A&P Files For Ch. 11 Bankruptcy For 2nd Time In Five Years
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Grocery store operator A&P is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy with plans to sell off stores as it faces increasingly tough competition.
This marks the second time in five years that the Montvale, New Jersey-based company has filed for bankruptcy. This time around, it said it has more than 100,000 creditors along with more than $1 billion in liabilities and over $1 billion in assets.
A&P Files For Ch. 11 Bankruptcy
The company plans to sell as many of its 296 stores as possible and said in a filing with U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York that it has bidders for 120 of those operations with expected proceeds of $600 million.
The grocery chain has faced tougher competition from companies like Walmart Stores Inc. and Target Corp. expanding their grocery options. The business has grown even more crowded and competitive with companies like Whole Foods Market Inc. and Fairway Group Holdings Corp. catering to a more health-conscious market.
The company's formal name is the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. It was formed in 1859 as The Great American Tea Co. and renamed to its current form in 1869.
A&P operates in Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland under various names, including Pathmark and Waldbaum's.
Stop & Shop announced it was acquiring 25 A&P stores in the greater New York area.
Those stores are:
- Waldbaum's 67 Newtown Ln. East Hampton, NY
- Waldbaum's 167 Main St. Southampton, NY
- Waldbaum's 905 Atlantic Ave. Baldwin, NY
- Waldbaum's 702 Hicksville Rd. Massapequa, NY
- Waldbaum's 112 15 Beach Channel Dr. Belle Harbor, NY
- Waldbaum's 213-215 26th Ave. Bayside, NY
- Waldbaum's 156 01 Crossbay Blvd. Howard Beach, NY
- Waldbaum's 85 E Park Ave. Long Beach, NY
- Waldbaum's 60 Wall St. Huntington, NY
- Pathmark 407 Valley St. South Orange, NJ
- Pathmark 25 Kinnelon Rd. Butler, NJ
- Pathmark 130 Wheatly Plz. Greenvale, NY
- Pathmark 134-40 Springfield Blvd. Springfield Gardens, NY
- Pathmark 625 Atlantic Ave. Brooklyn, NY
- Pathmark 3106 Farrington St. Flushing, NY
- Pathmark 4055 Merrick Rd. Seaford, NY
- Pathmark 92 10 Atlantic Ave. Ozone Park, NY
- Pathmark 460 Franklin Ave. Franklin Square, NY
- Pathmark 2965 Cropsey Ave. Brooklyn, NY
- Pathmark 2136 Bartow Ave. Bronx, NY
- Pathmark 961 E 174th St. Bronx, NY
- Pathmark 1720 E Chester Rd. Bronx, NY
- Pathmark 1351 Forest Ave. Staten Island, NY
- A&P 195 N Bedford Rd. Mount Kisco, NY
- A&P 400 Demarest Ave. Closter, NJ
Customers who don't drive hope A&P finds a buyer for their supermarket in Riverdale in the Bronx.
"If this closes we would have to take transportation to get to another store so it will be difficult," a woman, named Florence, told 1010 WINS' Roger Stern.
But other customers said the store closing would not be a big deal.
"There's dozens of supermarkets are all over the place and they all stack for the same things," one man said.
"You look at the big grocery store chains and somebody always steps up to buy it," another man said.
(TM and © Copyright 2015 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2015 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
