Last A&P (Under that Name) to Close in Pennsylvania

[Max]

Most of the A&P supermarkets in Pennsylvania which were still open as of January 1, 1982 were either closed or converted to Super Fresh during 1982 and 1983. But some PA stores continued on with the A&P nameplate. A February 11, 1985 newspaper ad in The Pottsville Republican listed the following A&P locations: Branch Township, Brodheadsville, Hughesville, Lehighton, Mount Pocono, Tamaqua, Towanda, and Tunkhannock. At least three of these locations--Tamaqua, Lehighton, and Mount Pocono--remained as A&Ps into the 1990s. After doing some research on Newspapers.com, I ascertained that the Tamaqua store closed on July 31, 1992 and that the Lehighton supermarket shut its doors on October 22, 1994. Although I was unable to ascertain a specific closing date for Mount Pocono, there is a decent chance that the store was still open in October 1996, since a 10/25/96 newspaper article mentioned the prior evening's theft of the wheel covers of somebody's car in the Mount Pocono A&P parking lot. (This would imply that the Mount Pocono store was still open, although this individual could have parked her car in the parking lot of a supermarket which had closed.)

The Mount Pocono location may very well have been the last supermarket to operate under the A&P name in Pennsylvania, but I do not know for sure. Any insights one could provide regarding when the last A&P (operating under that nameplate) closed in Pennsylvania--and its location--would be much appreciated.

[opacity]

Not sure about Mount Pocono, but the North Towanda A&P closed on 12/10/94, a little after Lehighton.

[Max]

Not sure about Mount Pocono, but the North Towanda A&P closed on 12/10/94, a little after Lehighton.

Thanks for your informative response.

Regarding the Lehighton A&P, there are some interesting bits of information which I either overlooked or did not previously mention, courtesy of articles in The Morning Call (of Allentown, PA) dated 10/19/94 and 10/24/94. Although the Lehighton A&P only did about $26,000 in business each week, the store's monthly lease was just $2,000, and it employed only three full-time and seven part-time workers. The store's manager was given less than one week's notice of the closing from corporate leadership. The news was a surprise to her, since the store was already decorated for Halloween, and since the supermarket's lease was not set to expire until August 1995. Given the short notice, no store closing sale was held; instead, the remaining non-perishable items were shipped to other A&P locations, while the perishables were all sold. Most likely, the sudden closing of the Lehighton A&P was due to the opening of nearby Walmart and Aldi stores. At the time of Lehighton's closure, not only were the A&P locations in North Towanda and Mount Pocono still open, but so was the store in Hughesville.