[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 120 (Monday, July 24, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1499]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                     OPENING OF A&P'S LARGEST STORE

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                           HON. MARGE ROUKEMA

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 24, 1995
  Mrs. ROUKEMA. Mr. Speaker, I rise to congratulate the Great Atlantic 
& Pacific Tea Co. on the opening of its newest and largest store in 
Woodcliff Lake, NJ, on Tuesday, July 26. This is more than just another 
grocery store. This is a 60,000-square-foot supermarket of the future, 
with the latest in environmentally friendly lighting, heating, and air-
conditioning. Experts tell me the store will be more energy efficient 
than any in the country, making it a model for the multibillion-dollar 
supermarket industry.
  I take particular interest in the accomplishments of A&P because this 
giant of the food industry is headquartered in Montvale, NJ, in the 
heart of my congressional district.
  Just as the Woodcliff Lake store is not just another grocery story, 
neither is A&P just another supermarket chain. With nearly 100,000 
employees and stores in 23 States, it is the fifth largest supermarket 
chain in the Nation. In its 136-year history, it has been a true leader 
of the industry, pioneering many of the concepts that we take for 
granted today.
  Entrepreneurs George Huntington Hartford and George Gilman opened the 
original Great American Tea Co. store in New York City--where the chain 
remains No. 1--in 1859. The ornately decorated store, which lured 
customers with state-of-the-art gaslight and brass bands on Saturday 
nights, was the first to offer house brands and private labels with its 
own brand of tea and still-famous ``Eight O'Clock Coffee.'' The name of 
the store was changed to the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. in 1869 
to mark the completion of the first transcontinental railroad.
  A&P expanded in 1871 to Chicago, where it began the practice of 
giving away lithographs, crockery and other household items as 
premiums. By the turn of the century there were 200 stores nationwide 
and sales of $85.6 million. Between 1900 and 1912, however, food prices 
rose 35 percent as the cost of living skyrocketed. In response, A&P 
introduced the ``A&P Economy Store,'' corner grocery stores run with 
one employee and a capital investment of only $3,000 each. By 1925, 
there were 14,000 stores and sales of $440 million.
  Other innovations followed, including ``combination stores'' which 
during the 1920's added meat to the line of other groceries at a time 
when meat was sold only by butchers. A&P shortly offered prepackaged, 
self-service cuts of meat and its ``Ann Page'' products. In 1924, the 
company became the first food retailer to sponsor a radio program, the 
``A&P Gypsies,'' and in 1937 launched Woman's Day magazine. The company 
opened its first supermarkets as we know them today in the 1930's. By 
1936, 5,800 were in operation.
  The company's success, however, was soon to become a liability. The 
Robinson-Patman Act of 1936 had A&P as one of its prime antitrust 
targets and a 1949 antitrust lawsuit forced limitations on the company 
faced by none other in the industry. Preoccupation with its legal 
difficulties, coupled with the deaths of John and George Hartford--sons 
of the founder--in the 1950's, led to years of decline. In 1979, 
controlling interest in the company was acquired by the Tengelmann 
Group of West Germany. The chain pared itself to 1,000 stores, closed 
unprofitable manufacturing plants and made other changes. The changes 
quickly returned the company to profitability and it has regained its 
stature within the American supermarket industry.
  A&P is a major employer in my district and an important public 
convenience to my constituents and millions of others across the 
Nation.


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