It all started in the 1920’s when Ferrante Castellani opened up a small grocery store in Niagara Falls, NY. Forty years later that little neighborhood market blossomed into what we now know as Tops supermarket. Fast forward another 45 years, and Tops has become one of the leading grocery chains in WNY, with 41 company owned, and five franchised stores, throughout Western and Central NY and North Western Pennsylvania.
For years, Tops was a locally owned and operated business, until it was bought in 1991 by Netherlands based Royal Ahold, Inc., an operator of supermarkets in the US and Europe.
Upon acquiring the chain, Royal Ahold moved many of Tops’ administrators to its regional headquarters in Carlisle Pennsylvania, and with that move went not only the local ownership, but the decision making processes that local owners are often best at.
In November 2006, Royal Ahold announced its desire to sell Tops, and subsequently put the chain on the market (no pun intended). Almost 12 months later, in October of this year, Royal Ahold announced its intentions to sell the supermarket to NYC based Morgan Stanley Private Equity Corp. for a price of $310 million.
Though some may doubt the long- term intentions of a private equity firm taking over a once locally owned business, the acquisition of Tops by Morgan Stanley will bring good things to WNY. With the pending sale, Morgan Stanley announced that management positions that had shifted to PA, will now return to the Buffalo area. Equally important, the sale may also result in the creation of 100 new corporate jobs in this region.
As reported in Buffalo Business First this week, the sale should close by the end of December.
Because I often shop at various Tops locations, I spoke to people who work there about the change of ownership. The mood is positive in the store, because management will be returned to local hands again. That’s not only good from a business perspective, but from a psychological one too. Employees feel a greater sense of connection to a company when it’s based close to their homes.
With regards to what may go into the vacated Latina’s market on Elmwood, there is talk that a Tops Xpress store may move in and occupy part, but not all of the former market’s total square footage. Given Morgan Stanley’s stated long term investment in the company, should the space become a Tops Xpress, hopefully it will bring retail stability and continuity to that stretch of Elmwood. Sure, a Trader’s Joe’s would have been great, but a clean, nice looking, well stocked albeit scaled down Tops, is not a bad plan either.
BTW, have you ever noticed the diamond shaped Tops logo, and wondered what that has to do with Tops? No? Really? Well, anyway, It’s an updated, stylized version of a spinning toy top, the store’s first logo. Now you know.
Lastly, here’s a piece of trivia straight out of Buffalo circa 1960’s. We all know the current Tops jingle, “Tops Never Stops” but what jingle was playing on Tops TV commercials back in the day when people were listening to ‘KB radio and shopping at AM&A’s and Hengerer’s?
OK…all together everybody, “Tops Supermarkets Have People….So you don’t have to talk to yourself!”
Lorne Opler
Toronto born and raised, but with my roots solidly planted in Western New York, I have been visiting Buffalo and enamored with Buffalo ever since I was a kid. I love writing for BRO but equally enjoy writing about Buffalo for Southern Ontario audiences to introduce them to all the great things happening in the renaissance city. When I'm not writing, I'm teaching fitness and health promotion at a community college in Toronto and running my own personal training business. Visit my website at www.lorneopler.com