Maybe Stop N Shop will buy the A&P and convert it into a super Stop N Shop... since their planned store in the Heights got nixed years back.

The Acme in Secaucus closed a few years ago. It's now a CVS.

Remember Acme down on Garfield avenue on the Bayonne border? That's now fine fair I think.

Someone has to buy the old colony Pathmark. Maybe key food?

As others posted the 18th St A&P, the 440 Pathmark as well as Hoboken A&P becoming Acme (owned by albertsons.) Pricey hopefully better customer service than Pathmark

There used to be an Acme in Secaucus. It looks like it's gone.

There's one in Morris Plain.

http://acmemarkets.mywebgrocer.com/Ci ... Plains/037573105/Weekly/2


List of A&P stores:
A&P 125 18Th Street Jersey City NJ
Pathmark 321 Route 440 Jersey City NJ
A&P 614-632 Clinton Street Hoboken NJ

http://www.acmemarkets.com/wp-content ... e-List-with-Addresses.pdf

So what do we know about ACME other than it is Wile E. Coyote's go-to brand?

The paper only listed the local stores with prospective buyers.
According to the bankruptcy pleadings, there are approximately 175 stores without buyers. Anyone interested can read the bankruptcy pleadings for free at A&P/Pathmark at:

https://cases.primeclerk.com/aptea/Home-DocketInfo

The motion to authorize sale procedures (which is docket number 27) spells it out. It breaks the stores into three tiers.

Tier I stores are apparently the best assets and lists the stores that have a prospective purchaser. The store on 18th street is a Tier I store, and has a purchaser. But the sale is subject to higher and better offers.

Tier II stores do not have a purchaser, but are going to be marketed for auction -- or closed if they can't find a buyer. The Pathmark on Grand St. is listed as a Tier II store, along with 150 other properties.

Tier III stores are the ones that they are not even going to bother trying to sell. There are only 25 of them.

Might want to check if your insurance policies are impacted - saw some recent flyers hawking their policies under "The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company Inc".

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The Pathmark on Grand isn't on the list of stores to be sold or closed, although it well and truly sucks.

http://www.nj.com/union/index.ssf/201 ... art_of_ap_bankruptcy.html

I never cared for the Shoprite, it seemed disorganized and a bit dirty the last time I was there (they had a sale on lobsters).

I shop at A&P, but only for certain items. Veggies I get at Young's on Central Ave and also get a lot of stuff in bulk from Costco.

A&P does have some good pricing and quality in their meat section for items like leg of lamb every now and then. I tend to wait for the special and fill up the freezer.

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Well Whole Foods offers a bunch of really good stuff that A&P doesn't have. And for comparable products (organic/premium foods) A&P is actually more expensive than WF. For the price of A&P, I can go to WF, get WF brand organic products and come out the same but get far better products. Their vegetables are mediocre too at high prices. And at WF I get a nicer store that has premium coffee and such. A&P is basically like any other ordinary cheap grocery store but at far higher prices. I avoid them whenever I can.

They are just too expensive. I'm surprised they lasted this long.

You can only get away with charging higher prices if you offer something else that distinguishes you. Such as the "healthy" aura Whole Foods tries to project on itself.

But A&P is pretty much Shoprite with 30% higher prices.

The A&P on 18th Street is slated to be sold to ACME.

The Pathmark on Grand is slated to be sold at auction - they did not find a buyer for that store prior to the chapter 11 filing.

I would hate to see them both close

Stop & Shop acquisitions
The Stop & Shop chain plans to acquire the following 25 A&P, Pathmark and Waldbaum?s stores in New York and New Jersey:

A&P, Closter, NJ
Pathmark, Butler, NJ
Pathmark, South Orange, NJ
Waldbaum's, East Hampton, NY
Waldbaum's, Southampton, NY
Waldbaum's, Baldwin, NY
Waldbaum's, Massapequa, NY
Waldbaum's, Belle Harbor, NY
Waldbaum's, Bayside, NY
Waldbaum's, Howard Beach, NY
Waldbaum's, Long Beach, NY
Waldbaum's, Huntington, NY
Pathmark, Greenvale, NY
Pathmark, Springfield Gardens, NY
Pathmark, Brooklyn, NY
Pathmark, Flushing, NY
Pathmark, Seaford, NY
Pathmark, Ozone Park, NY
Pathmark, Franklin Square, NY
Pathmark, Brooklyn, NY
Pathmark, Bronx, NY
Pathmark, Bronx, NY
Pathmark, Bronx, NY
Pathmark, Staten Island, NY
A&P, Mount Kisco, NY

The Montvale-based A&P supermarket company ended months of speculation Monday by announcing that it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and lined up buyers for at least 120 of its 296 stores.

The Stop & Shop chain plans to acquire 25 A&P, Pathmark and Waldbaum?s stores in New York and New Jersey, including the A&P store in Closter, and Pathmark stores in Butler and South Orange. The stores will be converted to Stop & Shop locations.

The Philadelphia-based Acme chain and the Staten Island-based Key Foods grocery cooperative chain are the other lead or "stalking horse bidders? identified in court papers. Acme is interested in 76 A&P properties, with Key Foods taking the remaining 19.

The company, formally known as The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., filed documents for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection late Sunday night and early today with the United States bankruptcy court for the Southern District of New York. The company operates stores under the Pathmark, Food Basics, Superfresh and Food Emporium stores in addition to its namesake A&P supermarkets. The 156-year-old chain has stores in six states.

While A&P plans to keep most of its stores open during the bankruptcy and sale proceedings, it is asking the court for permission for the immediate closing of 25 stores, including two Pathmark stores in Clifton. The company, in court filings, described those stores as having ?negative value? because of poor sales and lack of interested buyers.

A statement by A&P executive Christopher McGarry, filed with the bankruptcy court, says the company has three bids for the sale of 120 stores, for a combined price of $600 million. Those bids are subject to higher offers if any surface during the bankruptcy proceedings.

Those bids, referred to as the ?stalking horse bids? however, are offered with the provision that they are ?free and clear? of all union bargaining agreements, the documents state. The buyers do expect to negotiate with the unions to reach new accords, according to the filing.

A&P has about 28,500 employees, of which about 90 percent are union employees. McGarry said the company?s intent is to try to save as many jobs as possible.

Stop & Shop said today that it expects to close on the deal to acquire the stores by the end of this year.

?We are very happy to have the opportunity to expand our presence in greater New York and to serve new customers,? said Don Sussman, Stop & Shop?s New York Metro Division president, in a statement.

The company has retained liquidation specialist Hilco to solicit bids for an additional 150 stores not included in the stalking horse offers.

The move comes after a failed effort to turn the company around following a previous bankruptcy filing in 2010. A&P emerged from that bankruptcy in 2012, but it never was able to boost flagging sales or position the company for a sale.

The company, in the bankruptcy filing, reported fiscal 2014 sales of about $5.5 billion and a gross profit of $2 billion, but said it had a loss of $305 million for the year after accounting for store depreciation, interest expense and other costs.

The filing lists New Hampshire-based wholesale grocery distributor C&S Wholesale Grocers Inc. as A&P's biggest unsecured creditor, with more than $39 million owed. Mondelez Global LLC in East Hanover is owed $3.1 million and Secaucus-based Goya Foods is owed $382,773.

A&P was founded in 1859 by tea and spice merchants George Huntington Hartford and George Gilman. By 1929 the company had more than 15,000 stores and $1 billion in sales. It was the Walmart of the day, the giant company accused of putting mom-and-pop grocery stores out of business.

When it filed for bankruptcy in 2010, A&P blamed the recession, intense competition from non-traditional grocers such as warehouse clubs, and more than $1 billion in debt stemming from its 2007 acquisition of the Pathmark chain for its plight.

This time, the company is claiming competition, and what it calls ?inflexible collective bargaining agreements? and ?legacy costs?. Legacy costs include high labor expenses and the costs of old leases from stores they no longer operate. The last time A&P went through a bankruptcy, its employee unions voted to accept wage and benefit cuts, with the promise that those givebacks would be restored when the company was returned to financial health.

http://www.northjersey.com/news/montv ... ver-some-stores-1.1377429

It's perpetually empty.

Anyone know if the Jersey City A&P is in any danger of closing given the A&P bankruptcy filing over the weekend? Or does it get turned into a Stop and Shop?

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I agree that the inside of the store isn't that bad. It's not the nicest store I've been to but I've been to worse. Although the whole shopping center isn't the nicest.

I don't see the Pathmark on Grand closing. It's very vital to that poor area around Pathmark. If it does go under I bet another grocer would step in. I was curious if those monthly SSI and food stamps that Pathmark gets each month helps keep them afloat or hurts them. I know landlords, for example, love getting a solid Section 8 renter because of the guaranteed monthly payment.

I rarely go to that Pathmark and make a point of never shopping there at the beginning of any month. I once made the mistake of going the first weekend of the month when all the SSI checks and food stamps are mailed out. It was quite a sight to behold and just packed with customers saying hello to one another. Sort of reminded me of a festive family reunion minus the DJ and booze.

Food for thought:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01 ... cks-lagging_n_810335.html

JCSHEP wrote:
Glad to see the JC Pathmark isnt closing either!

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Ok, Ok... I'm not sure what's going on here, just inferring.

The finances are beyond me, but I was just taking a common sense, perspective. If I owned two stores, one of which was dilapidated and the other one that I had just sunk $$$ in 5 years ago. All other things being equal (current costs, current revenues), I would sooner close the dilapidated one than the "nicer, fixed-up one".

Maybe Target isn't effecting their sales negatively. Heck, it's possible that their sales are increasing due to a coattail effect.

You are right also in that there is upside potential in this location, . They are nowhere near operating at capacity.

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Your facts are not correct.

First. The capital improvement involved a lot money that is already depreciated. There were desirable lease concessions gained which is why the costs are a little less right now. The capital costs are completely sunk at this point. The capital improvement they had 4 to 5 years ago (yes time flies) is a not a factor in a decision to stay open.

Second. Their sales are down, but in line with their other units. (Shoprite sales in Jersey City are also down 2-7% depending on who you believe.) A Target did not open near each of their other stores. Their sales are down because they can\'t put carriages into customers hands. They have lines at peak times. Nothing makes them special compared to other supermarket chains. They have integrity problems with their customers, investors, employees and vendors. These factors are contributing to their declining sales. Here in JC I prefer them over Shoprite not because they are good but because I think our local Shoprite is horrible.

Third. Ever been there on a Sunday afternoon??? That store is doing $150,000 each day on the weekend while making huge mistakes. The potential of that location is at least 40-60% above that number. There are many things they could do during the week especially at night to improve sales.

The biggest threats to the JC A&P may come if (and probably when) the West New York and Bayonne stores close causing employee job transitioning hurting customer service. The inevitable pay cut that the union is negotiating with senior management isn\'t going to help employee morale much either. The potential Lackawanna 96,000 sq ft unit big box proposal may also factor in this mix somehow.

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I definitely haven't tried that. If I was shopping with kids, yeah, I would go to A&P. Thanks for the perspective, I am sure when i have kids i will see the world quite a bit differently. It is a pain to carry your groceries or pull around the car. I can imagine its much worse while also managing a family. I can agree with that, but in my opinion it isn't a gross store.?

Also, yes that store in Phoenicia isn't big, just happens to be a comparatively worse store that I have visited recently.

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The industry buzz is that they are trying to sell some of the NJ/NY metro area stores as a package. The Jersey City store would be one of the more desirable units of such a package deal. This is the only reason the West New York and Bayonne stores were saved. There is expected to be at least one or two more waves of closing stores over the next six months.

I'm not too hopeful that the JC A&P will stick around for too long. Maybe another year.

First of all, I think it automatically made the first round of avoiding closure simply because A&P invested pretty heavily in revamping this location a few years ago (2 or 3 years ago?).

Secondly, their sales must be down since Target expanded their grocery selection last year.

Finally, the eye-ball test. I've never regularly shopped at a grocery store that had so few customers milling around in the store. The place is just dead.

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For now. The list of 32 stores is called the "Initial Closing List" in the legal filings.

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C'mon, that grocery in Phoenicia isn't even the size of C-Town, hardly a fair comparison to what you'd normally expect from a major name full sized supermarket.

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I avoid Pathmark because you can't bring a shopping cart to your car. Have you ever carried a week's groceries on top of an infant in a carseat and a 2 yo? I don't trust the people driving around in parking lots enough to allow my 2 yo walk around without holding my hand. If they treated their customers like customers and not trash, maybe they'd get more UMC in their store.

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Really? Could that be an overstatement, or perhaps have you have lived in some very uniform and sheltered neighborhoods? I don?t want to assume, what makes Pathmark disgusting in your opinion? I can name 2 grocery stores I have been to in the last 2 weeks that were horrendous compared to the JC Pathmark (the grocery store in Phoenecia,NY, and the Associated Grocery store in Astoria - 21st st). Either way, I have noticed upper middle class folks in JC seem to shun Pathmark. This phenomena sometimes leads to mind boggling prices. Last time I was there top shelf organic peanut butter and organic strawberry preserves were on sale for less than Skippy and Smuckers!

I wonder if the J City AP will be closing? IF they do, that?s a huge real estate for someone to move into..

Maybe it's the speedo and the chest sweater

A&P is great. Clean, nice, peaceful -- very UN-Jersey City. The only drawback is it has kind of an uncomfortably dead atmosphere. Maybe they need music in there, or to turn the music up a hair?

I love the playlist at ShopRite, every time I'm in there I can't stop myself from boogying down while I'm shopping. Most of the cashiers that work at ShopRite, though, make me want to slap them. You're lucky to get eye contact nevermind a Thank You. I'm sure there's no shortage of people looking for those jobs, if I ran that place and saw my employees treating customers like that they'd be fired on the spot, and those cashiers would have a smile on their face and know their Please and Thank Yous in no time.

PathMark may be the most disgusting grocery store I've ever been in in my life.

It's my favorite local supermarket, but it seems the last 6 months the produce isn't very good. good brussel sprouts on top and moldy ones underneath type of thing. Anyone else notice this?

Super !