A&P's closure to have rippling effect on supermarkets, communities

When the news of A&P's bankruptcy plans to sell off all 300 or so of its stores was first made public, telephones across the region started ringing as supermarket owners and lawyers called to discuss what properties they and their competitors might be interested in.

"There's always initial concern about who's going to come in and how it's going to play out," said Joseph DeCicco, whose family owns about 10 stores under the umbrella of DeCicco Family Markets in the Lower Hudson Valley. "We take all competition seriously."

The transactions, which still await federal bankruptcy court approval, has sent ripples through affected communities as supermarket operators evaluate their options and municipal officials and small business owners wonder if all of the locations will find new owners or be forced to close. Their closure will leave gaping holes in the commercial landscape that might have broader economic implications.

"I don't want to be left with empty store fronts at these shopping plazas,” said Alex Gromack, town supervisor for Clarkstown where the A&P supermarket in Valley Cottage is among the stores up for sale.

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A&P's cache of retail stores represents one of the biggest collections to recently be placed on the market all at one time, industry insiders said. In Westchester, Putnam and Rockland counties alone, A&P and its affiliates, including Pathmark and Waldbaums, own 31 stores -- 20 of which the supermarket chain officials said they had received sales bids and 11 others, including Valley Cottage, they were trying to find new buyers.

"It's unprecedented for us in this industry, in our area," DeCicco said of the sales prospects. "It's definitely a unique situation."

DeCicco said his family may be interested in acquiring some A&P locations but discussions are only in preliminary stages. Only three potential buyers have been made public so far, with Pennsylvania-based Acme Markets set to acquire a number of stores, including 18 Lower Hudson Valley locations.

"We focus on fresh, full, friendly and clean stores," Acme spokeswoman Danielle D'Elia said in an e-mail statement in which she declined to provide additional details about the possible deal. "We take great pride in providing really great stores that our customers love to shop.

Stop & Shop, which is making a bid for 25 A&P locations in New York and New Jersey, including the one in Mount Kisco, said this is the largest potential acquisition it's made since acquiring 36 Grand Union supermarkets in 2001.

"This is a huge opportunity for Stop & Shop," spokeswoman Arlene Putterman said.

But while some other supermarket players, such as Shop Rite, said they were looking at their options, other popular retailers, such as Wegmans and Stew Leonards, said they would not look to acquire any of the A&P locations.

"We're sitting on the sidelines," Stew Leonard Jr. said.

The bankruptcy filing is a long way from A&P's reputation only a few decades ago, Leonard said. When his father opened the family's first store in 1969, he bought a book on the grocery business that was required reading and prominently featured A&P as the industry's gold standard.

"We always looked at it as an American icon," Leonard said. "It's amazing to me to read this week about their bankruptcy."

Others grocers said A&P's demise has been foreshadowed for years. The chain initially filed for bankruptcy in 2010.

"They got so big trying to eliminate the competition, they eliminated themselves," Preston Turco, who owns and operates a Yorktown grocery store bearing his family name, said of A&P.

Turco, who described his store as more of a specialty market known for its prepared foods, said while in the past he put a bid in to buy a Grand Union and Finast, he's content with running a single location. He said when A&P announced its plans, he received a call from his lawyer who wanted to know if he was interested. The lawyer told Turco that supermarkets might not necessarily be the only ones interested in putting a bid.

Pharmacies that carry groceries and other retailers may show interest in the A&P stores depending on lease agreements that are in place and other sales terms, said food business consultant Dan Glickberg, an Irvington native and fourth-generation founding family member of Fairway Market.

Glickberg, who is no longer associated with Fairway, said he believes the A&P bankruptcy is "almost a non-story."

"A&P has not been relevant in the supermarket industry in a long time," he said, adding that he believes supermarkets are moving toward online grocery orders and those that relying on people coming to their stores such as A&P may be relics one day. "Online is going to be a bigger part of the business."

For now, though, community leaders and small business owners where A&P stores are changing hands or at risk of closing down if no buyers are found said they can't imagine a future without a supermarket.

Pathmark has been anchoring the Route 59 Rockland Center shopping mall, which includes Home Goods, Auto Zone, and MacDonald, for years. If the store were to remain vacant for long periods of time, its absence would affect stores in the 265,000-square-foot mall, particularly less-established businesses, said Damian Costanzo, manager of the 42-year-old Liquor Outlet in the shopping mall.

“Things are not that great because the economy is not that great. Everybody is trying to cut back,” he said. “I don’t think it’s good for some of the stores that are marginal, but we’ve been here longer than they’ve been here. … But you wouldn’t know how it affects you until it happens.”

Even communities, such as Greenburgh, where a buyer appears to have been found are a little on edge that the deal hasn't been finalized.

“There’s no supermarket in the immediate area. That’s the closest to a lot of people,” Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul Feiner said. “People would have to drive much longer distance to get to a supermarket.”

His immediate concern is on how the store would make the transition. Feiner said he is drafting a letter to ACME, which has put a bid on the location.

“We’re welcoming them to the town. We’re offering to meet with them,” he said. “That Knollwood Road A&P has been the staple in the community for many, many years.”