I'm 77 and the one thing that I remember most about A&P was the smell of freshly ground coffee as you walked in the door. You're absolutely right about Jane Parker and Ann Page products. They were superb. I really miss them.
You can still experience that. Costco sells whole bean coffee and has a grinder in the front of the store, just like A&P used to. It's just as amazing.
@@ronalddevine9587 From what I was told when I worked at A&P, most if not all of the Jane Parker/A&P products were made by name-brand manufacturers. A&P coffee was Chock Full Of Nuts coffee for example.
I’m 65 and totally remember the Atlantic & Pacific Tea ☕️ Company. Also remember the S&H Greenstamps?? You fill little books with stamps and pick a prize from the catalog 😁I miss the 60’s and 70’s so much!! Those times were so simple and carefree. I turned 16 in 1975. I got my driver’s last license and worked part-time in my local supermarket. We were so busy, and we worked really hard too🙋🏽♀️💕
Thank you for this. A & P was our go-to grocery store during my childhood and teenage years. Their meat department was the best around. OMG the smell of that coffee..The bakery...everythng was so good. I miss the good ol' A & P.
Thanks for another great memory. I remember when the freezer sections of grocery store had nothing to keep the cold in. No glass doors or plastic curtains. Just cold air blasting out. Great place to hang out in the hot summer. Sad how we have gone from the great days of A&P to today’s S&G. (Smash & Grab)
It's sad that all of the A&P stores are gone. I did notice one mistake @3:48 where you showed a picture of a checkstand that was from a Safeway store. There was Lucerne milk and Edwards coffee in the picture, and those are Safeway brands. At one time, the largest restaurant chain in America was Howard Johnson's, with over 1,000 locations. Now they are all gone. Also, Sears was the largest retailer in America at one point, now they have virtually disappeared.
@mitchellbarnow1709-- Safeway is a large grocery chain store with over 900 locations. They have most of their stores in western states, and some on the east coast, including Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, and Washington, DC.
@@franknew9001 You can keep going and add all the airlines that have disappeared. TWA, Pan Am, Eastern, Braniff, etc..These were Major Airlines.......gone!
I miss A&P. When the 1970’s rolled around, A&P was being run into the ground and totally mismanaged. Eight O’Clock Coffee is now owned by Tata of India. In 1979, the Tenglemann Group of (West) Germany bought a 53% stake in A&P. A&P’s demise came in 2015 when it filed for bankruptcy (a second time) and went out of business. ☹️
My mom always took me with her everytime she went to A&P. The store also sold some high end toys which keep me dreaming. Mom never bought me one but I loved the experience. That was back in the late 50s and early 60s. I never forgot those times. The memories stuck around.
I remember we had an A&P grocery store in my hometown in 60's . There was a Bowling Alley above it and you could always hear the Bowling pins while in A&P .
I remember two nice workers talking excitedly about retirement age approaching. A couple of years later they were working at another store. I asked why and they said that there retirement fund account was raided and gone. Their entire working lifes promise of retirement gone.
The blessings of capitalism never cease. But we love it still don’t we folks? Even though it doesn’t love us back? Because it’s the best thing ever invented. Raided retirement funds are just another example of finding the opportunity to re-commodify an existing economic relationship or existing capitalist asset and believing that if you just squeeze the sponge in newer more creative ways an infinite amount of water will come out. Sorry to hear about what happened. Like the end of feudalism centuries ago when capitalism replaced it, it’s time we disposed of the capitalist system of production and wealth distribution and replaced it with 21st century socialism.
The smell of fresh ground coffee everywhere in the aisles, the sight of these machines that allowed shoppers to grind their own bag! Yep. That was A & P.
I remember 6 decades ago the Giant & Victory supermarkets both undersold the local A&P until the A&P closed. Then right after that both the Giant & Victory supermarkets raised their prices considerably.
Every week my parents bought our groceries at the A & P in Lockport, Ill in the 1950's.. I loved going there with them. I remember picking out the frozen hamburger patties with the little pat of butter on them. The 8 o'clock coffee smelled so fresh and you grinded it with their grinder. The butchers were so nice and friendly.
@@Dons166 whew!!!! big bad corporate. Run out of business by lazy over paid workers. That's why all your stuff is made in China, Bangladesh and Vietnam
What a funny memory. I had forgotten about New Freedom pads until you mentioned them. I still remember what the boxes looked like in the '70's, so distinctly different from the others. Thanks for a blast of womanly nostalgia, lol.
I believe the last time I shopped at an A&P was in Thomasville, NC in the mid-1990s. Their "china through grocery" program was somewhat like the S&H green stamp system. I kind of miss the old small store format of A&P. There's days when I get off work, that I'd rather have my eye teeth pulled than have to go into mobs of people in Walmart to get a loaf of bread. I still buy 8'Olock Coffee, only at Food Lion now.
This was an interesting video that brought back some memories until it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like
My folks shopped ONLY at our A&P on Wilshire Blvd. in Santa Monica, Ca. It was just a 5 minute drive from our house. There was a bakery and cleaners next to it where we bought our baked goods (if the A&P didn't have what we needed) and the cleaners did all of our laundry (at a VERY reasonable rate). And they're all gone now many, many years. It's sad.... such wonderful days.
I loved walking down the coffee aisle with the grinder right there. I wish coffee tasted like that aisle smelled! I would drink gallons! When I tasted my first coffee, it was so different and bitter that I never got the habit since I wanted the A&P aisle smell and taste.
Well done! Engaging. Connecting the store's history with USA's evolution from urban to sub-urban is as fundamental as the new and hungry competition which arose over time.
I remember as a small boy in the 70s going to A & P for the 8 O'clock coffee they'd grind for you at the cash register. We'd take it home and mom would make a pot in the percolator. It was good ❤😊. I still love my coffee.
I remember my mother grinding her own at our local A&P. Open the Eight'O'Clock bag, dump the beans in the hopper, stick the bag under the hopper, select the grind with the big knob, push the button, roll and clip the bag closed. Eight'O'Clock 100% Colombian Peaks Whole Bean is still my favorite. Grinding it at home is easy now.
I remember that A&P had a lot of smaller, older stores that had a limited selection, while their competitors were building big stores at suburban malls. The small stores saw their customer base shrink and with smaller profits they just went bust. Today many cities don't have big grocery stores anymore; they are all in the suburban malls. Then Walmart moved into the small towns which busted the main streets as they could not compete with Walmart's buying power.
In the 50‘s, my granma would take me to the A&P sometimes. We always got the Red package of Eight O’clock coffee and sometimes the Black package of Eight O’clock coffee. I don’t remember any other big stores really. (Maybe Grand Union in the late ‘50’s?.) The only other store I’d go to all the time was Woolworths. They had everything not food and a soda counter in some of them. They always had Hartz Mountain pet food which came in those dark orange boxes. 🍔🍳🥓🥪🍨🥧🥛🥤☕️🚬💙🌷🌱
The brother of George Huntington Hartford John, had an estate in Valhala NY His estate house is still up and used today. It is now the offices of admid. in Westchester County college. You got to see it it is beautiful!
No computers. The clerks had to know the prices or items, even if not stamped. Imagine that! Clerks who could count change without a computer readout telling them how much change to give and who knew the prices of items. No longer!!
I had the opportunity to work at 3 separate New Jersey A&P stores in the early 1970s during my high school and college years. I remember one of the full time cashiers (Helen) at the Woodbury store who impressed upon me of packing a ‘square bag’ for the customer, including bread and eggs on top!
I worked at A&P in the early 70s. Packing out the groceries in the aisles. Then I was tried out on the register. I learned how to make change by putting the bill on the bottom ledge of the register right above the drawer opening, give the customer their change, then put the bill in the drawer. This way it's obvious that you gave them the right or the wrong change from the bill. Also, when I wished a customer Merry Christmas the manager gently suggested I say "Happy Holidays" instead, my first lesson in diversity.🙏 Rest in peace, Mr. "J".🙏
My father was a regular shopper at A&P, he shops every payday after his job working at the railroad. he remembered the Jane Parker products a especially the pastries. My grandparents used to get S&H stamps from A&P as well. I believe the prices along with competition from Kroger and Walmart's discounts didn't help as well along with local chains. A&P should of never went under, a few other chains followed down the road.
We had one with in walking distance of our house. With 3 children my mother dragged all of us to the store. On the way back one day I got stung by a bee in my eye. My mom took out a steak she just bought and put it on my eye. 😬
The A&P in Metairie LA at the corner of Power and Vets had cutouts of running horses hanging over each register, each with the name of a Triple Crown winner on it. The last I remember was Secretariat. I think they added Seattle Slew, but I don't remember if they were open long enough to add Affirmed, but that definitely would have been the last. Also, they ground your coffee at the end of each register so the smell of coffee blasted you as soon as the door opened.
It would surprise people today to see how small the stores were mid-century. They were dotted all over Boston - a lot of people walked to them. It was the kind of place that had cans of food up on shelves behind the counter, and the staff would take them down with grabbers on a stick. By the time I remember in 1960 the smaller stores were gone, and chains were buying land to put up larger stores on. I do remember the smell of coffee, and the colorful bags.
A&P sort of pioneered the Aldi and Lidl concept - its own brands, quality as high or higher than national brands, but priced lower. If A&P had gone full Aldi in the U.S., it might still be around.
The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company, 1859-2017. The intellectual properties are still being held, but not used. Eight O'Clock Coffee is, indeed, still around. Hard to see it at Kroger, one of the regional brands that grew to rival A&P; Piggly Wiggly was another. Both Kroger and the Pig are still around, though Piggly Wiggly is a smaller, franchise operation now, which may be the way to go to revive the A&P brand in the future.
What a memory. A&P was still around here in Upstate NY in the early 90's. I live in the town where our local one was and it closed if I had to guess around 92-93. The area has been a mini-mall ever since and Hannaford was built across the way. There was still one up to the early 2000's in Hopewell Junction, NY we'd visit when we came to see our cousins.
My mother took me shopping with her every week and A&P was her store of choice. This was in the late 50s and early 60s. I will never forget it. Does anyone remember the spice cake bars with white icing?
This is a perfect example of how to increase 5 minutes of content to 23 minutes: "...it's like..." Analogies and infinite references to their store-brand coffee.
My great aunt worked at A&P for years! She was a cashier and ended up being a cashier supervisor and worked in the cash office/check cashing. The freshly ground coffee!!
I'm 50 and vaguely remember one in our city. It was downtown at 300 N. Genesee st. near the post office. Building is still there, as a hispanic grocery store.
As a high school student, I worked at an A&P, circa 1972. I must have ground a boatload of A&P coffee, even as a part-timer. Somehow, this A&P "superstore" (at the time) sprang up in my little podunk home town in central Texas. The manager was a straight-and-narrow type who demanded that everything was just so. The store was a showplace. Expectations were clearly defined. Not meeting those expectations more than a very few times rewarded one with a little chat with the manager. He wasn't the yelling type or a bully. He would ask if there was any doubt about what one should be doing. If so, he would explain his expectation. Then he would ask if there were any questions. Without fail, slackers didn't last very long. The people who stayed around for any length of time respected the man, but weren't intimidated by him.
A&P was the first grocery store I used to go in with my Mother growing up in suburban NY. Different aisles had different "smells". Once we saw a small mouse running around near the back of the store. The housewives all went into "panic mode". I heard they got a "store cat" and let it roam around the store after closing. Their housewife volume decreased dramatically after that...😻
I worked there during WEO, we all thought it was hilarious. A&P would get frozen bags of cut up meat pieces from Australia and mix it in with their own meat scraps to make low cost hamburger.
I remember their giant warehouse along I-55 in chicago south side near Kedzie Av. Burning to the ground one night about 1967 or so, after that I often wondered why they weren't around and they never rebuilt.
WEO! Lots of talk about past glory (like Al Bundy talking about his 8 touch downs in one game, over and over, and over) Great thought about the 8 O'Clock coffee and it reminded me of the Starbucks story where the original founders/owners sold out to Schultz, because they didn't want to serve brewed coffee, just beans. My mom used to shop at A&P and I liked it because they had small carts for children, however a Giant (that was the brand name) opened up a super big store with lots of variety and selection and we didn't much go to A&P anymore. The WEO guy saw the hand writing on the wall and drasticly reduced prices, but shot himself in the foot, because his small stores didn't/couldn't make up the volume. He failed and there were plenty of other chains to eat A&P's lunch in the suburban markets. So, too little (new/bigger stores in suburban markets) too late! Lacluster me too management never saw A&P build their capital position, acquire new stores thru acquisition (even keeping their non A&P branding) scaling up/keeping their distribution system whole and profitable. And it slowly withered (store by store) away. Oddly, ex/old A&P stores were great places for super sized Bodega (small business/independent) grocery/fruit markets in urban areas. I was surprised at how long A&P hung on, but not surprised that no other grocery chain bought them. By the late 70's A&P was a dinosaur with no merciful meteor to wipe them out. One last thought as we reminisce about a seminal grocery chain of the early 20th century; Piggly Wiggly, first outlet opened in 1916 in Memphis, Tennessee, and is notable as the first true self-service grocery store, and the originator of various familiar supermarket features, such as checkout stands, individual item price marking and shopping carts... is still in business in the 21st century.
A&P stores were also in Canada. There was one near my cottage. The family would take the boat across two lakes and canals and tie up to the docks. After the shopping was done there was a carryout service right to our boat ! I think A&P canada lasted a bit longer than in the USA but they did start a discount chain called Food Basics. Even though A&P was taken over by Metro Foods the Food Basics banner is still going strong. Yes we still have 8'O clock coffee
My father made deliveries to our neighborhood A&P. He wouldn't let me work there because he didn't want to hear the stories about his kid. That's why I went to work for the National Tea Company.
This video COMPLETELY omitted any mention of the U.S. Department of Justice's long-running antitrust investigation of A&P beginning in the early 1950s.
I remember going shopping with my mother at the A&P in the late 60's when I was just a little kid. THAT was a grocery store! The cashiers were so fast and skillfull- they could manually ring-up your items faster than the stupid scanners can today! Man, I wish we could return to that time! The food was good; the stores were nice, and people were still polite and dressed nicely. No horrible blaring music either- just nice, low-volume Muzak... Just made ya feel so good. Today, going shopping disgusts me. (And my mother, who will be 100 in January, agrees!)
Sadly, these videos illustrate a massive decline of our society in general; I wish it was A&P only or any other store. Just look how people -- customers and workers -- were dressed back in those days and compare that to today. So sad.
I remember going to the local A&P with my mom every Saturday morning. Its true the employees knew the customers by name and we knew all of them. My mom could call the butcher and order special cuts of meat. I remember getting the China and other housewares with purchases. If my brother and I behaved ourselves we got a Hershey bar at checkout. Good times!
This video was like eating peanut butter without milk. It tastes good but without milk it's like trying to start your car without a key. It would be like walking on gravel without shoes or watching a video without an analogy in every sentence.
Watching this video at 23 minutes with 5 minutes of usable content............"is like watching a 23 minute video with 5 minutes of usable content." I never heard so many puns in one video!
The have a grinding machine in the market basket shop at but soi few people buy bean coffee and grind it themselves at the store. They sell 8 O'CLOCK. ground or whole bean. Not enough people grind coffee to make the smell linger.
The metaphorical narrator did not mention the “Ann Page” A&P storebrand. Also, I thought it was Piggly Wiggly that introduced self-serve supermarkets in 1916, not A&P many years later as stated in the video. When I was a kid, we had a neighbor across the street that owned the local A&P supermarket. Though the store long since closed down, the brick building is still there it is now a “Grocery Outlet.” The aforementioned neighbor and and erstwhile A&P store owner has just recently passed away in his 90s.
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I'm 77 and the one thing that I remember most about A&P was the smell of freshly ground coffee as you walked in the door. You're absolutely right about Jane Parker and Ann Page products. They were superb. I really miss them.
You can still experience that. Costco sells whole bean coffee and has a grinder in the front of the store, just like A&P used to. It's just as amazing.
I shop Costco and have never smelled it.
I feel as if I've watched an infomercial for Eight O'clock Coffee! May a have a coupon for a box of Eight O'clock K-cups? 😉 23:28
@@ronalddevine9587 From what I was told when I worked at A&P, most if not all of the Jane Parker/A&P products were made by name-brand manufacturers. A&P coffee was Chock Full Of Nuts coffee for example.
I’m 65 and totally remember the Atlantic & Pacific Tea ☕️ Company. Also remember the S&H Greenstamps?? You fill little books with stamps and pick a prize from the catalog 😁I miss the 60’s and 70’s so much!! Those times were so simple and carefree. I turned 16 in 1975. I got my driver’s last license and worked part-time in my local supermarket. We were so busy, and we worked really hard too🙋🏽♀️💕
Thank you for this. A & P was our go-to grocery store during my childhood and teenage years. Their meat department was the best around. OMG the smell of that coffee..The bakery...everythng was so good. I miss the good ol' A & P.
I remember when A&P used to give S&H green stamps.
I was just a little girl, I used to come to the one over here with my mama. Them green back stamps was my mama favorite thing.
What were S&H green stamps?
Many grocery stores did.
@richardlee2642 excuse me, sir what were S&H green stamps?
@@cedricsmith8188 It was Plaid Stamps at A&P.
A&P was the first grocery store that I went to as a child and for a long time was the only one that I knew.
Thanks for another great memory. I remember when the freezer sections of grocery store had nothing to keep the cold in. No glass doors or plastic curtains. Just cold air blasting out. Great place to hang out in the hot summer.
Sad how we have gone from the great days of A&P to today’s S&G. (Smash & Grab)
It's sad that all of the A&P stores are gone. I did notice one mistake @3:48 where you showed a picture of a checkstand that was from a Safeway store. There was Lucerne milk and Edwards coffee in the picture, and those are Safeway brands.
At one time, the largest restaurant chain in America was Howard Johnson's, with over 1,000 locations. Now they are all gone.
Also, Sears was the largest retailer in America at one point, now they have virtually disappeared.
@@franknew9001 Is that Safeway bacon?
@mitchellbarnow1709-- Safeway is a large grocery chain store with over 900 locations. They have most of their stores in western states, and some on the east coast, including Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, and Washington, DC.
@@franknew9001 You can keep going and add all the airlines that have disappeared. TWA, Pan Am, Eastern, Braniff, etc..These were Major Airlines.......gone!
I miss A&P. When the 1970’s rolled around, A&P was being run into the ground and totally mismanaged.
Eight O’Clock Coffee is now owned by Tata of India.
In 1979, the Tenglemann Group of (West) Germany bought a 53% stake in A&P. A&P’s demise came in 2015 when it filed for bankruptcy (a second time) and went out of business. ☹️
@@RoadTripTelevisionNJ stop and shop is the reincarnated A&P.
@bsmith9506 not even close. Shop rite absolutely destroys them both in affordability and house made fare
My mom always took me with her everytime she went to A&P. The store also sold some high end toys which keep me dreaming. Mom never bought me one but I loved the experience. That was back in the late 50s and early 60s. I never forgot those times. The memories stuck around.
A&P was destroyed by the Tengelmann Corporation. All they cared about was profit. Customer service became secondary..
What do you expect when you are forever "worshiping at the altar of the stock holders" and forgetting about customer service!!
That is sad.
Same thing as Sears.
I remember we had an A&P grocery store in my hometown in 60's . There was a Bowling Alley above it and you could always hear the Bowling pins while in A&P .
I remember going with my grandmother to A&P and she always bought fresh ground 8 O'clock coffee.
I remember two nice workers talking excitedly about retirement age approaching. A couple of years later they were working at another store. I asked why and they said that there retirement fund account was raided and gone.
Their entire working lifes promise of retirement gone.
😠😡🤬
The blessings of capitalism never cease. But we love it still don’t we folks? Even though it doesn’t love us back? Because it’s the best thing ever invented. Raided retirement funds are just another example of finding the opportunity to re-commodify an existing economic relationship or existing capitalist asset and believing that if you just squeeze the sponge in newer more creative ways an infinite amount of water will come out.
Sorry to hear about what happened.
Like the end of feudalism centuries ago when capitalism replaced it, it’s time we disposed of the capitalist system of production and wealth distribution and replaced it with 21st century socialism.
Social security put a sto to that.
@@B_Estes_Undegöetz You're full to your eyeballs in bovine excrement.
Terrible
The smell of fresh ground coffee everywhere in the aisles, the sight of these machines that allowed shoppers to grind their own bag! Yep. That was A & P.
I always wondered what A and P stood for Atlantic and Pacific? Thanks for the info❤❤❤
I remember 6 decades ago the Giant & Victory supermarkets both undersold the local A&P until the A&P closed. Then right after that both the Giant & Victory supermarkets raised their prices considerably.
That is messed up.
The narrator kind of overdoes it with the analogies, "like a movie theatre that only shows indie films" 😄
It’s like who wrote this?
It's like.....way over done
It's like when you're in middle school and your paper is a 100 words short of the minimum and you go back and keep adding words.
This could've been 10 minutes.
@@JohnThomas-yy8sxso why are you watching it for,so you can bitch about it
We shopped every Friday night at the A&P on Creswell street in Shreveport. That's the only time my father was not drunk.
Awww, Spanish Bar Cake...so good
Nope. Piggly Wiggly patented the self-service grocery concept in 1917.
Yep! In Memphis. Replica/reconstruction in the Pink Palace Museum.
Yep'ers it's True!!! 🤠👍
It's like they forgot about that.
Every week my parents bought our groceries at the A & P in Lockport, Ill in the 1950's.. I loved going there with them. I remember picking out the frozen hamburger patties with the little pat of butter on them. The 8 o'clock coffee smelled so fresh and you grinded it with their grinder. The butchers were so nice and friendly.
I remember A&P as being a great grocery store. Walmart doesn't exactly do it.
My first job was in the A&P that my uncle managed in 1957. $1.40/hr! Many years later A&P tried to screw my uncle out of his retirement. They lost.
@@joeminella5315 Store Managers were not protected by the Union
@@Dons166 they still had pensions from corporate.
@@richwinds7179 not if the company was trying to screw him out of pension
@@Dons166 whew!!!! big bad corporate. Run out of business by lazy over paid workers. That's why all your stuff is made in China, Bangladesh and Vietnam
Never went for coffee but loved the fresh ground Eight O Clock smell
My mother bled through her New Freedom back in ‘75 whilst shopping at A&P.
What a funny memory. I had forgotten about New Freedom pads until you mentioned them. I still remember what the boxes looked like in the '70's, so distinctly different from the others. Thanks for a blast of womanly nostalgia, lol.
I believe the last time I shopped at an A&P was in Thomasville, NC in the mid-1990s. Their "china through grocery" program was somewhat like the S&H green stamp system. I kind of miss the old small store format of A&P. There's days when I get off work, that I'd rather have my eye teeth pulled than have to go into mobs of people in Walmart to get a loaf of bread. I still buy 8'Olock Coffee, only at Food Lion now.
This was an interesting video that brought back some memories until it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like
That is why I didn't watch this video to the end! "That's all I can stands, can't stands no more". LOL
I second that motion!!! 🤠👍
@@fubarmodelyard1392 It's like, it's like, it's like Liberace playing the flute!
oH wait, I think he did?
The Fresh Market is the #1 store. That fresh ground coffee aroma is there along with excellent cuatomer service.
My folks shopped ONLY at our A&P on Wilshire Blvd. in Santa Monica, Ca. It was just a 5 minute drive from our house. There was a bakery and cleaners next to it where we bought our baked goods (if the A&P didn't have what we needed) and the cleaners did all of our laundry (at a VERY reasonable rate). And they're all gone now many, many years. It's sad.... such wonderful days.
I loved walking down the coffee aisle with the grinder right there. I wish coffee tasted like that aisle smelled! I would drink gallons! When I tasted my first coffee, it was so different and bitter that I never got the habit since I wanted the A&P aisle smell and taste.
My parents would shop at A&P back in the 60s and 70s. Then a brand new Pathmark food store opened up. Sadly the A&P store faded away.
Well done! Engaging. Connecting the store's history with USA's evolution from urban to sub-urban is as fundamental as the new and hungry competition which arose over time.
It's like, trying to enjoy a video, but the narrator keeps using too many metaphors
Its like you read my mind
I remember as a small boy in the 70s going to A & P for the 8 O'clock coffee they'd grind for you at the cash register. We'd take it home and mom would make a pot in the percolator. It was good ❤😊. I still love my coffee.
I remember my mother grinding her own at our local A&P. Open the Eight'O'Clock bag, dump the beans in the hopper, stick the bag under the hopper, select the grind with the big knob, push the button, roll and clip the bag closed. Eight'O'Clock 100% Colombian Peaks Whole Bean is still my favorite. Grinding it at home is easy now.
I remember that A&P had a lot of smaller, older stores that had a limited selection, while their competitors were building big stores at suburban malls. The small stores saw their customer base shrink and with smaller profits they just went bust. Today many cities don't have big grocery stores anymore; they are all in the suburban malls. Then Walmart moved into the small towns which busted the main streets as they could not compete with Walmart's buying power.
Fresh ground coffee. I remember that!❤
In the 50‘s, my granma would take me to the A&P sometimes. We always got the Red package of Eight O’clock coffee and sometimes the Black package of Eight O’clock coffee. I don’t remember any other big stores really. (Maybe Grand Union in the late ‘50’s?.) The only other store I’d go to all the time was Woolworths. They had everything not food and a soda counter in some of them. They always had Hartz Mountain pet food which came in those dark orange boxes. 🍔🍳🥓🥪🍨🥧🥛🥤☕️🚬💙🌷🌱
The brother of George Huntington Hartford John, had an estate in Valhala NY His estate house is still up and used today. It is now the offices of admid. in Westchester County college. You got to see it it is beautiful!
We had an A&P potato processing plant in my hometown that made French fries and other potato products.They also processed frozen peas in the summer.
Private equity crooks.
I remember the coffee bean grinders at the end of their registers
No computers. The clerks had to know the prices or items, even if not stamped. Imagine that! Clerks who could count change without a computer readout telling them how much change to give and who knew the prices of items. No longer!!
It’s like…
Actually I think they were similes not metaphors. But how ever you slice it there were way too many!
@@rumrstv It's like, trying to enjoy a video, but the narrator keeps using too many metaphors
@@justinfusco6121 Have to use metaphors so millenials have an idea what A&P was decades ago.
@@RobertLipson-yu6kl Millennials aren't watching this.
I had the opportunity to work at 3 separate New Jersey A&P stores in the early 1970s during my high school and college years. I remember one of the full time cashiers (Helen) at the Woodbury store who impressed upon me of packing a ‘square bag’ for the customer, including bread and eggs on top!
I worked at A&P in the early 70s. Packing out the groceries in the aisles. Then I was tried out on the register. I learned how to make change by putting the bill on the bottom ledge of the register right above the drawer opening, give the customer their change, then put the bill in the drawer. This way it's obvious that you gave them the right or the wrong change from the bill. Also, when I wished a customer Merry Christmas the manager gently suggested I say "Happy Holidays" instead, my first lesson in diversity.🙏 Rest in peace, Mr. "J".🙏
I would've stayed with "Merry Christmas ".
My father was a regular shopper at A&P, he shops every payday after his job working at the railroad. he remembered the Jane Parker products a especially the pastries. My grandparents used to get S&H stamps from A&P as well. I believe the prices along with competition from Kroger and Walmart's discounts didn't help as well along with local chains. A&P should of never went under, a few other chains followed down the road.
If I remember correctly, A&P gave out Plaid Stamps.... S&H Green Stamps was Safeway. At least on the East Coast.
I believe you're right.
My grandmothers always called the A&P 'the tea company'
We had one with in walking distance of our house. With 3 children my mother dragged all of us to the store.
On the way back one day I got stung by a bee in my eye. My mom took out a steak she just bought and put it on my eye. 😬
Watching this video is LIKE "getting your teeth pulled". What is with all the examples??
The A&P in Metairie LA at the corner of Power and Vets had cutouts of running horses hanging over each register, each with the name of a Triple Crown winner on it. The last I remember was Secretariat. I think they added Seattle Slew, but I don't remember if they were open long enough to add Affirmed, but that definitely would have been the last. Also, they ground your coffee at the end of each register so the smell of coffee blasted you as soon as the door opened.
It would surprise people today to see how small the stores were mid-century. They were dotted all over Boston - a lot of people walked to them. It was the kind of place that had cans of food up on shelves behind the counter, and the staff would take them down with grabbers on a stick. By the time I remember in 1960 the smaller stores were gone, and chains were buying land to put up larger stores on. I do remember the smell of coffee, and the colorful bags.
The landmark architecture of 0:37 an A&P Centennial store!
😊
A&P sort of pioneered the Aldi and Lidl concept - its own brands, quality as high or higher than national brands, but priced lower. If A&P had gone full Aldi in the U.S., it might still be around.
The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company, 1859-2017. The intellectual properties are still being held, but not used. Eight O'Clock Coffee is, indeed, still around. Hard to see it at Kroger, one of the regional brands that grew to rival A&P; Piggly Wiggly was another. Both Kroger and the Pig are still around, though Piggly Wiggly is a smaller, franchise operation now, which may be the way to go to revive the A&P brand in the future.
Private equity killed Great Atlantic and pacific.
What a memory. A&P was still around here in Upstate NY in the early 90's. I live in the town where our local one was and it closed if I had to guess around 92-93. The area has been a mini-mall ever since and Hannaford was built across the way. There was still one up to the early 2000's in Hopewell Junction, NY we'd visit when we came to see our cousins.
My mother took me shopping with her every week and A&P was her store of choice. This was in the late 50s and early 60s. I will never forget it. Does anyone remember the spice cake bars with white icing?
This is a perfect example of how to increase 5 minutes of content to 23 minutes: "...it's like..." Analogies and infinite references to their store-brand coffee.
It's like.....going on a treasure hunt.
My great aunt worked at A&P for years! She was a cashier and ended up being a cashier supervisor and worked in the cash office/check cashing. The freshly ground coffee!!
I still buy 8 o’clock coffee.
My mom and I would shop there. I remember her grinding the coffee.
I'm 50 and vaguely remember one in our city. It was downtown at 300 N. Genesee st. near the post office. Building is still there, as a hispanic grocery store.
Unfortunately A&P purchased Kohl's grocery stores.
Great to know about the delicious Eight o'clock coffee and its origin! However, growing up in So. Cal. I don't ever recall seeing an A&P store.
My first job was at A&P on the day I turned 16 so I could be bonded. And, yes, the ground coffee smell was ever-present.
As a high school student, I worked at an A&P, circa 1972. I must have ground a boatload of A&P coffee, even as a part-timer. Somehow, this A&P "superstore" (at the time) sprang up in my little podunk home town in central Texas. The manager was a straight-and-narrow type who demanded that everything was just so. The store was a showplace. Expectations were clearly defined. Not meeting those expectations more than a very few times rewarded one with a little chat with the manager. He wasn't the yelling type or a bully. He would ask if there was any doubt about what one should be doing. If so, he would explain his expectation. Then he would ask if there were any questions. Without fail, slackers didn't last very long. The people who stayed around for any length of time respected the man, but weren't intimidated by him.
The A&P was the first my family shopped when we moved to Glen Rock NJ. Grand Union was the other one
Great analogies that my 5yr old can understand .
I really miss the local A&P supermarket.
A&P was the first grocery store I used to go in with my Mother growing up in suburban NY.
Different aisles had different "smells".
Once we saw a small mouse running around near the back of the store.
The housewives all went into "panic mode".
I heard they got a "store cat" and let it roam around the store after closing.
Their housewife volume decreased dramatically after that...😻
Im 43 and i remember when I was a little kid going there all the time and they were ten times better than shaws or stop and shop...
Do a nostalgic retrospective on the Mafia: I dare you!
There was an A&P outside Bridgeville, Pa. Eight O’clock coffee and generic labeled canned goods my parents would get.
I remember A&P. But I had forgot about them for years.
Make this a drinking game. It’s like. See how long you last.
Lol, everytime he mentions coffee. Take a shot.
I worked at A&P in my high school days. We grounded the coffee at the check out counter while ringing the cash register.
I worked there during WEO, we all thought it was hilarious. A&P would get frozen bags of cut up meat pieces from Australia and mix it in with their own meat scraps to make low cost hamburger.
Kanga Burger?
I think Jack in the Box must have got their ground there?
I remember their giant warehouse along I-55 in chicago south side near Kedzie Av. Burning to the ground one night about 1967 or so, after that I often wondered why they weren't around and they never rebuilt.
WEO! Lots of talk about past glory (like Al Bundy talking about his 8 touch downs in one game, over and over, and over) Great thought about the 8 O'Clock coffee and it reminded me of the Starbucks story where the original founders/owners sold out to Schultz, because they didn't want to serve brewed coffee, just beans. My mom used to shop at A&P and I liked it because they had small carts for children, however a Giant (that was the brand name) opened up a super big store with lots of variety and selection and we didn't much go to A&P anymore. The WEO guy saw the hand writing on the wall and drasticly reduced prices, but shot himself in the foot, because his small stores didn't/couldn't make up the volume. He failed and there were plenty of other chains to eat A&P's lunch in the suburban markets. So, too little (new/bigger stores in suburban markets) too late! Lacluster me too management never saw A&P build their capital position, acquire new stores thru acquisition (even keeping their non A&P branding) scaling up/keeping their distribution system whole and profitable. And it slowly withered (store by store) away. Oddly, ex/old A&P stores were great places for super sized Bodega (small business/independent) grocery/fruit markets in urban areas. I was surprised at how long A&P hung on, but not surprised that no other grocery chain bought them. By the late 70's A&P was a dinosaur with no merciful meteor to wipe them out. One last thought as we reminisce about a seminal grocery chain of the early 20th century; Piggly Wiggly, first outlet opened in 1916 in Memphis, Tennessee, and is notable as the first true self-service grocery store, and the originator of various familiar supermarket features, such as checkout stands, individual item price marking and shopping carts... is still in business in the 21st century.
A&P stores were also in Canada. There was one near my cottage. The family would take the boat across two lakes and canals and tie up to the docks. After the shopping was done there was a carryout service right to our boat ! I think A&P canada lasted a bit longer than in the USA but they did start a discount chain called Food Basics. Even though A&P was taken over by Metro Foods the Food Basics banner is still going strong. Yes we still have 8'O clock coffee
I Shopped @ A & P Dallas Texas in 1960♥
I'm gonna take a shot for every analogy this dude made haha.
My father made deliveries to our neighborhood A&P. He wouldn't let me work there because he didn't want to hear the stories about his kid. That's why I went to work for the National Tea Company.
I remember the WEO (where economy originates) campaign from the 70s. "Only at your local A&P WEO store!"
This video COMPLETELY omitted any mention of the U.S. Department of Justice's long-running antitrust investigation of A&P beginning in the early 1950s.
I remember going shopping with my mother at the A&P in the late 60's when I was just a little kid. THAT was a grocery store! The cashiers were so fast and skillfull- they could manually ring-up your items faster than the stupid scanners can today! Man, I wish we could return to that time! The food was good; the stores were nice, and people were still polite and dressed nicely. No horrible blaring music either- just nice, low-volume Muzak... Just made ya feel so good. Today, going shopping disgusts me. (And my mother, who will be 100 in January, agrees!)
Congratulations to your mother, & to you both.
@@dcasper8514 Thank you so much!
Sadly, these videos illustrate a massive decline of our society in general; I wish it was A&P only or any other store. Just look how people -- customers and workers -- were dressed back in those days and compare that to today. So sad.
Look at the men's appearance today. No self pride, scruffy beards, & dirty shorts...
I remember going to the local A&P with my mom every Saturday morning. Its true the employees knew the customers by name and we knew all of them. My mom could call the butcher and order special cuts of meat. I remember getting the China and other housewares with purchases. If my brother and I behaved ourselves we got a Hershey bar at checkout. Good times!
It's like - a lot of similes in this video
I heard the A&P and the Stop&Shop were gonna merge. The new name will be Stop&P(ee). You'll never forget this joke for the rest of your life.
Pretty clever 😂
We always chuckled as kids to any mention of going to the A and P(ee)!
This video was like eating peanut butter without milk. It tastes good but without milk it's like trying to start your car without a key. It would be like walking on gravel without shoes or watching a video without an analogy in every sentence.
This was interesting but I feel like you could make a drinking game on the phrase, “it was like.”
A new drinking game! Take a drink Everytime the narrator says, “It’s like…”
It went downhill fast, because they didn't upkeep the stores my parents started shopping elsewhere
Nowadays, it is all overkill. One can still grind coffee in many stores, however.
Watching this video at 23 minutes with 5 minutes of usable content............"is like watching a 23 minute video with 5 minutes of usable content."
I never heard so many puns in one video!
The have a grinding machine in the market basket shop at but soi few people buy bean coffee and grind it themselves at the store. They sell 8 O'CLOCK. ground or whole bean. Not enough people grind coffee to make the smell linger.
@tombeegeeeye5765 Back with A & P the only way to get 8 8 o'clock coffee was by grind I believe.
I was just googling something in the middle middle of this video and what would you know oh my goodness a Walmart edge shows up during this video😢
The metaphorical narrator did not mention the “Ann Page” A&P storebrand. Also, I thought it was Piggly Wiggly that introduced self-serve supermarkets in 1916, not A&P many years later as stated in the video. When I was a kid, we had a neighbor across the street that owned the local A&P supermarket. Though the store long since closed down, the brick building is still there it is now a “Grocery Outlet.” The aforementioned neighbor and and erstwhile A&P store owner has just recently passed away in his 90s.
Enough of the corny analogies, I cringed every time the narrator said, "It's like..............."
@@caseycrookham3647 yes please , gets old quickly
The first 10 were ok but after that oh boy
And everyone got the best cut of meat. How wonderful!
Just wanted to comment that. It's like you've read my mind. A lot of repeating too. A lot of repeating too.
Yes!! enough already
I remember a a&p in my neighborhood in Buffalo ny