A&P Sells Remaining Banners, Brands

Three years after filing for bankruptcy, historic grocer The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. (A&P) has finished unloading all of its banners and other intellectual properties.

The A&P, Waldbaum’s and Food Basics supermarket banners have officially been sold, as have “certain miscellaneous brands and other intellectual property assets,” according to New York-based Hilco Streambank, which has acted as the exclusive broker to the now-defunct grocer since its bankruptcy. The latest brands sold include private labels Woodson & James (beef), Hartford Reserve (premium products), and Great Atlantic Seafood Market (seafood).

In total, Hilco Streambank has assisted A&P in selling 23 brands over the course of its engagement. Terms of the deals haven't been disclosed, however.

“Such supermarket banners, including A&P and Waldbaum's, have a long and rich history in the Northeast,” Hilco Streambank SVP Richelle Kalnit noted. “We are excited to see how the new owners of these brands will continue the legacy.”

Montvale, N.J.-based A&P filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in July 2015, its second time in five years. One month later, it revealed that it would sell or close all of its 297 stores, which operated under various banners throughout New Jersey (103), New York (135), Pennsylvania (34), Connecticut (14), Delaware (nine) and Maryland (two). The many locations that didn't shutter were auctioned off to such regional competitors as Stop & Shop, Acme Markets and Key Foods.

Staten Island, N.Y.-based Key Food Stores Co-operative Inc. acquired former A&P banners The Food Emporium and SuperFresh, in addition to related intellectual property, in 2015 and 2016, respectively. Both are now operated as Key Food store banners.