Stop & Shop to acquire 25 A&P stores

Stop & Shop, the Massachusetts-based grocery chain, announced on Tuesday it reached a $146 million agreement to acquire 25 A&P-owned grocery stores in New York and New Jersey, including a Mount Kisco location.

The move follows A&P’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in White Plains this week. Its parent company, The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., made the bankruptcy announcement Monday. According to Hearst Connecticut Media, the company cited $2.3 billion in debt and $1.6 billion in assets in its bankruptcy filing. The company previously filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in White Plains in 2010.

Of the 25 affected locations, 14 are Pathmark stores, nine are Waldbaums stores and two are A&P locations, including the A&P store at 195 N. Bedford Road in Mount Kisco. Stop & Shop, which operates a regional office in Purchase, said in a press release it plans to convert the 25 locations into Stop & Shop stores. The deal is expected to close in the second half of this year.

“Stop & Shop is always looking for convenient locations to better serve our customers,” said Don Sussman, Stop & Shop New York metro division president. “We are very happy to have the opportunity to expand our presence in greater New York and serve new customers.”

New Jersey-based A&P operates 296 stores in four states, including locations in Greenwich, Stamford and Danbury in Fairfield County. The company, which brands itself as the nation’s oldest grocery chain, traces its roots to 1859.

Stop & Shop, which is owned by Dutch retailer Ahold, currently has 395 stores in New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.