A&P to close 32 stores
More bad news from A&P. 32 stores will be closing in April. The list of stores closings is now appearing at several news websites but has yet to be officially confirmed by the company. Several of the closings may benefit the business at nearby Acmes.
New Jersey
A&P:
Flanders
Barnegat
Manville
Pathmark:
Deptford
Gillette
Hillsborough
Livingston
Middletown
North Hackensack
South Plainfield
Whippany
Super Fresh:
Cape May Courthouse
Hamilton
Hammonton
Hightstown
Mt. Holly
New York
A&P:
Carmel
Greenburgh
New Rochelle
Portchester
Valley Stream
Pathmark:
Comack
Hartsdale
Nostrand Ave, Brooklyn
Waldbaum's:
Farmingdales
Smithtown
Pennsylvania
Pathmark:
Bethlehem
Super Fresh:
Lionville
Yardly
Connecticut:
Food Basics: Bridgeport
Delaware:
Pathmark: Glascow
Maryland:
Super Fresh: Ocean City
Looks like NJ is the biggest victim in the store closings. If I read the list right, only six SF's in the state will remain after April.
ReplyDeleteThe Bethlehem Pathmark was originally a Super Fresh; it opened in 1999 as a relocation of the Hellertown store a few miles east. The relocation left Hellertown without a supermarket; a lot of residents were unhappy about this but some continued to shop there since it was still the only place around. In 2002 Giant opened a store in Hellertown; that store always has a packed parking lot and pretty much eliminated the Hellertown traffic. They get some business from south Bethlehem and the Lehigh University students, but most go to the Ahart's (former Food Lane) that's within walking distance. There's also the more upscale Fresh Market in the Promenade nearby, which drew away the wealthier Center Valley customers, and another Giant and Weis in Coopersburg to the south (Weis has a billboard across the street from the Pathmark advertising their low prices). Basically they were attacked from every direction.
ReplyDeletewow...that mt.holly superfresh has been there since i was barely able to talk!
ReplyDeleteyikes...they are in worse shape than acme...i feel for those employees, we thought six stores was bad, 32?!?!
ReplyDeleteI never knew there was a pathmark in bethlhem. I thought the only pathmark in the lehigh valley was the one up in walnutport. Im surprised they arent closing that store too. Someone told me the one in walnutport was a former giant? Anyone know about this?
ReplyDeleteOh wow - the Hillsborough Pathmark is probably the last newly built store - any fans may want to check it out. I went there and it was pretty much like a cheap looking Shop-Rite - nothing to write home about.
ReplyDeleteThe Super Fresh in Etters, PA was another one detached from the rest of the company. That one had the Futurestore look and was identical to the now-closed ones in Bristol, PA and North Philly. "Lionville" used to be called "Chester Springs" and really is in Exton, PA. All the Super Fresh/Pathmark stores in Chester County (Exton, Kennett Square, Berwyn) are kind of detached from the rest of the company. But if New Orleans could be profitable for A&P for so long, as A&P, why not these other oddball stores? And "Mount Holly" should say "Lumberton". That one was identical to the Bellmawr, NJ Super Fresh which operated from 1992-2002. Acme has a store in Mount Holly proper that is almost identical to the one in Cape May Court House, which was a Jamesway. How can the local Super Fresh compete with that Acme's liquor license? These two Acmes are an early 90's model which the MacDade Mall, West Goshen, and empty Collegeville stores also have.
ReplyDeleteBut here are some suggestions for A&P that just might work: I say they convert the remaining Super Fresh stores in NJ (maybe not Ocean City) back to A&P, to attract New Yorkers. Maybe Pathmark would be better. Who knows, the PA/DE/MD stores could switch back to A&P as a "nostalgia" gimmick. A&P could also buy a franchise of Save-A-Lot, or maybe close and sell some of their older low volume stores to them for some cash. After all, we know old A&P buildings (and of course Acme too, not to mention Penn Fruit and Food Fair) are perfect for the Save-A-Lot formula. And the old Save-A-Lot logo used the exact same colors as the 70's A&P logo... Even Donald Trump wants to run for President now, because he can make money... in NJ. Could he be A&P's white knight?
The Smithtown, NY Waldbaums was a former Grand Union and Pathmark.
ReplyDeleteAlso, to expound:
ReplyDelete- Smithtown, NY: A rather average Stop & Shop is down the road, but the Uncle Giuseppe's Italian supermarket and the Shoprite down on 111 are the main players. There's also a Waldbaums a bit further west in Commack.
- Farmingdale, NY: Stop & Shop just opened up close by, and there's a Walmart on the other side of the county line that's the closest thing LI has to a Supercenter.
- Commack, NY: Another Stop & Shop that dwarfs this Pathmark is nearby, with Trader Joe's close by as well. There is also a semi-close Pathmark in Dix Hills/Huntington.
Yardley, PA is a fairly "new' store...I believe it was a Super G that sat vacant for a while and was taken over by SuperFresh...and was the first store to get their current logo.
ReplyDeletei truly feel the pain despite working for a different grocery chain for these employees...everyone try to hang on tight and not let it destroy you or bring you down and get sick over it...as easy it that sounds. unfortunately it's happened and unfortunately will keep happening unfortunately...get out of retail if you want a meaningful job...new jersey is the worst even though we get reported as one of the states with the lowest unemployment, probably because a lot of peoples has ran out.
ReplyDeleteIIRC, that Pathmark in Delaware (a former Superfresh) was a store they'd already planned on closing awhile back and selling to Shop Rite.
ReplyDeleteThat Valley Stream (NY) A&P is actually a Waldbaums from checking Google and Bing Maps. Dunno if they made a mistake.
ReplyDeleteBethlehem's closing marks twice Pathmark has bailed out of the area. Last time was back in the mid-1990s when they shuttered two stores in the area.
ReplyDeleteFor the poster above, the Pathmark in Walnutport was apparently a Kmart originally.
ReplyDeleteThe Walnutport Pathmark (also a former Super Fresh) will not only be A&P's only remaining store in the Lehigh Valley, but will now be the only remaining union supermarket in the Lehigh Valley (if you don't count the Shop-Rite and Stop & Shop across the river in Phillipsburg).
ReplyDeletedoes anyone know out there if the pathmark in edgewater park, nj is closing? we keep hearing rumors that it is, but then hearing it's not true...
ReplyDelete