Pathmark
 |
|
| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Grocery |
| Founded | 1968 in Woodbridge, New Jersey |
| Defunct | November 25, 2015 |
| Headquarters | Iselin, NJ, United States |
|
Area served
|
Northeastern United States |
| Products | Fresh meat, deli, poultry, produce, pharmacy, essentials, health foods, medicines, & more. |
| Brands | Pathmark 1968-2008, No Frills 1980-1997, Smart Price 1997-2010, Chefmark 1975-2008,2014-2015, America's Choice (2008-2015) |
| Services | Pharmacy |
| Parent | Allegiance Retail Services |
Pathmark was a supermarket chain in the Northeastern United States. The chain was started in 1968 when a member of the ShopRite retailer's cooperative broke away to go into business for itself, Pathmark stores were liquidated and closed in 2015 following the bankruptcy of its parent company The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company. The intellectual assets and brand name were acquired by Allegiance Retail Services during A&P's bankruptcy in 2016 for 1 million dollars. There are currently no Pathmark Supermarkets in operation.
Pathmark had stores in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland. In 2007, Supermarket News ranked Pathmark No. 31 in its annual "Top 75 North American Food Retailers" based on Pathmark's 2006 estimated sales of $4.1 billion. Based on 2005 revenue, Pathmark was the 67th largest retailer in the United States.
Pathmark was well known by baby-boomers for its radio and television commercials starring character actor James Karen, who was the chain's spokesperson for more than 20 years. Pathmark's original spokesperson was Arlene Francis, who appeared in its commercials beginning almost immediately after Pathmark broke off from ShopRite. Peter "Produce Pete" Napolitano had starred in many of the company's commercials from 2001 till 2009.
Pathmark began when some of the supermarkets of the Wakefern Food Corporation, parent company of ShopRite, broke away in 1968, as some independent New Jersey grocers felt they needed to compete better with large supermarket chains. Some members of the cooperative agreed to operate their stores under the ShopRite name. Wakefern was both a wholesale operation and a retail operation; among its members was a subgroup, Supermarkets Operating Co., in Union, New Jersey formed in 1956 by Alex Aidekman, Herb Brody, and Milt Perlmutter. This company opened ShopRites; in 1963 it branched into nonfood retail by acquiring Crown Drugs.
Supermarkets Operating Co. and General Super Markets (another subgroup within Wakefern) merged in 1966 to become Supermarkets General Corporation, with Perlmutter as president. Supermarkets General operated 75 ShopRites across Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania by 1966, with annual sales of about $420 million. Supermarkets General achieved high volume by opening large stores in densely populated areas and keeping prices low on both nationally branded-goods and private-label items.
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