The Greater Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. has started liquidating the inventory in 41 of its 66 Detroit-area Farmer Jack locations yesterday, as it prepares to sell or close the stores. The locations are scattered throughout the market area. A&P, which announced plans this spring to unload the unprofitable Farmer Jack chain to concentrate on its Northeast operations, wants the stores either sold or closed by the end of the first week in July, a union official said.

A&P spokesman Richard DeSanta said that liquidation sales would start at once, and that not all stores where inventory is being sold off would necessarily closed, adding that some companies negotiating to buy stores don't want the Farmer Jack inventory, which includes the chain's private label brands.

The New Jersey-based company, which acquired the Farmer Jack chain in 1989, has 66 stores in the Detroit area. It couldn't attract a buyer for the entire chain, forcing the company to take bids on individual stores, so rivals such as Kroger and independent grocers could cherry pick sites.

Ads reading "Entire Store on Sale! Now up to 30% off" appeared in local newspapers. Items such as groceries, meat, deli, bakery, beer, and laundry detergents are 10% off; products such as frozen food, seafood, cosmetics, and wine are 20%; and items such as housewares, stationery, kitchen gadgets, charcoal, coolers, and hardware are 30%.