Mr. Haub: A&P is one of the oldest food retail companies in North America, founded in 1859. Our annual sales of 11 billion put us among the top 10 supermarket retailers in North America. We operate approximately 700 stores in 16 states and the Province of Ontario in Canada. Our major markets are the metropolitan New York, Detroit, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Madison (Wisconsin), Milwaukee and New Orleans areas in the US, and the Greater Toronto area in Ontario, Canada.
TWST: What is the competitive landscape today?
Mr. Haub: The supermarket industry in general is a very competitive one.
What has changed in recent years is the steady penetration of the food
industry by alternative retail channels. The biggest impact has been
from the discount sector driven by Wal-Mart, but many other retail
channels, such as wholesale clubs, drug stores, convenience stores, have
been aggressively pursuing the food business. At the same time,
supermarkets have been equally aggressive in pursuing the so-called non-
traditional supermarket categories, such as pharmacy, health and beauty
care and broader assortments of general merchandise. So there has been a
definite blurring of the lines between the different trade channels.
This was accompanied, particularly in the 1990s, by an aggressive rate
of new store expansion throughout the supermarket industry, adding
significant square footage in most major markets, to the point of over-
saturation in many. Of course, this has made competition among
supermarkets, and between supermarkets and other trade channels, even
more intense.
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