The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company

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For the short story by John Updike, see A&P (story).

The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company

Type	Public (NYSE: GAP)
Founded	New York City, 1859
Headquarters	Montvale, New Jersey
Key people	George Huntington Hartford and George Gilman, Founders Christian W.E. Haub, Executive Chairman Eric Claus, President and Chief Executive Officer
Industry	Retail
Products	A&P Food Basics Sav-A-Center The Food Emporium Super Fresh Waldbaum's
Revenue	US$10.8 Billion (FYE Feb 28, 2005)
Employees	42,872
Website	www.aptea.com

The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company, better known as A&P, is a supermarket chain in the United States and Canada.

1 History and leadership
2 Private brands, then and now
3 Banners
- 3.1 A&P US
4 Trivia
5 References
6 External links

[edit] History and leadership

The company was founded in 1859 as The Great American Tea Company by George Huntington Hartford and George Gilman in Elmira, New York. It was renamed "The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company" in 1870, and by 1876 had sixty-seven stores, increasing to 1000 by 1915. In 1920s and 1930s, the company dominated the American retail market. In the 1930s, A&P was operating approximately 16,000 stores with a combined revenue of US$1 billion.

The company originally focused on the tea business. They were successful in capturing a large part of the market in the northeastern cities in the U.S. They purchased tea directly from Chinese tea plantations. Their low costs enabled them to undercut most of the market and grow unchecked.

The pressure it put on its suppliers led to the passing of several anti-predatory pricing laws by Congress. John and George Hartford were upset by this and gave an interview to Time Magazine, which put George and John Hartford on their November 13, 1950 cover. Time wrote that, next to General Motors, A&P sold more goods then any other company in the world. John was quoted in Time as saying "I don't know any grocer who wants to stay small. I don't see how any Buisnessman can limit his growth and stay healthy". When John Hartford passed away on September 20, 1951, the newspapers wrote "In the death of 'Mr. John' there passes a Retail Napoleon...He had a Grocery Empire as Ford had an Automobile Empire, Rockefeller an oil empire, Carnegie a steel empire. John Hartford belonged to a little group of Americans whose energy and vision made us the most prosperous nation in the world. He pioneered in foodstuffs just as Henry Ford did in transportation. Their philosophy was blunt and simple, just as works of genius are simple "Sell more for less". George and John's nephew and heir (since they had no children) Huntington Hartford was born famous as the A&P Heir, America's golden boy. At Harvard the Tabloids wrote he was "the richest College boy in the world". He became a world famous figure in the sixties developing Paradise Island in the Bahamas and publishing a Magazine and building a Museum but only worked at the A&P for one year where his Uncles put him to work counting loaves of bread. His Uncle John fired him when he took off half a day work to watch a Yale Harvard Football game; nevertheless, John and Huntington were close. John Hartford left part of his wealth to the John Hartford Foundation which was at one time the largest in America for Geriatric Care, as of 2004 John Hartford Foundation had 541,082,590. million in net assets.

By the mid-1970s, ongoing decline in profits caused a change in management and the closing of over half of the chain's stores. Today, the company is no longer among the largest retailers in the United States, but it operates a total of 407 stores through its A&P US unit in nine U.S. states (Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Michigan) and the District of Columbia. The company, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, boasts an annualized sales volume of almost $11 billion and employs approximately 43,000 workers. Its corporate and U.S. headquarters is located in Montvale, New Jersey.

A&P operates ten other retail banners besides A&P, which include conventional supermarkets, food and drug combination stores, and discount food stores.

Currently A&P has developed a new corporate slogan, "Fresh Thinking Since 1859". It has converted over 20 retail stores to its "fresh" format and plans on converting an additional 40 stores in 2006. Its Midland Park, New Jersey store, recently reopened as a Fresh Market, incorporates gourmet food, organics, an indepth wine department and several food preparation counters which allow the consumer to taste and purchase fresh meals. This store is the chain's #1 store by sales volume.

Its current Executive Chairman is Christian W.E. Haub, a member of the family that owns the Tengelmann Group of Germany. The President and Chief Executive Officer is Eric Claus. The Tengelmann Group bought a majority stake in A&P in 1979.

In 1983, A&P bought Kohl's Food Stores (originally part of the Kohl's department store chain) in Wisconsin from BATUS. The Kohl's chain was eventually closed in 2003.

The company formerly operated 237 stores through its A&P Canada unit in the Canadian province of Ontario. On August 15, 2005, the company finalized its sale of the Canadian operations to Metro Inc., a grocery retailer based in Montreal, for CAN$1.7 billion in cash and shares of Metro. It has also announced plans to divest itself of its Midwest operations.

[edit] Private brands, then and now

For many decades, the A&P supermarkets pioneered in the use of store brands. Eight O'Clock Coffee, Our Own tea and Ann Page and Jane Parker foods were almost as notable to regular shoppers as the outside retail brands the store carried. (A&P's coffee line was a hallmark of the store from practically the beginning and received its Eight O'Clock moniker by 1920. It was once a bigger moneymaker than the retail stores themselves.)

A&P sold off Eight O'Clock Coffee to a San Francisco investment firm in 2003 (though the retailer continues to sell it). A&P has also replaced the Ann Page and Jane Parker labels with its America's Choice and Master Choice icons.

During the generic products trend in the 1980's, A&P established its own quasi-"brand" of generic products under the name "P&Q" (Price and Quality).

[edit] Banners

[edit] A&P US

A&P Store logo and trademark during the early 90's

A&P Food Market (Super A&P)
A&P Fresh Market
A&P Super Foodmart (New England division)
Waldbaum's
The Food Emporium
Super Fresh
Farmer Jack
Sav-A-Center
Food Basics
Kohl's Food Stores (Defunct)
A&P Sav-A-Center (Defunct)
SuperPlus Food Stores (Defunct)

Canada

In 2006, A&P sold A&P Canada and Food Basics Canada to Metro of Quebec. The name of the Canadian units are now owned by Metro Inc.

[edit] Trivia

A&P stores constructed after 1959 usually featured a distinctive cupola and weathervane design on the buildings' roofs; a number of older stores were remodeled to include the feature as well, which became a store trademark. [1]
The publication Woman's Day was launched by A&P in 1937. Originally sold exclusively at A&P stores, Woman's Day was purchased by an independent publisher in the mid-1950s, and no longer has any connection to the supermarket chain.
The Pulitzer winning play fences by August Wilson references the A&P supermarket.