A&P Brands Sold to Mystery Buyer

Three years after its last stores shut down, remnants of the once-great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co.—including the A&P, Waldbaum's and Food Basics brand names—have been sold to a buyer whose identity has yet to be revealed.

Hilco Streambank this week said it brokered the sale of the A&P, Waldbaum’s and Food Basics supermarket banners. The company was engaged during A&P’s 2015 bankruptcy and liquidation to sell its intellectual properties. Hilco previously made deals for the Pathmark brand, acquired by Allegiance Retail Services, as well as SuperFresh and Food Emporium banners, two acquired by Key Food Stores Cooperative.

Hilco’s release did not include terms of the deal or the name of the buyer. WGB's calls for additional information on the identify have not been returned.

Representatives of Key Food and Wakefern Food Corp. told WGB this week they were not buyers. Distributor C&S Wholesale, a second-generation owner of such iconic brands as Piggly Wiggly and Grand Union, was not immediately available for comment, nor was Allegiance Retail Services.

A&P was once the biggest name in food retail, but back-to-back bankruptcies put it out of business for the last time in 2015. The brand could still have resonance, particularly in the Northeast. Waldbaums operated stores on Long Island and New York City, while Food Basics had stores in New Jersey and New York.

Related:A&P Files for Chapter 11 Reorganization to Facilitate Financial and Operational Restructuring

With the sale of A&P, Waldbaums and Food Basics banners, as well as certain miscellaneous brands and other intellectual property assets, A&P has now sold substantially all of its intellectual property assets, Hilco said.

"We are pleased to have assisted in the sale of these intellectual property assets. Such supermarket banners, including A&P and Waldbaums, have a long and rich history in the Northeast,” Hilco Streambank SVP Richelle Kalnit said. “We are excited to see how the new owners of these brands will continue the legacy.”