Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, Inc.
Grocery Retailing: How the Mighty Are Fallen - A&P Hits 15-Year Low
New York, NY, September 5 /SHfn/ -- After years of declining share price, the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company [GAP] fell to a low last week of $13.50. This is not, however, an opportunity to buy on the dip. Lackluster sales have reduced the national chain of grocery stores to a fraction of its former market share, and the company's efforts to right itself have met with only marginal success. The consensus rating of "hold" should probably be followed by the prudent investor.
Founded in 1859 as a tea merchant, the company soon expanded into coffee and spices. By the 1930s, full-service A&P supermarkets were appearing across the country. Fans of 20th-century Americana will recall the well-fed Kate Smith promoting A&P, and the A&P Gypsies on the NBC radio network. By 1950, annual sales hit $2.9 billion, a figure the company claims was beaten that year only by General Motors