A&P

The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, better known as A&P, was an American and Canadian chain of grocery stores that ceased supermarket operations in 2015 after 156 years in business. From 1915 through 1975, A&P was the largest food/grocery retailer in the United States (until 1965, the largest U.S. retailer of any kind). A&P was considered an American icon that according to The Wall Street Journal "was as well known as McDonald's or Google is today" and that A&P was "Walmart before Walmart." Known for innovation, A&P and the supermarkets that followed its lead significantly improved nutritional habits by making available a vast assortment of food products at much lower costs. Until 1982, A&P also was a large food manufacturer. In his 1952 book, American Capitalism, John Kenneth Galbraith cited A&P's manufacturing strategy as a classic example of countervailing power that was a welcome alternative to state price controls.