A&P TO SHUT 15 ONTARIO UNITS

MONTVALE, N.J. (FNS) -- A&P here said it will close 15 of its 240 Ontario stores by the end of June.

labor costs and increased competition in its Canadian market.

The decision to close the stores is part of the company's overall restructuring, according to Michael J. Rourke, senior vice president of communications and corporate affairs.

The company recently completed the conversion of 25 of its regular Ontario supermarkets to Super Fresh low-cost banners. A&P's recent labor troubles in Canada included a 14-week strike at its Miracle Food Mart stores that ended early in 1994 and a round of difficult negotiations last summer involving the company's conventional A&P and Dominion stores in Ontario. The store conversions were a key element in a labor agreement that A&P reached with the United Food & Commercial Workers' Union last summer.