SuperFresh
 | This article needs to be updated. (October 2015) |
 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Supermarket |
| Founded | 1982 in Philadelphia, PA |
| Defunct | November 2015 |
| Fate | Chapter 11 bankruptcy |
| Headquarters | |
Area served | Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Ocean City, MD |
| Parent | The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company |
| Website | superfresh |
Super Fresh was a chain of supermarkets owned by A&P, which introduced the brand in 1982, converting its Mid-Atlantic region stores to the new name.[1] Super Fresh's stores were located mostly in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area, plus Delaware, southern New Jersey, and Maryland.[2] Several Super Fresh stores operated in the Baton Rouge, Louisiana area into 2003, when they were rebranded to A&P's Sav-A-Center banner. One Super Fresh in Philadelphia also had been rebranded to A&P's Food Basics banner. Super Fresh also operated in Canada; its stores have been rebranded as Food Basics and the division has since been sold to Metro Inc..
In late 2006, A&P bought 6 of the 22 Clemens Family Markets, converting them to Super Fresh stores. These supermarkets were in Montgomery and Bucks counties in suburban Philadelphia.[3]
A&P acquired Pathmark in 2007 and in June 2008, announced that it would convert 8 of its 13 Philadelphia-area Super Fresh stores to its new Pathmark Sav-A-Center banner. Many of these converted stores ended up closing in the 2010 bankruptcy process. A&P had been looking to convert the remaining Super Fresh stores to its Fresh format (which had been successfully used in its A&P Fresh Markets) and position the Fresh banner as an upscale market.[4]
In February 2011, A&P announced its intention of selling or closing 32 stores (across its six supermarket banners) following its Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, which began in December 2010. Included were these eight Super Fresh stores, which closed in March 2011:[5]
- 2892 Salisbury, Maryland
- 5258 Yardley, Pennsylvania
- 5377 Lionville, Pennsylvania
- 5404 East Windsor, New Jersey
- 5420 Hamilton Township, New Jersey
- 5460 Mount Holly, New Jersey
- 5476 Cape May Court House, New Jersey
- 5493 Hammonton, New Jersey
On April 13, 2011, A&P announced plans to close or sell 25 additional Super Fresh stores: 22 in Maryland (leaving two; both on its Eastern Shore), 2 in Delaware (Dover and Milford), and the last A&P-affiliated Washington, D.C., store.[6] These supermarkets closed by July 15 and were replaced by Shoppers Food & Pharmacy, ShopRite, or Fresh & Green's.
On November 14, 2012, A&P announced the closure of three New Jersey SuperFresh locations in Marlton, Westmont, and Plainsboro. These stores were liquidated in January 2013, leaving Manahawkin, Ocean City and Wildwood as the only remaining stores in New Jersey but they became Acme in 2015.[7]
On July 20th 2015, A&P announced that it was filing for bankruptcy for the second time, this involved the announcement that the company would be eventually liquidating and selling as many stores as possible to competitors, and closing the rest. This includes all SuperFresh stores, if they are sold or not. Acme Markets and The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company announced that they would be purchasing 101 A&P owned stores. Acme ended up purchasing 70 stores, and Stop & Shop purchased 25. The first SuperFresh to open as an Acme was the SuperFresh at 2nd and Girard in Philadelphia, PA. [8] On November 19, 2015, the last Super Fresh stores closed permanaently.[9] [10]
Slogans
- Doing More for You
- The great store...just next door!
- We Built A Proud New Feeling (mid-to-late 1980s)
- We're Fresh... We're Super Fresh
- We're Fresh Obsessed
- I Love This Store! (2002–2010)
- You want lower prices, we hear you. (2010–2011)
- Better Store, Better Living. (2011–2015)
References
- ^ "Our History". The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, Inc. Retrieved 2013-09-03.
- ^ "A&P moves to realign Super Fresh division". Supermarket News. Business Highbeam. 19 September 1988. Retrieved 2013-09-03.
- ^ Brubaker, Harold (4 November 2006). "6 Clemens markets get new owner SuperFresh will take over the Montco and Bucks stores, now closed for renovation". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philly.com. Retrieved 2013-09-03.
- ^ "The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company Takes Price Impact's Pathmark Sav-A-Center" (Press release). Reuters. 26 June 2008. Retrieved 2013-09-03.
- ^ "The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, Inc. to Close 32 Stores as Part of Turnaround Strategy" (Press release). The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, Inc. 15 February 2011. Retrieved 2013-09-03.
- ^ "The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, Inc. to Sell 25 Superfresh Stores as Part of Turnaround Strategy" (Press release). The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, Inc. 13 April 2011. Retrieved 2013-09-03.
- ^ Cooney, Joe (14 November 2012). "SuperFresh to shut 2 stores in region". Courier-Post. Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Retrieved 2013-09-03.
- ^ "The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company". www.apteanotice.com. Retrieved 2015-10-11.
- ^ http://superfresh.apsupermarket.com/weekly-circular
- ^ Fitzsimmons, Eric (2015-11-20). "Roxborough Superfresh to close - Roxborough Review". Montgomery Media. Retrieved 2016-01-01.