Supermarket shake-up

Pathmark to close; Waldbaum’s purchased

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Some changes are in store for Baldwin grocery shoppers, as the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, also known as A&P, which owns two supermarkets in Baldwin — the Pathmark on Grand Avenue and the Waldbaum’s on Atlantic Avenue — filed for bankruptcy for the second time in three years on July 20.

A&P, which has nearly 300 supermarkets and other stores under several brands, including A&P, Waldbaum’s, SuperFresh, Pathmark, Food Basics, the Food Emporium and Best Cellars, announced that its Pathmark location in Baldwin was one of 25 supermarkets it will close. It will put hundreds of others up for sale and bring an end to its storied 156-year history.
According to the New York State Department of Labor, the Pathmark will close on Nov. 1. The location employs 128 workers.

The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company LLC purchased 25 A&P stores for $146 million, including the Baldwin Waldbaum’s, which will remain open. It will be converted into a Stop & Shop, but a timeline has yet to be announced.

Darien Ward, chairman of the Baldwin Civic Association Economic Development Committee, said that losing Pathmark, a familiar destination for so many residents, will be difficult. The first concern, he said, is the loss of retail jobs, but secondarily, there could be a “spillover effect of [losing] a respected, brand-name store in our community.”

Barbara Garrett, a 23-year Baldwin resident, said she wasn’t surprised to learn that Pathmark would be closing, given its appearance in recent months, including shelves that were less than full.

Garrett said she considers herself a regular at the store, adding that she does her banking at the Roslyn Savings Bank inside. She said she feels sorrow to have to say goodbye and “distress at another empty store in our town.”

Of the 25 stores Stop & Shop has agreed to acquire, four are in the Baldwin area. In addition to the Atlantic Avenue Waldbaum’s, Stop & Shop has purchased a Waldbaum’s on Park Avenue in Long Beach and two other Pathmarks, on Merrick Road in Seaford and on Franklin Avenue in Franklin Square.

Ward said he was happy to see that the community would not lose two supermarkets simultaneously, and that a new Stop & Shop should be successful in town.

What will become of the Pathmark site remains a question. Ward called the recent development an opening to rethink the area and concentrate on destination retail and services. “There is an opportunity for commercial development to create a hub of retail stores opposite the Rosen Shopping Center,” he said, “offering complementary goods and services, creating an attractive environment for business investors to consider Baldwin for expansion.”

A&P is trying to find buyers for another 150 of its stores. It has said it would like to sell them as a group, and is planning an auction, according to court papers. King Kullen has said it plans to bid on some of them.

The agreements will be subject to bankruptcy court approval.

Approximately 96 percent of A&P’s 28,500 employees are unionized. According to court documents, the buyers will not take on the bargaining agreements or the pensions of those workers.

According to its filing, the company owes $2.3 billion, but has assets of $1.6 billion. Its chief restructuring officer, Christopher McGarry, explained that after A&P first filed for bankruptcy, in 2012, it began an extensive advertising campaign that featured lower prices, but never met its targets.

George Huntington Hartford and George Gilman founded the company as a mail-order tea and spice business in 1859, and opened its first warehouse at the corner of Vesey and Church streets in Manhattan that same year, according to the company’s website.

Barbara Rubin-Perry contributed to this story.