Abandoned The Food Emporium, Upper West Side, Manhattan, NY
Continuing our look at a few of the over 60 stores which still lie vacant one year after A&P's bankruptcy, we come to a rather swanky neighborhood--The Upper West Side of Manhattan.
On the corner of Broadway and 90th, two blocks from Central Park, we arrive at the carcass of a once premium New York name--The Food Emporium. It was so premium that calling it simply "Food Emporium" wasn't good enough; it had to be branded "THE Food Emporium". After A&P acquired the company in 1986, it became the company's upscale banner and A&P expanded it throughout New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
This particular 20,000 sq. ft. store in Manhattan was opened in 1988, the third brand new store to open after A&P acquired the chain. The store was split over 2 levels (connected by escalators) and it had interior features combined from A&P's FutureStore and Food Bazaar concepts. Interior pictures from when the store was open are coming later this week.
In the early 2000's, as A&P repositioned its A&P, Waldbaum's and Superfresh stores into its upscale Fresh Market format, the plan for The Food Emporium was to push it even more upscale to a gourmet audience. Many Food Emporiums outside of New York City were converted to A&P Fresh Markets, but inside Manhattan, a core group of 20 or so Food Emporium stores remained. Those stores slowly were refreshed with a newer logo, better merchandising, and a new interior package featuring bright orange, lime green and (for some reason) yellow and white daisies. The results were huge increases of $85 per sq. ft. in sales. (from $758-$843/sq. ft.)
Even though the chain was a cash-cow for the company, A&P was desperate to raise money, and in 2013, the company put the entire chain up for sale. Unfortunately, no one wanted to take the whole thing, so A&P sold off its most valuable stores one-by-one. By A&P's final days, The Food Emporium chain was down to 14 stores, 12 of which were sold during the bankruptcy auction.
There are only 2 The Food Emporium stores which were not picked up by other operators during the auction--this Upper West Side store and the stunning Bridgemarket store, which was built underneath the 59th Street Bridge. The two stores remain empty today.
-------------------
The complete "A&P Abandoned Banner" Photoset:
•A&P
Abandoned The Food Emporium, Upper West Side, Manhattan, NY
Continuing our look at a few of the over 60 stores which still lie vacant one year after A&P's bankruptcy, we come to a rather swanky neighborhood--The Upper West Side of Manhattan.
On the corner of Broadway and 90th, two blocks from Central Park, we arrive at the carcass of a once premium New York name--The Food Emporium. It was so premium that calling it simply "Food Emporium" wasn't good enough; it had to be branded "THE Food Emporium". After A&P acquired the company in 1986, it became the company's upscale banner and A&P expanded it throughout New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
This particular 20,000 sq. ft. store in Manhattan was opened in 1988, the third brand new store to open after A&P acquired the chain. The store was split over 2 levels (connected by escalators) and it had interior features combined from A&P's FutureStore and Food Bazaar concepts. Interior pictures from when the store was open are coming later this week.
In the early 2000's, as A&P repositioned its A&P, Waldbaum's and Superfresh stores into its upscale Fresh Market format, the plan for The Food Emporium was to push it even more upscale to a gourmet audience. Many Food Emporiums outside of New York City were converted to A&P Fresh Markets, but inside Manhattan, a core group of 20 or so Food Emporium stores remained. Those stores slowly were refreshed with a newer logo, better merchandising, and a new interior package featuring bright orange, lime green and (for some reason) yellow and white daisies. The results were huge increases of $85 per sq. ft. in sales. (from $758-$843/sq. ft.)
Even though the chain was a cash-cow for the company, A&P was desperate to raise money, and in 2013, the company put the entire chain up for sale. Unfortunately, no one wanted to take the whole thing, so A&P sold off its most valuable stores one-by-one. By A&P's final days, The Food Emporium chain was down to 14 stores, 12 of which were sold during the bankruptcy auction.
There are only 2 The Food Emporium stores which were not picked up by other operators during the auction--this Upper West Side store and the stunning Bridgemarket store, which was built underneath the 59th Street Bridge. The two stores remain empty today.
-------------------
The complete "A&P Abandoned Banner" Photoset:
•A&P