A&P

The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company, founded in 1859, blossomed into America’s first national supermarket chain as the refrigerator replaced the icebox, and the family car doomed the mom-and-pop corner grocery store. By 1950, The New York Times reported, 10 cents of every dollar spent on food in the United States went to A.&P. A.&P. was also the first supermarket chain in the country to unionize, and by the 1970s its labor costs were the highest in the industry. Younger, nimbler chains were building spacious new stores in the suburbs, and A.&P. found itself trapped in aging, dingy urban stores that were no match for wide aisles and free parking. Today, more than 300 stores are operating under the A&P, Food Basics, The Food Emporium, Pathmark, Superfresh and Waldbaum's banners