Best Cellars by A&P at The Food Emporium, New Canaan, CT
Adjacent to the former Food Emporium is a "Best Cellars by A&P" liquor store (not sure why it doesn't say "by The Food Emporium". Best Cellars was another concept which A&P acquired during the mid-2000's, when it was flush with cash from selling its highly profitable Canadian division. The liquor stores are the only stores which The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company still operates.
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When Food Emporium was created in '79 by Shopwell, most of their 62 Shopwell supermarkets were located in New York city and neighboring Westchester County, NY. Instead of engaging in a discount price war at the low end of the market (as was going on in Philly at the time), they created Food Emporium to cater to the high end, leveraging the fact that many of their existing markets were located in affluent areas.
The concept proved profitable, but was expensive. By 1986, Shopwell had converted 25 of its 52 Shopwell stores to Food Emporiums, with margins that were three times the industry average but also with a huge debt load. A&P was in the process of creating its own gourmet banner, A&P Food Bazaar, and when the owners of Shopwell announced that their company was for sale. A&P acquired the company later that year.
This New Canaan, CT store opened in October, 1987 and was the first Food Emporium built from the ground-up by A&P after they acquired the concept. As with many Food Emporiums, this store has some FutureStore elements, such as the greenhouse facade and the white tiled interior.
During the 90's, A&P re-bannered many of its conventional supermarkets in the NYC Metro area as Food Emporiums, and expanded the concept to New Jersey and Canada, but as with so many supermarket acquisitions (Genuardi's, Dominick's, Waldbaums, Farmer Jack), huge companies can suck the soul and passion out of a thriving concept--and customers noticed.
At one point, A&P had 15-20 Food Emporium supermarkets north of NYC, in Westchester County, NY and Fairfield County, CT...but the company converted most of them to A&P Fresh Markets during the 2000's. This New Canaan store was the only Food Emporium outside of Manhattan which remained, possibly because it was felt that the New Canaanites would not tolerate an A&P (Fresh Market or not) within their midst.
New Canaan is the 5th most affluent town in the US and people constantly complained about The Food Emporium. It doesn't seem that Acme is faring any better; the 8-month old store has 7 Yelp reviews, all with 1 star each and was completely dead on the evening I visited.
Best Cellars by A&P at The Food Emporium, New Canaan, CT
Adjacent to the former Food Emporium is a "Best Cellars by A&P" liquor store (not sure why it doesn't say "by The Food Emporium". Best Cellars was another concept which A&P acquired during the mid-2000's, when it was flush with cash from selling its highly profitable Canadian division. The liquor stores are the only stores which The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company still operates.
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When Food Emporium was created in '79 by Shopwell, most of their 62 Shopwell supermarkets were located in New York city and neighboring Westchester County, NY. Instead of engaging in a discount price war at the low end of the market (as was going on in Philly at the time), they created Food Emporium to cater to the high end, leveraging the fact that many of their existing markets were located in affluent areas.
The concept proved profitable, but was expensive. By 1986, Shopwell had converted 25 of its 52 Shopwell stores to Food Emporiums, with margins that were three times the industry average but also with a huge debt load. A&P was in the process of creating its own gourmet banner, A&P Food Bazaar, and when the owners of Shopwell announced that their company was for sale. A&P acquired the company later that year.
This New Canaan, CT store opened in October, 1987 and was the first Food Emporium built from the ground-up by A&P after they acquired the concept. As with many Food Emporiums, this store has some FutureStore elements, such as the greenhouse facade and the white tiled interior.
During the 90's, A&P re-bannered many of its conventional supermarkets in the NYC Metro area as Food Emporiums, and expanded the concept to New Jersey and Canada, but as with so many supermarket acquisitions (Genuardi's, Dominick's, Waldbaums, Farmer Jack), huge companies can suck the soul and passion out of a thriving concept--and customers noticed.
At one point, A&P had 15-20 Food Emporium supermarkets north of NYC, in Westchester County, NY and Fairfield County, CT...but the company converted most of them to A&P Fresh Markets during the 2000's. This New Canaan store was the only Food Emporium outside of Manhattan which remained, possibly because it was felt that the New Canaanites would not tolerate an A&P (Fresh Market or not) within their midst.
New Canaan is the 5th most affluent town in the US and people constantly complained about The Food Emporium. It doesn't seem that Acme is faring any better; the 8-month old store has 7 Yelp reviews, all with 1 star each and was completely dead on the evening I visited.