UP TO 40 NEW PHARMACIES PRESCRIBED BY A&P FOR 1997

Peter Malbin

MONTVALE, N.J. -- A&P here continues to add pharmacies, with possibly 40 slated to open this year in new and remodeled stores, according to Michael Rourke, corporate affairs spokesman.

A&P is remodeling many of its supermarkets and is adding pharmacies to the remodeled versions when the market warrants it, Rourke added.

The chain will open three new pharmacies in its supermarkets by the end of this month, bringing to 23 the total number of pharmacies the chain will have opened by the end of the 1996 fiscal year. Feb. 22 will mark the close of the current fiscal year.

The company's 23 new pharmacies include nine at A&Ps in the New York metropolitan area and one in Atlanta; four at Super Fresh Food Markets in the Philadelphia area and five in the Baltimore/Washington area; two in Waldbaum's Super Food Marts in New England; one at Sav-A-Center, New Orleans, and one at Farmer Jack, Detroit.

A&P and its banner supermarkets have 164 pharmacies in the United States, said James J. Finocchi, vice president of pharmacies for the company. There are approximately 1,000 store units in total.

Mark Hanratty, food and drug analyst at Paine Webber, New York City, said he was not surprised that A&P was expanding its pharmacy business. "Most of the major operators are using a food-and-drug format," he said. "It helps you improve your sales of high-margin over-the-counter products. There are a lot of synergies in shopping with that type of format."