Casey Asks Aldi to Keep Pa. Stores Open

We told you last month that Bottom Dollar is preparing to close its 46 Philly-area stores at the end of the year, shedding jobs and potentially turning underserved city neighborhoods into “food deserts.”

Those plans are apparently on hold. And Sen. Bob Casey is intervening, asking Aldi — the new owner of the stores — to keep those locations open. Lehigh Valley Live reports:

Aldi has yet to announce the fate of Bottom Dollar stores or whether any laid off employees would be eligible for rehire. Casey urged Aldi to keep Bottom Dollar Stores in Pennsylvania open, thereby protecting those jobs.

“I have serious concerns about how this recent acquisition would affect the employees of the Bottom Dollar grocery stores,” Casey wrote. “I encourage you to give serious consideration to any option that will protect the over 1,600 jobs at stake and preserve Bottom Dollar’s current locations in the Commonwealth.

Aldi has said it will announce its plans for the stores once its purchase of Bottom Dollar is complete, expected in the first quarter of 2015.