COMMUNITY NEWS

Waldbaum’s to stay open, for now

Merrick store not on closing or sold lists

Posted

The Waldbaum’s at 1686 Merrick Road in Merrick is currently open for business. Whether it will remain so is uncertain.

The parent company of Waldbaum’s, the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, or A&P, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on July 19 in a Manhattan federal court. In a news release, A&P said it owned 296 stores and planned to close 25 soon “due to lack of interest and significant ongoing store operating losses.” The grocery chain also said it had arranged to sell another 120 stores — buyers included the Stop & Shop Supermarket Company, Key Food Stores Co-operative, Inc. and ACME Markets Inc. — for about $600 million.

A&P listed the stores that it will close or sell at www.apteanotice.com. The Merrick Waldbaum’s, which anchors a shopping center and has been a local mainstay since it opened in November 1993, did not appear on either list.

A man who said his name was Bob answered the Herald Life’s telephone request to speak with the manager of the Merrick Waldbaum’s. He referred questions about how A&P’s bankruptcy filing could affect the store to A&P’s public relations department.

A&P spokeswoman Dana Regan declined to address emailed questions about the future of the Merrick Waldbaum’s, but she provided the following statement:

“All asset sales will be conducted through a court-supervised sale process, subject to court approval and certain other conditions. The sale process will take months to complete and could include a possible credit bid for certain assets to be purchased by A&P’s current investors. A&P will continue to conduct business and serve customers at its stores during the court-supervised sale process.”

In a letter posted to apteanotice.com, A&P Chairman Greg Mays stated that the grocery chain “will continue to seek well-capitalized partners to purchase 151 of the remaining stores.”

“Therefore, we expect that following the completion of the bankruptcy process many of our stores will continue to operate with new owners,” Mays continued.

Nearby A&P stores that are slated to close include a Waldbaum’s in Oceanside and a Pathmark in Baldwin. A&P also said it will sell two Waldbaum’s stores, in Baldwin and Long Beach, and two Pathmark stores, in Seaford and Franklin Square, to Stop & Shop.