The P&C supermarket era has officially come to an end.  

The deal formally selling 79 of the bankrupt chain stores to Tops Friendly Markets closed at the end of the business day.

According to the terms of the deal agreed to in bankruptcy court in Delaware, Tops will take over operating the stores it bought for $85 million when the doors open Saturday.

All stores will remain open and operating through a transition services agreement with Penn Traffic (P&C's parent company) while Tops evaluates each store over approximately the next 30 days.

The following is a news release from Tops:

TOPS FRIENDLY MARKETS COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF 79 PENN TRAFFIC STORES

WILLIAMSVILLE, N.Y. -Tops Friendly Markets, a leading full-service grocery retailer in Western New York, Central New York, including Rochester, and Northwestern Pennsylvania, announced today that it has completed the previously announced court-approved acquisition of a majority of Penn Traffic's assets, including its 79 supermarkets over a four-state area.

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court approved the Tops' bid for these assets earlier this week. The stores are located in New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont and New Hampshire.

"We are very eager and excited to begin working with store managers and associates to best serve the grocery shopping needs of our new neighbors and customers," said Frank Curci, Tops' president and CEO.

"We'd like to thank everyone who worked and supported us in our efforts with this acquisition to retain as many jobs as possible, especially UFCW Local One, C&S Wholesale Grocers and Sen. Charles Schumer, and his staff, without whose help this deal would not have been possible. " he said.

Curci said all stores will remain open and operating through a transition services agreement with Penn Traffic while Tops evaluates each store over approximately the next 30 days.

He also said a review of the acquisition by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will continue. Once this evaluation is over, Curci said Tops would pursue a capital improvement program patterned after the current investment program Tops has in place for its stores in Western and Central New York.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley acted as financial advisors to Tops in this transaction.