Secured and unsecured creditors of Bashas’ Inc. continued to be at odds Wednesday as the initial deadline passed for approving the company’s plan to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Secured creditors who earlier opposed the local grocer’s reorganization have agreed to support the plan and even provide exit financing that will allow the company to pay immediate obligations as it leaves Chapter 11.

But the terms the lenders are demanding in exchange for their support have riled the unsecured lenders that were early backers of the original reorganization plan.

“We’re extremely disappointed,” attorney James Cross told U.S. Bankruptcy Judge James Marlar on Wednesday. Cross represents several thousand unsecured creditors, including Shamrock Foods and Hickman’s Family Farms, who together are owed about $68 million.

The secured creditors, who include Wells Fargo Bank, Bank of America, Compass Bank and a group of insurance companies led by Prudential, are owed about $198 million.

Secured creditors have a collateral claim on a company’s assets. Unsecured creditors have no such protection.

Bashas’, which wants to avoid a contested proceeding in which the Basha family could lose control of the company, on Wednesday asked for more time to gain consensus from its creditors.

Marlar said he was confident that, “with all the lawyers working on the case,” an agreement could be reached. The judge gave them another week to work on it.

“As long as things are progressing, I have no problem with short continuances,” Marlar said.

If the company’s reorganization plan can’t gain support from both creditor groups, an alternative, such as the possible sale of the company, could be proposed.

In February, Bashas’ turned down an offer from Idaho grocer Albertsons LLC to buy the company for $260 million to $290 million.

Bashas’ attorney Michael McGrath said the company has had no further contact with Albertsons. The Boise-based supermarket chain, which operates 43 grocery stores in Arizona, did not respond to requests for comment.

Since filing for Chapter 11 protection in July, the 78-year-old Chandler-based company has lost $80 million, according to court documents. But the company showed a $2 million profit in February and has earned $5.6 million since the first of the year.

The company attributes the turnaround to cost-cutting measures and reorganization steps already put in place. The recent profitability is evidence of its future viability, the company said.

Since its bankruptcy filing, Bashas’ has closed 30 unprofitable Bashas’, Food City, and A.J.’s Fine Foods stores and cut its payroll by more than 1,000 people.

The company reduced its number of vice presidents to seven from 35 and cut the salary for senior management and Basha family members by 15 percent.

Court documents show that Chairman Eddie Basha earned a $752,000 salary in 2008 in addition to an $86,000 grocery allowance and almost $500,000 in other payments.

The company has sold airplanes, excess computer equipment, pharmacy records at closed stores and unused liquor licenses. It is also working to recover about $3 million in loans to Basha family members.

Court documents show the moves have produced an annual savings of almost $50 million.