A&P To sell half it stores

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A&P To sell half it stores

Post by bm10k »

http://nypost.com/2015/06/16/ap-shoppin ... 01-stores/

who would want to buy them, Shoprite, or Ahold come to mind
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Re: A&P To sell half it stores

Post by veteran+ »

Do you think Yucaipa is finally letting go of these failed purchases (in the East like A&P)?

Do you think they will also unload Fresh & Easy in the West? They just closed another 60 stores.

What is Yucaipa really doing because Ron Burkle's reputation in retail has been tarnished by the A&P and the Fresh & Easy adventure.
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Re: A&P To sell half it stores

Post by BillyGr »

Acme was also mentioned as a possible buyer, which would make some sense, given:

- Those now running it seem to be willing to expand rather than just close stores
- They also own Shaw's in New England, so some of the A&P territory is kind of a "link" between the existing Acme areas and Shaw's areas.
- Other A&P locations would fill in areas where Acme exists (nearby) but not in a given town.
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Re: A&P To sell half it stores

Post by klkla »

The article about the possible bankruptcy filing in the other thread seemed to indicate that they were unable to reach a deal with any buyers.

It said, "Bids for the company’s stores were due in May as part of an auction process, but no acceptable bids came in. The likelihood now is that the stores will be sold piecemeal in what is known as a “prepackaged bankruptcy.” The company has about 300 store locations under all its brands and has hired Evercore Partners, a specialist in asset sales, to assist in the process."
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Re: A&P To sell half it stores

Post by BillyGr »

Court has approved the sale of 95 stores, 71 to Acme and 24 to Stop & Shop. Another bunch (17) is still under negotiation with Key Foods, apparently due to issues between Key and the unions representing those stores - something about cutting the number of full time positions and having more part time ones instead.

http://www.progressivegrocer.com/indust ... ores?cc=10
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Re: A&P To sell half it stores

Post by BillyGr »

As of today there appear to be about 11 stores still listed on their various sites (A&P, Pathmark, Waldbaums and Food Basics) and likely some of those are already closed or finishing up sales today, so it looks like it's time for the 156 year tradition to come to an end :(
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Re: A&P To sell half it stores

Post by pseudo3d »

That is sad. I was hoping for an independent to buy a few of the stores and carry on a name (Grand Union, AppleTree for past examples), but I guess not.

All this makes me wonder why A&P never sold out when they could.
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Re: A&P To sell half it stores

Post by wnetmacman »

pseudo3d wrote:All this makes me wonder why A&P never sold out when they could.
I believe that comes down to two theories:

1. A&P, because of their history, wanted to stay independant.
2. Someone believed they could right the ship.

You have to keep in mind that 156 years is eternity in business of any kind. At one point, A&P was THE largest grocery store company. Nobody had more stores in more places. Then Safeway took the crown in the late 70's, but then passed it to Albertsons, who, in turn, passed it to Kroger. Walmart holds it now, and should keep it for a while unless something really horrendous happens.

Nobody wants to admit failure. A&P has been failing for the last 40 years at a minimum. While I'm sad to see them go, I'm glad they finally took the horse out back and shot it. The continuing roller coaster was getting old and tired.

I don't believe anybody has bought any of the intellectual properly, have they?
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Re: A&P To sell half it stores

Post by BillyGr »

wnetmacman wrote:I don't believe anybody has bought any of the intellectual properly, have they?
I think there are a couple in progress but not finalized (or at least not announced as such).
- Key Foods was going for the Food Emporium brand (since they are fairly NYC centric, as was that brand).
- I believe a couple groups were interested in their green brand (Greenway?)
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Re: A&P To sell half it stores

Post by pseudo3d »

BillyGr wrote:
wnetmacman wrote:I don't believe anybody has bought any of the intellectual properly, have they?
I think there are a couple in progress but not finalized (or at least not announced as such).
- Key Foods was going for the Food Emporium brand (since they are fairly NYC centric, as was that brand).
- I believe a couple groups were interested in their green brand (Greenway?)
Did the Food Emporium stores reopen as Key Foods with plans to revert back, or did they manage to keep the Food Emporium name on the stores?
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