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Sav-A-Center

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Sav-A-Center was a trade name owned by The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company.

History

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The Sav-A-Center name was first used for a chain of supermarkets in the greater New Orleans, Louisiana, area starting in the 1980s. The division operated throughout Louisiana, and also had stores in Mississippi.[1][2][3] In addition, the Sav-A-Center division included three regular A&P stores, one of which was a small "corner grocery" in the French Quarter of New Orleans that A&P had been operating since 1931.[4]

When Schwegmann filed for bankruptcy in 1999, A&P purchased six stores to add to its Sav-A-Center division.[1] In April 2004, A&P purchased four New Orleans stores from Albertsons with the intention of converting them under the Sav-A-Center banner.[5] By this point, A&P had 28 such stores in the New Orleans area. In May, the company announced a restructuring plan that would limit A&P to the East Coast region, and the Sav-A-Center stores.[6][7]

In August 2005, many stores sustained damage as a result of Hurricane Katrina. Twenty-one stores reopened within a few months of the storm; two others following remodeling to repair flood damage. Five stores were closed permanently due to severe damage to the stores and surrounding areas.[8][9] In April 2007, the chain exited the Baton Rouge area.

By May 2007, A&P announced that it was planning to exit the New Orleans area, and was seeking buyers for its 21 remaining Sav-A-Center stores. A&P cited the need to focus on its operations in the Northeast, and its merger with Pathmark, as the reason for the sale.[10]

It was announced in September 2007 that the remaining Sav-A-Center stores would be sold to the locally owned Rouses chain. Rouses took over 16 Sav-A-Center stores, including the Mississippi stores and the French Quarter A&P, sold one to competing chain Breaux Mart, and closed the others.[2][11][12]

A&P Sav-A-Center

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Architectural rendering of an A&P Sav-A-Center store

The Sav-A-Center name was also added to many of A&P's Northeastern and mid-South Atlantic stores in the 1980s. In 1981, A&P purchased 17 Stop & Shop locations in New Jersey[4][13] and rebranded several under the Sav-A-Center branding.[14] After the sale, A&P found itself sharing strip-mall space with many Bradlees stores, which at the time were owned by Stop & Shop. When A&P took over the supermarkets, a common wall was built to separate the businesses. In many areas, including Tidewater region/Hampton Roads, Virginia, in North Carolina, plus most of A&P's Northeastern area, traditional A&P stores were remodeled as Sav-A-Centers; the classic A&P sign's red, orange, and yellow colors became shades of kelly green.

In the Northeast, the former Stop & Shop stores were larger than most of the traditional A&P stores. The company tried to use the Sav-A-Center conversion as a part of its "We've Built a Proud New Feeling" campaign, which was created to shed the company's high-price, stodgy perception. The campaign featured images of larger, cleaner, modern-style stores, happy, upscale-looking shoppers, and friendly, cooperative staff. (It was during this time that A&P debuted its Futurestores.) The Sav-A-Center stores were renovated with oversized graphics of fresh-looking produce and baked goods; they also were outfitted with IBM-POS checkouts. However, A&P had trouble shedding its high-price perception; gradually, the low-volume Sav-A-Centers lost sales and shoppers to stores such as Pathmark and NYC area-leader ShopRite. Some of the stronger Sav-A-Centers survived, but many eventually closed, or were re-branded as A&P Food Market in the 1990s or as Food Basics in the 2000s.

Kohl's Sav-A-Center

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After A&P purchased the Kohl's Food Stores chain, based in Wisconsin,[15] some of those stores were re-branded as Kohl's Sav-A-Center. These stores were later re-branded as Kohl's Food Market or Kohl's Food Emporium before that chain went under.

Family Mart Sav-A-Center

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In the 1980s and 1990s A&P rebranded many locations of its Southern United States The Family Mart chain as Family Mart Sav-A-Center.[16]

Dominion Save-A-Centre

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Beginning in the late 1980s, A&P Canada opened several stores in the Toronto area under the Sav-A-Centre name. Its logo was the same as the American Sav-A-Center, with the exceptions of being red rather than green.

A&P purchased 92 Dominion stores in 1985.[17][14] By the late 1990s, some stores were rebranded as Dominion Sav-A-Centre.[18] In August 2005, A&P sold its Canada operations to Metro and the stores were all converted by 2009.[19][20][14]

Pathmark Sav-A-Center

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In March 2007, A&P purchased Pathmark.[21] In June 2008, Pathmark introduced a "price impact" store concept, under the Pathmark Sav-A-Center brand. This format was introduced to remodeled stores in Irvington and South Edison, New Jersey.[22]

After the success of these stores, A&P announced it would rebrand 16 Pathmark Super Centers, and eight of the 13 Philadelphia-area A&P Super Fresh stores as Pathmark Sav-A-Center stores.[23][24][25] In addition, A&P's website later rebranded Pathmark as Pathmark Sav-A-Center.[26]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "A&P KNOTS SCHWEGMANN UNITS DEAL". www.supermarketnews.com. September 13, 1999. Retrieved 2024-09-05.
  2. ^ a b King, Ronette (September 15, 2007). "Rouses to buy out area Sav-A-Centers". Nola.com. The Times-Picayune. Archived from the original on October 7, 2008.
  3. ^ Barmash, Isadore (June 7, 1986). "A LEAN A.&P. FLEXES MUSCLES". The New York Times. Retrieved September 5, 2024.
  4. ^ a b Merrefield, David (October 1, 2007). "A&P Completes Strategic Retrenchment to the Northeast". www.supermarketnews.com. Retrieved 2024-09-06.
  5. ^ Boss, Donna (April 26, 2004). "ALBERTSONS EXITS NEW ORLEANS MARKET". www.supermarketnews.com. Retrieved 2024-09-05.
  6. ^ "A&P's Posts Better 4Q Results, Plans 'Major Strategic Restructuring'". Progressive Grocer. 2005-05-11. Retrieved 2024-09-06.
  7. ^ Springer, Jon (May 16, 2005). "HAUB SEEKS TO CREATE A 'NEW A&P'". www.supermarketnews.com. Retrieved 2024-09-06.
  8. ^ "To All SAV-A-CENTER Associates:". Savacenter.com. Archived from the original on December 29, 2006. Retrieved September 4, 2024.
  9. ^ Tortoreto, Marc (2006-08-28). "AFTER THE STORM". Supermarket News. Retrieved 2024-09-04.
  10. ^ Springer, Jon (2007-06-04). "A&P Exits New Orleans To Focus on Northeast". Supermarket News. Retrieved 2024-09-05.
  11. ^ Daniel, Robert (September 16, 2007). "A&P to sell 21 Sav-A-Center units, complete non-core sales". Market Watch. Retrieved September 1, 2024.
  12. ^ Springer, Jon (September 24, 2007). "Rouses Doubles in Size With Purchase of Sav-A-Center | Supermarket News". www.supermarketnews.com. Retrieved 2024-09-02.
  13. ^ McTaggart, Jenny; Goldschmidt, Bridget (January 18, 2022). "100 Years of Food Retailing: 1982-1991". Progressive Grocer. Retrieved 2024-09-06.
  14. ^ a b c "150 Years of A&P: A Timeline". www.supermarketnews.com. December 8, 2008. Retrieved 2024-09-06.
  15. ^ Ap (1983-08-16). "A. & P. to Acquire Kohl's From Batus". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-09-03.
  16. ^ http://www.groceteria.com/board/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=1987&view=next A&P/Family Mart
  17. ^ Condon, George (May 19, 2013). "The long lost ghost of Dominion". Canadian Grocer. Retrieved 2024-09-06.
  18. ^ "Metro workers in Ontario ratify new collective agreement". www.hrreporter.com. October 9, 2019. Retrieved 2024-09-06.
  19. ^ Zwiebach, Elliot (August 8, 2005). "METRO TO BECOME ONTARIO POWERHOUSE VIA A&P ACQUISITION". www.supermarketnews.com. Retrieved 2024-09-06.
  20. ^ Times, Cambridge (2009-04-30). "Metro food stores takes over A&P". Cambridge Times. Retrieved 2024-09-06.
  21. ^ "A&P Agrees To Buy Pathmark For $677.3 Million". CNBC. 2007-03-05. Retrieved 2024-09-06.
  22. ^ "A&P-owned Pathmark's First Price Impact Store Opens". Progressive Grocer. June 2, 2008. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
  23. ^ "A&P to Switch Most Philly SuperFresh Stores to Pathmark Sav-A-Centers". Progressive Grocer. 2008-06-27. Retrieved 2024-09-06.
  24. ^ Panaritis, Maria (2008-06-26). "Pathmarks, some Acmes to get new name". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 2024-09-06.
  25. ^ Boss, Donna (June 30, 2008). "A&P Takes Price-Impact to Philly". www.supermarketnews.com. Retrieved 2024-09-06.
  26. ^ "Pathmark Sav-A-Center". Pathmark.com. Archived from the original on January 13, 2010. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
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