If 19 Richmond-area Martin’s Food Markets are sold or closed, what happens to the Union Bank & Trust branches that operate within 18 of them?

They’re likely to remain, says Union spokesman Bill Cimino.

“It’s nothing we can control,” he says, “but we have leases on the branches and they should stay up.”

Union is happy with the locations and believes that they should stay in the same spots if the grocery stores are closed.

One exception is a Martin’s that already is closing in Mechanicsville, which resulted in the shutdown of a Union branch.

A trade journal has reported that 19 Martin’s stores in the Richmond area might be subject to sale or closure to meet Federal Trade Commission requirements on competition. The owner of Martin’s, Royal Ahold of the Netherlands, is proceeding with merger plans with Belgium-based Delhaize Group, owner of Food Lion, another dominant player in the Richmond market.

Martin’s bought its area stores from the Ukrop family in 2010.

Union Bank & Trust also has a Ukrop’s tie. It started out as First Market Bank with the Ukrops before being sold to Union.