• Sarah Schillaci/For the Star-Ledger

RANDOLPH--After nearly four decades of business, the Pathmark supermarket on Route 10 West is scheduled to close next month.

A spokeswoman for Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company (A&P), the Montvale-based company that owns all Pathmark stores, said the store would officially close Aug. 15.

"Stores that have been underperformers for quite some time, despite the best efforts of our management, employees and increased promotional programs which still do not achieve satisfactory operating results must be closed," wrote Spokeswoman Lauren La Bruno in an email.

A&P bought Pathmark stores in 2007 for $679 million in stock and cash, months after Pathmark had reported an $8.8 million loss in its last quarter. There are 144 Pathmark stores in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware.

A&P also owns all Food Emporium, Super Fresh, and Food Basics stores, employing about 50,000 people.

A sign posted on the window of the cavernous Randolph supermarket alerted customers that the pharmacy would close July 29, and all records transferred to the A&P supermarket on Center Grove Road, also in Randolph.

The sign hung next to another poster welcoming pharmacy customers from the recently closed Drug Fair chain.

Shoppers were surprised to hear that the store, a major presence in a town that lacks a main drag, would soon close.

"I'm shocked," said Randolph resident Joan Gudelanis, who had just finished her grocery shopping this afternoon. "It's like a landmark here."

The Pathmark sits at the center of a shopping center at the intersection of Salem Street and Route 10 West, next to an equally large Kmart. A number of smaller shops surround it.

Gudelanis wondered if the grocery store's departure foretold the eventual demise of the retail complex.

"It seems like everyone's moving out," she said.

La Bruno, the spokeswoman for A&P, said she did not know how many people were employed at the Randolph store, but wrote that some employees have been offered jobs within the company.