A&P - Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. Inc. - 100 Pieces!

Company History: A&P, the oldest supermarket chain in the United States, was a partnership founded in 1859 as the Great American Tea Co. by George Huntington Hartford and George Gilman, tea and spice merchants. The first store opened in New York City in 1861 and sold various teas and coffees. In 1870 the company was renamed the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. in honor of the nation�s first transcontinental railroad. By 1876 A&P became the nation�s first major grocery chain with 100 stores. Peddlers driving horse-drawn wagons were employed in the 1880�s to deliver goods along 5,000 routes nationwide.

A major change occurred in 1912 with the opening in Jersey City, NJ, of the first self-serve concept in shopping. It succeeded by selling in volume at lower prices for cash, with no premiums or delivery services. By 1925 there were 14,000 A&P stores, with sales exceeding $440 million. John Hartford, one of George�s two sons, was a merchandising genius who found it impossible to keep track of all the stores. He reportedly visited a minimum of 3000 stores per year. Decentralization was begun, which ultimately brought government regulations and taxes. The deaths of the two Hartford sons in the 1950�s led to the decline of the marketing empire. In 1979 the Hartford Foundation sold its A&P holdings to the Tengelmann Group, an international conglomerate. A&P also started Women�s Day magazine in 1937 and the A&P Radio Hour in 1924.

A& P Vignette by American Bank Note. Mixed Blue, Orange, and Olive colors. 100 Pieces.