A&P to close next month

By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
Agatha Illuminati had finished shopping at the A&P on Valley Street when she heard the news Sept. 3 that the food store would close next month.
“You’ve ruined my day,” she said as she carried a plastic bag of corn in her left hand. “I feel very bad about that.”
The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. Inc., the Montvale-based owner of A&P and Pathmark, announced Aug. 13 that it plans to close 25 stores in five states.
In a statement, the company said the stores were shutting either because they had underperformed, were located close to other company stores or faced “real estate and cost issues.”
Company president and chief executive officer Sam Martin called it “a very difficult decision.”
Most of the closures are in New Jersey, where five A&Ps and nine Pathmarks will shut, according to the union representing the 360 employees who work at them.
In addition to the Maplewood A&P, a Pathmark in Belleville will also close.
John Niccollai, president of Local 464 A of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, said that the company had notified the union that the Maplewood A&P will close Oct. 13.
In an e-mail, A&P spokeswoman Lauren La Bruno would only say the store is closing in the third quarter. She was not more specific.
The store has 27 employees, not including management, the union leader said. Those employees might not lose their jobs, however, depending on their seniority with bumping rights.
Customers interviewed on Valley Street expressed disappointment that the store will close.
While most of their shopping is done elsewhere, customers said the A&P was a convenient place to pick up a few quick items. The store also has a liquor license, and sells beer and other alcoholic beverages.
“I’ll miss the convenience,” said Phyliss Jackson, who buys the bulk of her food at Pathmark.
Sally Fallon of Maplewood said she “rarely” goes to the Pathmark on Valley Street, South Orange.
Maplewood is interested in what happens to the site, an official said.
Mayor Vic De Luca said that he would contact the property owner, Short Hills-based Maple Corp., to “see what their plans are.”
Peter Nalitt, a partner in Maple Corp., said that his company and A&P have a lease that expires in the middle of next year.
“My hands are tied,” he said in a phone interview.
Nalitt added he was not officially notified by A&P of its decision to close the Maplewood store. Maple Corp. has owned the property since 1990, but the lease goes back to the 1950s.
De Luca said the town has an interest in something “viable” at the site.
Philip Sean Curran can be reached at 908-686-7700, ext. 116, or at newsrecord@thelocalsource.com.