A&P Grocery Stores

In our fresh stores, A&P, Dominion, Ultra Food & Drug and The Barn Markets we serve the freshest products and offer convenient services to customers in an easy to shop environment.

In our discount format, Food Basics, we offer price savvy customers low prices on quality products to help meet their grocery needs.

A&P History

Founded in 1859 by George Huntington and George Gilman, The Great American Tea Company opened its first store in New York City and began selling tea, coffee and spices at value prices.

To commemorate the linking of the transcontinental railroad in 1869, the Company was renamed The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company (A&P).

During the 1880's, the business developed to include the manufacturing of products under private labels and they developed a one-stop shopping concept.

By 1920, the chain had grown to 4,500 grocery stores, establishing A&P's position in the top ranks of American business. It was in this decade that the Company first opened its doors in Canada, in Montreal .

The Company continued to flourish in the 1930's reaching a store count of 15,000. Stores offered a wide variety of merchandise and services including the Company's own Eight O'Clock Coffee, self-service meat counters, baked goods, produce and seafood.

In the 1980's, A&P in the United States underwent a massive restructuring and the Tengelmann Group, a large successful supermarket operator in Germany, purchased controlling interest of the Company.

A&P in Canada

Shortly after its entrance into the Canadian marketplace, the Company entered the more competitive Toronto market growing to 30 grocery stores. By 1929, A&P was present in 200 communities in Ontario and Quebec . Two distribution centres in Montreal and Toronto, which also included a coffee roasting facility and a Jane Parker Bakery, serviced these stores. At this point in the Company's history, it was the second largest grocery chain after the Toronto-based Dominion stores.

In 1935, the Company established its head office in Toronto on Laughton Avenue, which was eventually moved in 1960 to its current location on Dundas St. W. in Etobicoke, ON .

A&P Canada exited the Quebec market in 1984 and a year later acquired Dominion stores and a third distribution centre. The Company continued its acquisitions with the purchase of Miracle Food Mart and Ultra Food Mart in 1989, and The Barn Markets, based in Hamilton, in 1995.

Also in 1995, the Company opened its first discount store, Food Basics. The store appealed to customers seeking greater value and lower prices on their grocery items.

Today, A&P Canada operates 135 fresh stores under the Dominion, A&P, Ultra Food & Drug and The Barn stores and 103 Food Basics stores, and employs over 30,000 employees in Ontario.

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