Staff at Flintshire's five Somerfield stores – Mold, Connah's Quay, Holywell, Buckley and Flint – are waiting to hear if their jobs are safe.
Somerfield bosses have said it is too early to speculate on the future for individual stores after the co
mpany was bought by the Co-op supermarket chain.
The Somerfield name will disappear from the high street, to be replaced by the Co-op brand, and it is thought that nationally, 120 of Somerfield's 880 stores may be sold off.
The deal is subject to approval from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), and the Co-op may have to sell off some stores to rival supermarket chains in areas where it already has lots of stores.
According to reports in the national media, Asda and Morrisons have already hinted they are interested in taking over specific stores.
The deal will cement the Co-operative Group's position as the UK's fifth largest food retailer, behind the 'big four' of Tesco, Asda, Morrisons and Sainsbury's.
The Somerfield takeover will take the total number of Co-op stores in the UK to over 3,000.
Co-op chief executive Peter Marks said the deal would provide 'rocket fuel' for the company.
He added: "Given a deal of this nature, there are likely to be some local competition issues.
"We are confident we will be able to work through these with the Office of Fair Trading."
Somerfield spokeswoman Julie Daniels told the Leader: "The deal is now subject to approval by the OFT and only then will we be able to talk in more detail about the next steps for the combined business.
"This ends a period of speculation and we remain committed to sharing our plans for the future growth of the combined business with colleagues and customers. It is too early to speculate on the future for individual stores."
All of the Flintshire stores contacted by the Leader declined to comment.
The full article contains 349 words and appears in Evening Leader Flintshire newspaper.
