval of a divestiture from the following. The application will be subject to public comment for 30 days, until Oct. 17.

• The Stop & Shop Companies, Inc., of Quincy, Massachusetts, has applied for FTC approval to divest its supermarket at 550 Arsenal Street in Watertown, Massachusetts, to J&T Enterprises, Inc., which operates in Meridith, New Hampshire, under the Jackson’s Star Market name and in Newton and Weston, Massachusetts, under the name of Omni Food Stores. Divestiture of the Watertown store and 16 other supermarkets is required under a 1996 consent order designed to restore supermarket competition that allegedly was injured in five areas of Massachusetts when Stop & Shop acquired Purity Supreme, Inc. In June, the FTC denied Stop & Shop’s application to divest this store to Star Markets Company, Inc. (See Nov. 1, 1995 news release for more details regarding the consent order; Docket No. C-3649)

Petitions to reopen and modify FTC orders: The FTC has received a petition from the following entity, asking the Commission to reopen and modify or set a side an FTC order. The petition will be subject to public comment for 30 days, until Oct. 17.

• The Penn Traffic Company, of Syracuse, New York, has petitioned the FTC to reopen and modify a 1995 consent order so as to end the firm’s obligation to divest either an Acme or a Penn Traffic supermarket in Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania. The Mount Carmel divestiture was one of three required under the order, which was designed to restore supermarket competition that allegedly was injured when Penn Traffic acquired 45 stores in Pennsylvania and New York from Acme Markets, Inc. The other two divestitures have received FTC approval. (See May 19, 1995 news relesae for more details regarding the consent order; Docket No. C-3577).

Commission action regarding petitions: Following a public comment period, the Commission has ruled on a petition to reopen and modify an FTC order from the following entity:

• The FTC has granted a petition from Red Apple Companies, Inc., John A. Catsimatidis, Supermarket Acquisition Corp., and Designcraft Industries, Inc. (which does business as Sloan’s Supermarkets, Inc.), of New York City, to reopen and modify a 1995 consent order so as to end their obligation to divest a supermarket in the Chelsea area of Manhattan. The Commission granted the petition (which had been refiled and amended) on public interest grounds, stating that the respondents currently have only one remaining supermarket in Chelsea, and that divestiture of that store would cause them to exit the market and would simply replace one supermarket operator with another, rather than restore competition in that market. The Commission noted, however, that the situation was created by the respondents when they sold their other supermarkets in Chelsea for non-supermarket use. The FTC said that Red Apple has consented to pay a $600,000 civil penalty for failure to divest on time, and that the consent will be filed in court shortly. In addition, the Commission has appointed Arnold H. Lederman, of Garrick-Aug Associates Store Leasing, Inc., to serve as trustee to carry out the four Manhattan divestitures still required under the order. The 1995 order was intended to restore competition allegedly injured as a result of Red Apple’s acquisition of several Sloan’s supermarkets between 1991 and 1993. (See Dec. 13, 1994 news release for more details regarding the order; Docket No. C09266; Commission vote to grant the petition and appoint the trustee was 5-0.)

Comments on Stop & Shop application and the Penn Traffic petition should be addressed to the FTC, Office of the Secretary, 6th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580. Copies of the documents referenced above are available from the FTC’s Public Reference Branch, Room 130, at the same address; 202-326-2222; TTY for the hearing impaired 1-866-653-4261. To find out the latest news as it is announced, call the FTC NewsPhone recording at 202-326-2710. FTC news releases and other materials also are available on the Internet at the FTC’s World Wide Web site at: http://www.ftc.gov