A&P/Plus! Warehouse stores

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turbocsx
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A&P/Plus! Warehouse stores

Post by turbocsx »

does anyone remember a short lived chain of stores called Plus! they were a warehouse store and were a division of A&P I think (possibly it was Grand Union, but i am almost positive it was a&p) The sign was individual letters spelling PLUS! and it was green. I remember there being one near me in the early 80's. it was open maybe 2 years at the most.
turbocsx
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New York: Plus! Supermarkets

Post by turbocsx »

I remember at least one of these stores in centereach.. It was across the street from a Grand Union. I think the store was an experiment of either A&P or Grand Union. It was a "warehouse" style store. They sold stuff by the case, and alot of no-name items. Does anyone else remember it? It was open in the early 80's. It closed after it burned down.
John Michael
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Plus Supermarkets

Post by John Michael »

Sorry Turbo, I cannot recall ever seeing one of these. However in my mental photo album, which tells the world that I never did have a life, I recall it having light blue lettering, all in capitals, within a rectangular box. I also recall a touch of orange. Am I correct? Is this the one?
paysh
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Post by paysh »

There was a PLUS (Priced Low, U Save) store in Peekskill, NY, (I believe) for a brief moment in time. It was a prototype older A&P with the cupola and the front porch deal in front. Like many of the big store ideas in the 70s, it was short lived.
turbocsx
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Post by turbocsx »

i thought the sign had all capital letters in light green. but i could be wrong.
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Groceteria
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Post by Groceteria »

Plus was an A&P experiment in about 1979-1980, just following the Tengelmann Group takeover. It was an American adaptation of a German no-frills deep discount format which used the same name. It apparently went over like a lead balloon here and was abandoned after only a year or two.
TheQuestioner
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Post by TheQuestioner »

God, Plus! Talk about atrophied memories. This store is something I wouldn't have remembered on my own for a million years, but now that someone mentioned it, I can see the logo in my head. (No sign of it on the web, though.) As I recall, it was a blocky, san-serif wide font, with the P larger than the "lus", and with red and blue bands coming in from each side and parting when they got to the letters, like water flowing around a rock sticking out of a stream. It was very 70's, graphic style, kind of like the Pathmark logo.

I am not sure if any of these opened in the DC metro area. Unlike Basics or Price Chopper, I can't recall any particular locations for this short lived brand. I may have just seen it on trips up north.

I do recall when all A&Ps became SuperFresh in the DC area, and I assumed A&P had died and this new chain was just taking over the real estate. Even as a kid the significance of the idea of A&P going out of business was not lost on me. I am still kind of surprised how far they fell, in the 70's my perception was that they and Safeway were *the* grocery stores of the USA, and everyone else was small-time.
weo
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Re: A&P/Plus! Warehouse stores

Post by weo »

It's funny to read about PLUS on this board.

If you follow Tengelmann, the parent of A&P, they are starting to divest their PLUS stores within Europe, seeking partners in Germany, and focusing on their Kaiser stores and other non-grocery operations.

I still feel that PLUS could have been successful, if pursued. The closest we have here today of a PLUS limited assortment store is ALDI.

PLUS did operate in the Washington DC area, mostly in Northern VA. They had a thriving store on Jeff Davis Highway, and I loved the orange and blue sign and decor they used for the store.

Today, Food Basics is A7P's everyday low price chain in Philly, NJ and NY. These bright forest and lime green stores are a far cry from PLUS. They are much bigger and offer a much wider assortment of products.
Jared
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Post by Jared »

TheQuestioner wrote:God, Plus! Talk about atrophied memories. This store is something I wouldn't have remembered on my own for a million years, but now that someone mentioned it, I can see the logo in my head. (No sign of it on the web, though.) As I recall, it was a blocky, san-serif wide font, with the P larger than the "lus", and with red and blue bands coming in from each side and parting when they got to the letters, like water flowing around a rock sticking out of a stream. It was very 70's, graphic style, kind of like the Pathmark logo.

I am not sure if any of these opened in the DC metro area. Unlike Basics or Price Chopper, I can't recall any particular locations for this short lived brand. I may have just seen it on trips up north.

I do recall when all A&Ps became SuperFresh in the DC area, and I assumed A&P had died and this new chain was just taking over the real estate. Even as a kid the significance of the idea of A&P going out of business was not lost on me. I am still kind of surprised how far they fell, in the 70's my perception was that they and Safeway were *the* grocery stores of the USA, and everyone else was small-time.
a&p finally revamped the pathmark logo. And SuperFresh is one of the stronger banners of a&p
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Re: A&P/Plus! Warehouse stores

Post by Groceteria »

Found a Washington Post article from 10 August 1983 with the announcement that all remaining Plus stores would close soon afterward. The banner began operations in 1979 and reached a peak of 70 stores before declining to 30 by the end in 1983.
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Re: A&P/Plus! Warehouse stores

Post by maynesG »

Yes , I remember A&P Plus Stores in New York and Philadelphia. With the awful economy of the late 1970's many retailers set up what was known in the industry as Box Stores. Jewel T,
Sav A Lot, even Genuardis experimented with a few stores known as Mad Grocers.
What killed them a boom economy. People had more money in their pockets and time became more dear then price. Even Sav A Lot changed and added produce, dairy and meat departments.
Who knows, If energy prices continue to soar and the economy heads for the tank, the box store may return.
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