All five ShopRite stores in New York Capital Region have permanently closed their doors for business as of Saturday, reports say.
The supermarkets in question were originally slated to remain open until December 9, but a surprise announcement by the company said that they would be shuttering the stores early due to having run out of available inventory.
As a result of the closures, 500 workers from Shoprite's Colonie, Slingerlands, Albany, North Greenbush and Niskayuna locations are now out of a job.
However, not all may be grim for the laid-off employees this holiday season. According to reports, an anonymous worker has claimed to local media that they will still continue to collect paychecks until late January due to a possible violation of a New York State law that requires at least 90-days notice for closures or layoffs.
“They violated that WARN Act of businesses closing within 90 days or whatever, so they told us we were going to get paid through January 18th," the worker was quoted as saying. "And I guess we’re getting severance pay from the union and collect unemployment.”