No warm fuzzies for me. A&P was well into its decline by the time I came on the scene, but I do remember there were several around the area when I was growing up. At least in my territory, Acme seemed to be the dominant chain. Giant (not the Giant of today) always seemed to do well in the Scranton area. There were mom and pops on just about every corner.
The A&P problem is simply a matter of other chains doing it bigger and better. Stores, big or small, grow, mature and decline. You can't go to a business site and not a story about Sears and KMart on the edge. Macy's is closing a store in downtown Pittsburgh. The Globe and Scranton Dry are long gone. Kresge's, Woolworth's, King's, Jamesway, Hill's, Ames, Zayre, Montgomery Ward, Sugerman's, Jean King, Powers, Towers, Pomeroy's... It's an endless list.
I was telling a much younger co-worker the other day about the original Viewmont Mall configuration. Grant's was an anchor with movies, a Giant, and Roma Pizza out the back. There was also an arcade and an ice cream shop.
Times change, but it's still sad when an American institution like A&P loses its way. It had a huge warehouse along the old Route 17 near Elmira, NY. 33 acres under one roof, the world's largest food processing plant. I was never inside, but it was amazing from the outside. Enormous.
A&P has been in bankruptcy before, but it really looks like this is it.
A&P was 156 years old.
