AUBURN - There is only one place Joan Morse likes to grocery shop.

A P&C Foods customer to the core, the Auburn woman said she's shopped at the West Genesee Street store ever since it opened in 1991, and she dislikes every other supermarket in the area.

“I know where everything is here,” she said Friday at the store, her shopping cart stuffed with food. “I like the people who work here. It's convenient for me since I don't live too far from here.”

But in less than one month she will have to start patronizing a new supermarket, as P&C's parent company, Penn Traffic Company, announced Friday that it is closing eight regional stores, including the Auburn location, effective Saturday, Feb. 7.

Morse surrendered a melancholy sigh upon hearing the news. “This is miserable,” she said.

Penn Traffic, which operates or supplies more than 210 supermarkets in New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont and New Hampshire, is the latest business to be impacted by the slowing economy.

The Syracuse-based grocery chain reported $5.6 million losses in the third quarter and has now lost $21.4 million through the first nine months of the fiscal year. It also reported its quarterly revenues were $287.3 million for the first three months that ended Nov. 1, down from $298.7 million in the same period a year ago.

The company said revenues reflected a reduction in corporate-owned grocery stores from 104 to 93. However, same store sales decreased 0.8 percent over the quarter, about double the drop from the same quarter a year ago.

Penn Traffic President and Chief Executive Officer Greg Young said the company is working toward streamlining operations, and to that end is closing stores in Auburn, Syracuse, Fulton and five others in New York and Vermont.

This is the second store P&C will close within the city limits. A store on Grant Avenue, along with P&Cs in eight other central New York communities, were closed five years ago just months after Penn Traffic declared bankruptcy.

“Closing any store is a difficult decision,” Young said in a news release. “We have a responsibility to our associates, customers and shareholders to continually assess each and every component of our business to look for ways to improve the health and well-being of our company. We're grateful for the loyalty and hard work of the affected employees, and we look forward to continuing to serve our customers in these communities from our many other locations in the Syracuse area.”

Penn Traffic employs 60 people in the Auburn location. Spokesperson Chuck Beeler said the company is working with the UFCW Local One union - which represents 59 employees - to determine the best solution for workers. Each employee will be dealt with individually, but in same cases, workers may be transferred to other P&C locations.

“The reality is that there will be some jobs lost,” he said, “but how many is not a question that can be answered at the moment.”

Auburn Mayor Michael Quill said P&C supermarkets have been a staple in the community for as long as can remember.

“But in these economic times it's not surprising,” he said. “Hopefully that will be the last store closing in our area. I'm fearful that it won't be.”

Facing the prospect of another vacant building, Quill said he will be working with the Department of Planning and Economic Development at both the city and county levels to devise options to offset the closure.

“There's no plan yet,” he said, “but we're working toward it.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Staff writer Alyssa Sunkin can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 239 or alyssa.sunkin@lee.net