Stop & Shop to buy 9 Waldbaum’s, Pathmark stores on LI

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The Stop & Shop supermarket chain has agreed to pay $146 million to acquire 25 stores owned by Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, including nine Pathmark and Waldbaums stores on Long Island, according to a company statement.

Massachusetts-based Stop & Shop says it will convert the stores to the Stop & Shop brand. The agreement is subject to court approval in A&P’s just-filed bankruptcy case and may be affected by subsequent auction under which other higher bid or bids could be received and accepted by A&P for these stores located throughout the New York metropolitan area.

The Long Island stores included in the acquisition are Waldbaums in East Hampton, Southampton, Baldwin, Massapequa, Long Beach, and Huntington. Long Island Pathmark stores in the deal include stores in Seaford and Franklin Square.

The sale is expected to close by the end of the year.

“Stop & Shop is always looking for convenient locations to better serve our customers,” Don Sussman, Stop & Shop’s New York Metro Division president, said in the statement. “We are very happy to have the opportunity to expand our presence in greater New York and serve new customers.”

As part of the A&P bankruptcy, its second in five years, the company will be closing 25 locations that include five other Long Island stores, among them are Waldbaum’s stores in Riverhead, Oceanside and Carle Place, and Pathmark stores in Baldwin and Centereach.

Brokers say A&P’s retreat has sparked increased activity among supermarket competitors seeking a Long Island foothold or area expansion. Ken Breslin, a principal with Sabre Real Estate Group in Garden City,  said his firm is currently working with several grocery chains and fine-food markets looking for Long Island space.

“Everyone involved in the supermarket business is buying a store or several stores here,” Breslin said. The result, he said, would be a better breadth of offerings for Long Island shoppers. Breslin added that store brands under A&P have suffered from its parent company’s financial stress. “They’ve been immobilized by their debt,” he said.

A&P claimed debt of more than $1 billion in its latest bankruptcy filing.

King Kullen may be one of those companies looking to take advantage of A&P’s closings.

“While it’s unfortunate that Waldbaum’s and Pathmark will be closing and selling stores in Nassau and Suffolk counties, King Kullen stands ready to explore every opportunity that allows us to grow and be part of the fabric of Long Island, as we have for the last 85 years,” said Brian Cullen, company co-president.

Analysts say the Stop & Shop acquisition is part of a larger trend of consolidation in the supermarket business.

“It’s always been a competitive industry,” said Martin Lewison, assistant professor of business management at Farmingdale State College. “But the big-box stores like Wal-Mart and Target put even more pressure on existing grocery chains. Independent operators and smaller regional chains are the most vulnerable to price and variety competition from their larger competitors.”

Last month, Stop & Shop’s parent company Royal Ahold announced a $29 billion merger with Delhaize Group. The newly combined firm, named Ahold Delhaize, will have a portfolio of about 6,500 stores under various local brands, including Stop & Shop and Food Lion, which had been under the Delhaize umbrella.

Ahold and Delhaize businesses reported net sales of 54.1 billion euros in 2014.