Ryan Brennecke / The BulletinA customer walks into Ray’s Food Place in Bend on Wednesday afternoon, as the store nears the end of its liquidation sale. Several hours later, the doors were locked, and the interior was dark, except for accent lighting.

Mostly bare shelves could be seen Wednesday evening in the darkened Ray’s Food Place at 210 S.W. Century Drive in Bend.

No employees were visible about 5:15 p.m. through the front door, and accent lights provided the only lighting inside.

Ray’s began a store-closing sale shortly after its parent company, C&K Market Inc. of Brookings, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Nov. 19. The Bend and Redmond stores are among 16 grocery stores in Oregon and California C&K plans to sell or close as it reorganizes.

The company owned about 60 stores when it filed bankruptcy. They operated as Ray’s Food Place, Shop Smart Food Warehouse, C&K Market and Lo Bucks, according to its website. Other stores in Central Oregon are expected to remain open.

C&K representatives would not give specific dates Wednesday for the closing of the Bend and Redmond stores or comment on potential future tenants. However, the company expects to complete liquidation in 15 of the stores slated for sale or closure by the end of this week, according to a news release.

On Monday, C&K filed a motion in U.S. Bankruptcy Court seeking to get out of its lease at the store on Century Drive as of Jan. 31.

Neither a response from the landlord, Eugene-based Westside Forum LLC, nor a ruling on the request was listed in the court’s electronic records system as of Wednesday evening. Westside Forum representatives could not be reached for comment.

C&K Market also laid off about half of its corporate staff Tuesday in Brookings and Medford, the company announced in a news release. It did not provide a specific number of employees.

— Reporter: 541-383-0360

tdoran@bendbulletin.com