<p>Belle Foods, the Birmingham, Alabama-based grocer which recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this month, is selling its remaining 44 stores in Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi as part of the bankruptcy case. The stores operate under the names of Belle Foods, Food World, Piggly Wiggly and Southern Family<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Belle officials say they've reached an agreement on the sale as part of a financing deal with C&S Wholesale Grocers Inc., Belle's largest creditor. Belle directly and indirectly owes C&S approximately $34 million, according to The Birmingham Business Journal.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">The deal, approved by the Bankruptcy Court on Wednesday, allows the stores to remain open and supplied by C&S Wholesale. The 44 stores Belle is selling are in addition to the 13 it had already decided to sell. According to the report, the company also announced it will hire a Chief Restructuring Officer to assist during the bankruptcy process</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>“At this point, this is the best way to serve our customers, preserve jobs for our employees and support our communities,” said Bill White, Owner and President of Belle. “We expect these stores to be sold as ongoing operations and will work with any new owners to see that our people remain employed. We have some of the best and most experienced grocery professionals in the south working in our stores.”</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow for updates on the agreement.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href=" http://www.bizjournals.com/birmingham/news/2013/07/24/belle-foods-and-cs-wholesale-reach.html" target="_new"> Belle Foods</a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
