South Orange, New Jersey: Stop & Shop will take over the South Orange Pathmark, according to recent reports. The news comes after Pathmark's owner, The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (A&P) of Montvale, Bergen County, filed for bankruptcy this week for the second time in ten years.
The South Orange Pathmark is located at 407 Valley Street near Columbia High School.
The store used to share a parking lot with a neighboring A&P Supermarket in Maplewood. After A&P acquired Pathmark eight years ago, the neighboring A&P Supermarket closed, leaving Valley Street with one supermarket. The former A&P location was torn down in 2014, and a CVS/pharmacy opened at the site in June. The South Orange Pathmark store was renovated in 2007 shortly after A&P acquired the chain.
The South Orange Stop & Shop location will be the third in Essex County for the Quincy, Massachusetts-based grocer. Other locations are in Bloomfield and West Caldwell. There is also a Stop & Shop location in nearby Union, Union County.
"The Township of South Orange Village is excited with the Stop & Shop supermarket chain’s recently announced acquisition", said Village President Sheena Collum in an email to Essex County Place. "The Village looks forward to welcoming Stop & Shop as an engaged corporate citizen as they provide our residents with another outstanding grocery option to complement our other grocery partner, Ashley Marketplace", Collum added.
According to a news release from Stop & Shop, the South Orange Pathmark is one of 25 A&P-owned supermarkets in the New York Metropolitan Area that will become Stop & Shop locations. Stop & Shop is paying $146 million for the stores, which are mostly in New York.
"We look forward to providing customers with delivering unmatched selection, quality and value that they have come to expect from Stop & Shop", said Don Sussman of Stop & Shop.
Arlene Putterman of Ahold, Stop & Shop's parent company, told Essex County Place that the company "need(s) to wait until it goes through the regulatory process" before determining when the South Orange Pathmark would become a Stop & Shop location.
The only other change slated for Essex County supermarket locations is that the Pathmark in Belleville will likely close.
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