There was a time -- perhaps your parents or grandparents may recall it -- when grocery shopping in America meant a trip to the A&P.
The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company is the nation's oldest supermarket chain, founded in 1859, and was the first to operate stores from coast to coast. From the 1930s to the 1960s, A&P was truly America's grocer: it was the industry leader, operating nearly 16,000 stores at its peak store count in the 1930s and ringing up $5 billion in annual sales, $1 billion more than its nearest competitor, in the 1960s. If you read Woman's Day magazine, you read a periodical created by A&P, and if you drink Eight O'Clock coffee, you drink a national brand that began as one of A&P's first and best-known store brands -- a category the company pioneered with baking powder in 1880.
In short, much of what makes American supermarkets what they are originated with A&P. Which is why the news that the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Dec. 12 is bittersweet.
The bankruptcy, in a sense, brings to an end the long, sad decline of an American retailing icon. Since its heyday, A&P has been particularly star-crossed. Changing consumer preferences, spurred in part by national advertising, undermined the profitability of A&P's manufacturing operations as shoppers demanded national brands. A 1970s experiment with no-frills retailing -- which A&P successfully employed in the early 1900s -- cost the company dearly in customers and market share. Today, the company that once boasted thousands of stores from Atlantic to Pacific operates only 395 stores in the Northeast, most of them under names other than A&P.
And yet the filing is not the end of the line for A&P. It's actually more a response to a problem of more recent origin: the huge debt the company took on when it acquired Northeast rival Pathmark Stores in 2007. Prior to that acquisition, the much smaller A&P had begun to rebuild its image and reputation under its current owner, the family-owned German supermarket firm Tengelmann, which bought the company from the heirs of founder George Huntington Hartford in 1979.
Still, A&P is attempting a turnaround in a challenging environment. Discounters like Walmart have invaded supermarkets' turf in a big way and have recently begun opening their own freestanding grocery-0nly stores. Convenience store chains and drugstores have seized a good chunk of the grocery market by offering basic and essential items closer to consumers' homes. And supermarket profit margins as a percentage of sales remain razor-thin, as they always have been.
But I'm rooting for A&P to pull through, partly for personal reasons. I've come to depend on my neighborhood Super Fresh -- part of the A&P family since 1982, when it rose from the ashes of the company's Philadelphia division -- for much of what I put on my table, and the employees there are friendly and attentive to my needs. I'd hate to see them go.
Checking out top jobs in retailing? RetailGigs.com has great values in every aisle.
The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company is the nation's oldest supermarket chain, founded in 1859, and was the first to operate stores from coast to coast. From the 1930s to the 1960s, A&P was truly America's grocer: it was the industry leader, operating nearly 16,000 stores at its peak store count in the 1930s and ringing up $5 billion in annual sales, $1 billion more than its nearest competitor, in the 1960s. If you read Woman's Day magazine, you read a periodical created by A&P, and if you drink Eight O'Clock coffee, you drink a national brand that began as one of A&P's first and best-known store brands -- a category the company pioneered with baking powder in 1880.
In short, much of what makes American supermarkets what they are originated with A&P. Which is why the news that the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Dec. 12 is bittersweet.
The bankruptcy, in a sense, brings to an end the long, sad decline of an American retailing icon. Since its heyday, A&P has been particularly star-crossed. Changing consumer preferences, spurred in part by national advertising, undermined the profitability of A&P's manufacturing operations as shoppers demanded national brands. A 1970s experiment with no-frills retailing -- which A&P successfully employed in the early 1900s -- cost the company dearly in customers and market share. Today, the company that once boasted thousands of stores from Atlantic to Pacific operates only 395 stores in the Northeast, most of them under names other than A&P.
And yet the filing is not the end of the line for A&P. It's actually more a response to a problem of more recent origin: the huge debt the company took on when it acquired Northeast rival Pathmark Stores in 2007. Prior to that acquisition, the much smaller A&P had begun to rebuild its image and reputation under its current owner, the family-owned German supermarket firm Tengelmann, which bought the company from the heirs of founder George Huntington Hartford in 1979.
Still, A&P is attempting a turnaround in a challenging environment. Discounters like Walmart have invaded supermarkets' turf in a big way and have recently begun opening their own freestanding grocery-0nly stores. Convenience store chains and drugstores have seized a good chunk of the grocery market by offering basic and essential items closer to consumers' homes. And supermarket profit margins as a percentage of sales remain razor-thin, as they always have been.
But I'm rooting for A&P to pull through, partly for personal reasons. I've come to depend on my neighborhood Super Fresh -- part of the A&P family since 1982, when it rose from the ashes of the company's Philadelphia division -- for much of what I put on my table, and the employees there are friendly and attentive to my needs. I'd hate to see them go.
Checking out top jobs in retailing? RetailGigs.com has great values in every aisle.
By Sandy Smith
Sandy Smith is an award-winning writer and editor who has spent most of his career in public relations and corporate communications. His work has appeared in The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Philadelphia CityPaper, PGN, and a number of Web sites. Philly-area residents may also recognize him as "MarketStEl" of discussion-board fame. He has been a part of the great reserve army of freelance writers since January 2009 and is actively seeking opportunities wherever they may lie.
Become a member to take advantage of more features, like commenting and voting.
Register or sign in today!