When the first round of bidding came to close, only one in three A&P stores that went up for auction in early October came back with bids, according to a document filed by the retailer. The century-old supermarket chain is currently in bankruptcy and attempting to unload its store base throughout the Northeast. Winning bids were obtained for 36 of the 108 stores a part of the first auction. These must be approved by the court and then divided among 21 entities including landlords and supermarkets. The remaining stores that either received no bids or were not approved by the court will head to a second auction.
A&P’s largest concentration of stores is in the New York metro core-based statistical area (CBSA). The market is the largest in the country based on both grocery volume and population. There are 1,800+ supermarket locations competing for over $30 billion in annual grocery revenue. Total population in this area exceeded 20 million in 2014.
Based on the filing, none of the operators in the top ten made successful bids for the first round of auctioned stores. King Kullen (#11) did however acquire a Waldbaums in Patchogue. It’s been speculated that many of A&P’s stores are heavily outdated and are no longer located in desirable areas. This could be a reason the top players aren’t bidding, leading to possible store growth for smaller supermarket operators in the NY market that attempt to acquire these stores.
NEW YORK-NEWARK-JERSEY CITY, NY-NJ-PA CBSA – Top Supermarket Operators*
Counties: BERGEN, ESSEX, HUDSON, HUNTERDON, MIDDLESEX, MONMOUTH, MORRIS, OCEAN, PASSAIC, SOMERSET, SUSSEX, UNION – NJ; BRONX, DUTCHESS, KINGS, NASSAU, NEW YORK, ORANGE, PUTNAM, QUEENS, RICHMOND, ROCKLAND, SUFFOLK, WESTCHESTER – NY; PIKE – PA
| Company Name |
Area Stores |
Current Share |
Previous Share |
| The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company LLC: QUINCY, MA |
144 |
15.20% |
15.50% |
| Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company Inc.: MONTVALE, NJ |
233 |
14.70% |
15.10% |
| Costco Wholesale Corp.: ISSAQUAH, WA |
31 |
10.50% |
9.70% |
| BJ’s Wholesale Club Inc.: WESTBOROUGH, MA |
40 |
5.30% |
5.00% |
| ShopRite Supermarkets Inc.: FLORIDA, NY |
25 |
4.30% |
4.20% |
| Inserra Supermarkets Inc.: MAHWAH, NJ |
21 |
3.80% |
4.10% |
| Saker ShopRite Inc.: FREEHOLD, NJ |
22 |
3.60% |
3.50% |
| Village Supermarket Inc.: SPRINGFIELD, NJ |
17 |
2.80% |
2.80% |
| Whole Foods Market Inc.: AUSTIN, TX |
24 |
2.70% |
2.50% |
| Walmart Stores Inc.: BENTONVILLE, AR |
19 |
2.70% |
2.60% |
| King Kullen Grocery Co. Inc.: BETHPAGE, NY |
42 |
2.40% |
2.60% |
| Trader Joe’s Co.: MONROVIA, CA |
26 |
2.20% |
2.30% |
| Fairway Group Holdings Corp.: NEW YORK, NY |
14 |
2.00% |
1.60% |
| Sam’s Club: BENTONVILLE, AR |
9 |
1.60% |
1.60% |
| Others |
1,136 |
26.20% |
27.10% |
*Source: Chain Store Guide’s 2015 Grocery Industry Market Share Report. Current represents fiscal 2014 while previous represents fiscal 2013 in most cases.
