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Does anyone know how many A&P stores remained in N.H. after the wave of closures in the mid to late 70s? And, where they were located? Any photos?

Well, the Peterborough store was the last to close -- it stayed open WAY longer than it should have, but only because the town fathers refused to allow any new development. That kept all competition out. Do a simple google search on A&P Peterborough and you'll probably come up with some data points.

(As you can well imagine, it was a nutty store. A small, 1975 feel to it. Bizarre interior with ancient freezer cases and a hybrid of store signage -- some of which was akin to the mega-green Super-Fresh interiors of the 1990s.)

I also remember that an old A&P remained open in Franklin, NH probably until some time around 1997 or so. Last I knew, the old store building was still sitting empty along the road there.

inside of Peterborough store after it closed

http://www.flickr.com/photos/reinvented/3092782532

I don't think there was a store in Franklin until 1997. The Franklin store was in a very old downtown building; it closed when the new store in Tilton (just a mile down the road) opened in the 70s. I believe Tilton remained open until the late nineties.

paul3124 wrote:I don't think there was a store in Franklin until 1997. The Franklin store was in a very old downtown building; it closed when the new store in Tilton (just a mile down the road) opened in the 70s. I believe Tilton remained open until the late nineties.

I was working as a manager for Kraft Foods at the time and I can assure you that this store wasn't open in the late 1990s. At the very very latest, it was closed in 1997 and the more I think about it, it was likely earlier than that. Before I left Kraft, I remember sitting with one of my sales reps in the empty parking lot of that closed store.

(It was my recollection that the new store was also in Franklin, but you may be correct that it was officially in Tilton -- the town line is surely very closeby and I had always assumed that was still considered Franklin.)

If you're interested in the truly oddball A&Ps that stayed open way past their prime in Northern New England, then you must investigate the outrageously ancient and crappy A&P that was open into the mid 1990s in Greenville ME. I point blank asked the manager of that store why they kept his store open and, without batting an eye, he told me he had no idea. They did not participate in a weekly ad program (nor did they offer weekly sales). It was surreal in the extreme. A very very dated store that felt like 1955.

Also consider the A&P in Essex Jct, Vt.

But, the worst condition I ever saw an A&P in was one of the two stores in Plattsburgh NY. I cannot remember the name of the plaza, but it was surely the first built in this small city. This store was incredibly dark and very old. It closed probably around 1995.

Based solely on looking at a map, my guess would be that there wasn't much competition in a place like Greenville (or surrounding areas)? That seems to be a good reason that they would stay open.

There was one A&P in Wynantskill, NY (which is only maybe 2 minutes from the Troy border) and probably not more that 5-10 from the next nearest store (Price Chopper) that didn't close until 1997 (which is well after all the others in the greater Albany area), since it was the only store "in town". Shortly before they closed, Hannaford had built right across the street (though I remember them mentioning that there were others closing at that time as well - perhaps that was the time of the NH ones mentioned earlier).

Additionally - there were a couple up in the Adirondacks (Tupper, Saranac Lake, maybe 1 or 2 more?) that were open until around 2002 (ish) - again no competition, save Grand Union in Saranac (not exactly big competition) - maybe the Tops takeover after GU's bankruptcy made a difference.

Finally - the lonely one out in Margaretville (NY) that only closed a year or two ago (at that point, it was about 50-60 miles from any other A&P).

sbtinme wrote:If you're interested in the truly oddball A&Ps that stayed open way past their prime in Northern New England, then you must investigate the outrageously ancient and crappy A&P that was open into the mid 1990s in Greenville ME. I point blank asked the manager of that store why they kept his store open and, without batting an eye, he told me he had no idea. They did not participate in a weekly ad program (nor did they offer weekly sales). It was surreal in the extreme. A very very dated store that felt like 1955.

Also consider the A&P in Essex Jct, Vt.

But, the worst condition I ever saw an A&P in was one of the two stores in Plattsburgh NY. I cannot remember the name of the plaza, but it was surely the first built in this small city. This store was incredibly dark and very old. It closed probably around 1995.

sbtinme wrote :

But, the worst condition I ever saw an A&P in was one of the two stores in Plattsburgh NY. I cannot remember the name of the plaza, but it was surely the first built in this small city. This store was incredibly dark and very old. It closed probably around 1995.

The only A&P location I can remember in Plattsburgh was in the North Country Shopping Center. This store was located at the northern end of the plaza and would be on the right if you were standing in the parking lot facing the store fronts. The store had a light green facade, but I cannot remember if the A&P logo was the red, yellow, and white "pill" version or the older round red on white classic A&P logo. This was not a Colonial style A&P, but a typical flat roof style supermarket.

The last time I saw the store was in 1985. At that time it looked as if it was straight out of 1965 (or at least what I would imagine a 1965 A&P store would look like.)

Here is a link to some photos of that location http://www.pbase.com/worldbeads/ghost_a ... y&page=all These photos do not actually show the store though, but give a good example of what the store looked like (especially nc7.jpg)

Here is an article about the 2009 demolition of the plaza http://www.allbusiness.com/retail/retai ... 167-1.html

Where was the 2nd Plattsburgh A&P?

I have answered some of my original question about A&P stores in NH while on a road trip and chatting with local old timers.

There was a 50s vintage store in downtown Somersworth (pre-Centennial) that lasted at least until the late 80s. It was an unremarkable design. I saw one just like it in downtown Littleton, but that one had closed in the early 70s.

There was an A&P Sav-A-Center in Portsmouth, near downtown in the Parade Mall on Deer st. It closed in the early 90s and may have been a stop and shop originally.

Tilton, once the flagship of northern New England, lasted until the mid 90s.

The last operating A&P in NH was in Peterborough, sold to Stop and Shop in 2003. It had been opened by A&P in the 70s and was a very successful store for years. Stop and Shop has since closed it.

On a related note, someone mentioned the old A&P in Greenville, Me. I hadn't seen that store, but I remember an old A&P in Machias, Me. that may have still had the old wood floors if I remember right. And, I was in that store in 1988!

I came across an old 1989 holiday special ad flyer for A&P which listed all of their New England and upstate NY stores. There were 5 in NH: Peterborough, Milford, Tilton, Somersworth, and Portsmouth. I vaguely remember Milford and I think it was a centennial design. There were five stores in Maine: Dover-Foxcroft, Waterville, Machias, Greenville, and Eastport. Vermont had three: Bennington, which underwent an expansion in 1985, Middlebury, and Essex Junction. Upstate NY had 10: Tannersville, Red Hook, Wynantskill, Norwich, Margaretville, Ithaca, Watertown, Tupper Lake, Saranac lake, and Plattsburg. Some of these locations have already been mentioned in this thread, and I'm hoping someone out there knows something of those not yet detailed.

paul3124 wrote: ↑18 Nov 2011 02:41 Vermont had three: Bennington, which underwent an expansion in 1985, Middlebury, and Essex Junction. Upstate NY had 10: Tannersville, Red Hook, Wynantskill, Norwich, Margaretville, Ithaca, Watertown, Tupper Lake, Saranac lake, and Plattsburg. Some of these locations have already been mentioned in this thread, and I'm hoping someone out there knows something of those not yet detailed.

Just spotted this reply when it was quoted in another post.

As I ha noted earlier, for the NY ones Wynantskill lasted through 1997, the Tupper and Saranac until late 2001 (only since we passed those in the summer of 2001 and then again the following January and they were open the first time and closed the next), and Margaretville in 2009-2010 timeframe (that one hung on being a lone area without much else, but not impossible to serve with their other stores in Dutchess County that stayed until the final closings.

Can't help with Tannersville (only saw the Grand Union there, now Tops), Norwich, Ithaca, or Plattsburgh. Also don't remember one in Watertown (we were there in 2001 as part of a loop around the 1000 Islands just before heading across and seeing the Tupper and Saranac Lakes Stores), so that may have closed earlier, or was just not in an area we happened to be.

Red Hook was open for a bit after this ad, but probably closed in the earlier 1990's and was a CVS for a long time (haven't been by in a couple years, but I think they may have moved out). This town only had an IGA besides the A&P for a long time before Hannaford moved in (post A&P closing).

For VT, the Bennington one I believe lasted a fairly long time, maybe closing the same time as Wynantskill or so, just based on there being a fairly new Staples opening in that timeframe that I think was the A&P (the same plaza that long housed Kmart). There they had competition with Price Chopper and Grand Union, but at the time both were older stores - however there was a fairly new Hannaford that may have been the issue.

BillyGr wrote: ↑06 Jan 2021 16:31

paul3124 wrote: ↑18 Nov 2011 02:41 Vermont had three: Bennington, which underwent an expansion in 1985, Middlebury, and Essex Junction. Upstate NY had 10: Tannersville, Red Hook, Wynantskill, Norwich, Margaretville, Ithaca, Watertown, Tupper Lake, Saranac lake, and Plattsburg. Some of these locations have already been mentioned in this thread, and I'm hoping someone out there knows something of those not yet detailed.

Just spotted this reply when it was quoted in another post.


Red Hook was open for a bit after this ad, but probably closed in the earlier 1990's and was a CVS for a long time (haven't been by in a couple years, but I think they may have moved out). This town only had an IGA besides the A&P for a long time before Hannaford moved in (post A&P closing).

Sorry to go off post, but I used to deliver Coors and Canada Dry products to the A&P in Red Hook, NY in the early to mid 1990's. A VERY small and outdated store. I want to say they closed 1994/95. I may be wrong, but I think I recall that they were part of the "Berkshire Division". I'm trying to pin the date down.

nysw3636 wrote: ↑06 Jan 2021 17:16

BillyGr wrote: ↑06 Jan 2021 16:31 Just spotted this reply when it was quoted in another post.

Red Hook was open for a bit after this ad, but probably closed in the earlier 1990's and was a CVS for a long time (haven't been by in a couple years, but I think they may have moved out). This town only had an IGA besides the A&P for a long time before Hannaford moved in (post A&P closing).

Sorry to go off post, but I used to deliver Coors and Canada Dry products to the A&P in Red Hook, NY in the early to mid 1990's. A VERY small and outdated store. I want to say they closed 1994/95. I may be wrong, but I think I recall that they were part of the "Berkshire Division". I'm trying to pin the date down.

Thanks - I didn't remember exactly when either (we usually only noted it once a year in passing by for the fair), just remember it being closed before the Wynantskill one in 1997.

It was definitely small - even having been in afterwards as a CVS it always seemed small for that (compared to the modern freestanding drugstores). I'd suspect only that not having much else (the IGA there and a Grand Union down by the fairgrounds, technically Rhinebeck?) kept it running as long as it did. That seems to be a pattern with these A&P's (and, for that matter Grand Union as well).

An old A&P store in Woodsville, NH right across the river from Wells River, VT. There was a faint label scar on the front. Remaining in Woodsville was a Shaw's, Walmart and a Rite Aid.

Second picture