Nine Budgens stores closed over the weekend, with 179 employees losing their jobs.
The stores were part of the troubled Food Retailer Group, which fell into administration on 10 February.
The stores, which were located as far apart as Aberystwyth and Norwich, all closed on Sunday, with the exception of the Blackburn store that shut on Saturday. The stores employed between 12 and 27 staff.
The business had a total of 36 stores and details of what will happen to the rest of the estate are expected to be released by administrators at PwC shortly.
“Unfortunately, we have been unable to find buyers for these nine stores and it is not commercially viable to continue trading them,” said joint administrator Mike Denny.
“We are working with the Co-op, Usdaw and the relevant government agencies to ensure that the employees affected receive the maximum levels of practical and financial support through the redundancy process.”
The Food Retailer Group, part of Hilco Capital, bought the stores from the Co-op less than a year ago and rebranded them under Booker’s Budgens fascia. The estate dates back to the days of Co-op’s acquisition of Somerfield in 2008.
When news of the administration broke last month, the Co-op offered to find jobs for ex-colleagues in the 36 affected stores.
The stores that closed this weekend were in Aberystwyth, Blackburn, South Benfleet, Ludlow, Weoley Castle, Norwich, Dagenham (Becontree), Greenwich and Sydenham.
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