NY Daily Record Since 1908
PORTLAND, Ore. — The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., once the nation’s largest grocer, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Sunday after years of struggling with enormous debt and rising competition from low-priced peers.
The 151-year-old company, based in Montvale, N.J., operates 395 stores around the Northeast under the A&P, Waldbaum’s, The Food Emporium, Super Fresh, Pathmark and Food Basics grocery stores banners. It said all its stores, which employ 41,000 people, will remain open. Loyalty programs and other promotions will continue.
The filing was widely anticipated. The company — best known to shoppers as A&P — has been bleeding red ink for some time. According to the filing submitted late Sunday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in White Plains, N.Y., the company listed total debts of more than $3.2 billion and assets of about $2.5 billion.
A&P, like most grocers, is struggling with the weak economy, reduced spending by consumers and intense competition. The company said aggressive competition from nontraditional food retailers like warehouse clubs, discount chains such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc., and dollar stores have compounded the problem.
The company reported revenue of $9.5 billion in 2008, which fell to $8.8 billion in 2009. And while the 2010 fiscal year is still under way, in its most recent quarter A&P reported that its net loss had doubled as revenue continued to sink.
It is also struggling with pension costs, lease costs for store locations it has closed, and a contract with C&S Wholesale Grocers Inc., which provides the majority of its inventory, which it has been unable to negotiate down to lower costs.
A&P also has one of the most heavily unionized work forces in the business, with 95 percent of its workers covered under collective bargaining agreements. It said in its filing it would seek to work with the unions to lower those costs.
