PHILADELPHIA — A&P has assumed the lease of a high-profile supermarket development here, but whether the store opens under the Pathmark banner as planned or another name remains to be seen, sources told SN.
The project in Philadelphia’s Northern Liberties neighborhood was under construction when A&P filed for bankruptcy protection in December. Under pressure from the project’s developer, Tower Investments, the company agreed to assume the lease, it said in a court document this week. Sources last week indicated the 51,000-square-foot store could open as soon as September, but under the Super Fresh banner and not Pathmark as originally planned. An A&P spokesman told SN Friday that the company would make an announcement as to the specifics of the project in the coming weeks.
The store is part of an ambitious redevelopment of the former Schmidt’s Brewery site in a gentrifying Philadelphia neighborhood. One source told SN Friday that A&P’s decision to go ahead with the project indicates the company’s commitment to the Philadelphia market. Likewise, going with the Super Fresh banner would help reestablish its strength after A&P sold or closed many stores under that banner in the Washington-Baltimore area.