Though it has been cast as the potential salvation of what remains of Dahl’s Foods, don’t be surprised if Kansas City, Kan.-based Associated Wholesale Grocers Inc. is not the final owner of Greater Des Moines grocery company’s stores, observers of the $41 million Dahl’s bankruptcy case say.

Associated Wholesale Grocers (AWG) placed a stalking horse bid for Dahl’s assets when it filed Nov. 9 to reorganize its finances under Chapter 11 of federal bankruptcy law. As it is, Associated Wholesale Grocers owns seven Dahl’s stores in Greater Des Moines on a lease-back agreement that was supposed to help Dahl’s shed debt. As part of that sales and lease arrangement, Dahl’s wound up buying nearly 80 percent of its grocery products from the company.

When Dahl’s parent, Foods Inc., filed the bankruptcy case, Associated Wholesale Grocers stepped in with a $6 million loan to help pay operating costs.

Dahl’s assets went up for auction Monday in a closed bidding process. On Wednesday, the grocer’s bankruptcy attorney, Jeffrey Goetz, filed a request for an emergency order to extend the auction through today, saying that to do so would “enhance the auction process, generate a more robust auction environment, and be in the best interests of the bankruptcy estate.”

It is unclear whether that meant that another bidder or bidders had come in with offers higher than the roughly $5 million offered by Associated Wholesale Grocers when the bankruptcy petition was filed.

Odds are that Associated Wholesale Grocers itself was hopeful that it would be outbid, observers say. They also say that the sale and lease-back arrangement with Dahl’s did little more than lay the groundwork for Dahl’s demise. But at this point, who knows?

As the secured creditor in the bankruptcy case, Associated Wholesale Grocers stands to get paid before unsecured creditors. It might even strike an agreement with a new owner or owners to be the principal grocery supplier. It also will receive a breakup fee for setting the auction process in motion and establishing a base price. And let’s not forget that the bankruptcy also freed Dahl’s from its employee stock ownership plan.

People who attended the first meeting of Dahl’s creditors back in December said that Judge  Anita Shodeen seemed a little dubious of the plan for a financial reorganization and commented that the bankruptcy appeared to be nothing more than an outright liquidation.

Shodeen will have the final say on whether to accept an offer or offers for the 84-year-old Greater Des Moines institution.

Though its plans for Dahl’s have been questioned, it should be pointed out that AWG’s $16 million stalking horse bid for the bankrupt Belle Foods was approved by a bankruptcy court. AWG was the only bidder for the Alabama-based chain.

In all, AWG, a member-owned cooperative, serves 3,000 stores under the Price Chopper, Thriftway, IGA, CashSaver, Apple Market, Country Mart, and Sun Fresh banners. It is the second-largest grocery wholesaler in the country.