Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co.

Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. (A&P)

Historic U.S. corporation that originated as a tea importer and distributor before diversifying into the grocery business. The company had its start in 1859, when the Great American Tea Co. was founded in New York as a direct-mail operation to trade in tea from the cargoes of clipper ships. The first retail stores were incorporated in 1869 under the name Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. By 1925 it was the largest U.S. grocery chain, and in 1936 A&P opened its first supermarket. By 1969 it was the largest supermarket chain in the U.S., but it declined thereafter, and in 1979 a controlling portion of its stock was bought by German supermarket giant Tengelmann.