 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Supermarket |
| Founded | 1982 (1982) inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Headquarters | |
Number of locations | 20 |
Area served | New Jersey,New York |
| Parent | Key Food |
SuperFresh is asupermarket brand owned byKey Food Stores which operates inNew York City and itsNew Jersey suburbs. The company currently operates twenty supermarkets.
The name previously belonged to a chain of stores run byA&P, based largely in the cities and suburbs ofPhiladelphia,Baltimore, andWashington DC.
A&P and its unionized employees created the supermarket brand in 1982 and converted its Mid-Atlantic region stores to the new name.[1] Employees were offered profit-sharing benefits and given more control over individual stores, allowing the local market to more directly affect a store's offerings.[2]
By 1986, SuperFresh stores were located in thePhiladelphia area,Delaware,Maryland, southernNew Jersey,Washington, D.C., and northernVirginia.[3][2] SuperFresh stores also operated inBaton Rouge, Louisiana, until 2003, when they were rebranded to A&P'sSav-A-Center banner. In December 1994, A&P Canada converted five locations to low-cost versions of the SuperFresh concept. Another 20 stores were converted in February 1995.[4]
In 2006, A&P acquired sixClemens Family Markets, which were located in Montgomery and Bucks counties in suburban Philadelphia, converting them to the SuperFresh banner.[5]
In 2007, A&P acquired thePathmark supermarket chain.[6] By June 2008, it announced plans to convert eight of the 13 Philadelphia-area SuperFresh stores to its new Pathmark Sav-A-Center banner.[7][8] The company planned to renovate the remaining SuperFresh stores into its successful "Fresh" format (used in its A&P Fresh Markets). The change would re-position the Superfresh brand as an upscale banner.[9]
Following itsChapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, A&P announced in early 2011 its intention to sell or close 32 stores across its six supermarket banners. Included in the group were eight SuperFresh stores and one former SuperFresh store inGlasgow, Delaware, which had just been converted to the Pathmark Sav-A-Center brand two years prior.[10]
On April 13, 2011, A&P announced plans to close or sell 25 additional SuperFresh stores: 22 in Maryland, two in Delaware (Dover and Milford), and the only store inWashington, D.C.[11][12] After holding an auction in May, 13 stores were shut down because no buyer was found.[13] These supermarkets closed by July 15 and were replaced byShoppers Food & Pharmacy,ShopRite, and Fresh & Green's.
On November 14, 2012, A&P announced the closure of threeNew Jersey SuperFresh locations inMarlton,Westmont, andPlainsboro. These stores were liquidated in January 2013, leavingManahawkin, Ocean City, and Wildwood as the only remaining stores in New Jersey.[14]
On July 20, 2015, A&P announced that it was filing for bankruptcy for a second time.[15]Acme Markets acquired 75 A&P, SuperFresh, and Pathmark stores across Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.[16][17] The company liquidated in late 2015, selling as many stores as possible to competitors, and closing the remainder. During this process, all Superfresh stores were either closed or re-bannered asAcme orShopRite.
In February 2016, Key Food Stores acquired the trademark and rights to the SuperFresh brand name during the A&P bankruptcy auction.[18] On March 11, 2016, Key Food relaunched the SuperFresh brand from their location inPaterson, New Jersey.[19] By June, the company had a store in Bloomfield and on Staten Island.[20]
All Key Food locations in the state were rebranded under the SuperFresh banner in 2017.[21] In July 2021, a SuperFresh opened in North Baldwin on Long Island, replacing the Pathmark that had closed in 2015.[22]
