Waldbaum's
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Waldbaum's is a supermarket chain in New York, especially dominant on Long Island and the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island. It started in 1904 as a shop run by Joseph Waldbaum in Brooklyn. In the late 70's, Waldbaum's purchased Foodmart, Inc., a Springfield, MA based supermarket chain, enabling it to expand out of its New York/Long Island home turf and into Southern New England. The New England stores were named Waldbaum's Foodmart and the company at one point grew to more than 160 stores. It was acquired by The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company (A&P) in 1986, which over the years mismanaged and invested little in the stores, resulting in the closing or sale of scores of the Foodmart stores in the New England division. A&P then converted the remaining "Waldbaum's Foodmart" locations into "Super Foodmart", and later, "A&P Super Foodmart" (A&P's other New England Division). Save for one store in West Hartford, CT, the diminished Waldbaum's chain currently exists only in certain boroughs of New York City and Long Island, where it is still market leader, along with King Kullen. Waldbaum's currently operates 71 stores.
Waldbaum's operates full-service, traditional grocery stores, with a variety of footprints and models. All locations feature fresh meats, produce, and delicatessens. 63 Stores have Bakeries, and 36 have Pharmacies. Like other members of the A&P chain, it offers house brand products under the America's Choice, Master Choice, Savings Plus, MORE, and Health Pride names.
Some believe that it is a subsidiary of the retail giant Wal-Mart due to the name, but there is no connection (in fact, ironically, its market was the last major metro area in the US to open any Wal-Mart stores).
On December 13, 2005, Waldbaum's began offering online shopping [1]; along with The Food Emporium, it is currently one of only two members of the A&P family to do so.
