Columbus Boulevard SuperFresh to close
The Columbus Boulevard Super Fresh location will soon be closing its doors.
The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., known as A&P, has filed for bankruptcy, forcing a number of their stores to close over the next few months.
More from The Inquirer:
For now, business at those stores will continue as usual, A&P said in a statement Monday.
In the coming months, however, the company will shutter 25 unprofitable stores. Ten are Pathmark and Super Fresh supermarkets in the Philadelphia region, the company said – locations as diverse as Berwyn and Folsom, Center Square and Northeast Philadelphia.
The company did not give a specific time frame.
A&P operates a total of 296 supermarkets. They are said to be selling 120 locations and closing 25 of the unprofitable stores. The location at 1851 S. Columbus Blvd. is the only location affected in South Philly so far.
Well that’s not super surprising. That store is relatively expensive and I’ve never seen it heavliy shopped (purely anecdotal). Their produce was kinda sad looking and their bakery was non-existent.
It’s sad when any business closes (people lose jobs, etc), but I never fully understood what market that grocery store was trying to serve.
I agree. There prices were too high. I prefer the Shop Rite by Target which surprisingly has lower prices than the one on Passyunk Ave.
I think they were angling to the former suburban residents of South Philly. People who wanted ample parking and wide aisles, a less congested feel. And of course, car only shoppers, no walk in traffic.That’s the only thing I can think of.
The failure that is Pier 72 takes one more step. What a waste.
There is literally an advertisement for a crossover SUV if you scroll up a few articles… On this website… For the supposed “new south philly”.. A good amount of you newcomers have to be buying them if they are ready to pay Albert for the Ad space…
So true! Is that how you keep it real, rolling in a full-size Escalade, with a handicap placard so you never have to walk more than 10 feet?
I drive a 4 cylinder coup…
That is a programmatic native advertising platform, which I’m actually in the process of getting rid of to focus on local advertisers only. Stay tuned
Hey ProvWithout, by “native advertising” Albert means that the advertising is different for everybody based on their own search history. So someone must have a wandering eye for a crossover SUV. Your 4 cylinder coup will be sad to hear the news.
He must have SUV-envy (aka SPS).
The Super Fresh on South Street is usually busy and their produce was very good. I guess if there’s a choice between the highway robbery of Whole Foods and the cheaper prices of Super Fresh people will vote with their wallets.
BTW, I always thought Acme had higher prices than Super Fresh.
The super fresh on south street is operated very differently than the one on Columbus blvd. as a result, that one isn’t slated for closure.
That super fresh serves a neighborhood it is accessible by foot and the route 40 bus, and even offers parking (though I would be surprised if significant portion of their customers drive).
the departure of Columbus blvd super fresh probably won’t be missed. I’m sure the management of pier 70 are wondering who they can get to fill that vacancy. I believe they have a couple other small ones to fill too. That complex and that whole area is a wasted opportunity.
Pier 70 is designed so poorly for people to walk there or even to take SEPTA, despite its bus stop. It’s a huge pain to cross between the Super Fresh side and the Home Depot side without walkways, stop signs, and zebra crossings.
That place is a pedestrian nightmare. I hope when the Pier 68 park opens things improve, but I doubt it.
“The super fresh on south street is operated very differently than the one on Columbus blvd. as a result, that one isn’t slated for closure.”
Nope, but it will be taken over by ACME…
http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20150722_Future_Acme_Supermarkets.html
Dear, Wegmans
PLEASE
@andrew: please, stop.
Never going to happen. Shop on 9th St., no need for these places.
9th street is a great, i Love it, but it’s not nearly the same as a Wegmans. not saying one is better than the other, but don’t act like the city couldn’t use a Wegmans just because we have the Italian market…that’s just absurd
I LOVE 9th street, but my problem is that so few shops are open after 5pm on week nights. I go on the weekend if I have a chance, but I find myself wishing it were open more times than not.
Yeah, i’ll shop 9th street i need to re-up on my batteries and socks. #notwhatitoncewas
Ugh, so true. It’s a shame.
Yeah….because Claudios, Cappucios, Cannulis, and Di Bruno only have socks and batteries *rolls eyes so hard they fall out of head*.
Ha! Was just about to post the same thing.
Question: Does anybody really venture out of their way to go to a grocery store? Meaning, don’t most people, especially in our urban slice of heaven, just go to the closest one to them? I know we go to the Passyunk Acme because it’s closest, not because its the best grocery store in the city. I’m not getting in my car and driving to some other store when I can walk to that one. I don’t know where I’m really going with this. Just that a grocery store on the river side of Columbus should probably never expect to be successful, people don’t live over there. And I could give a shit about Wegman’s coming to the city, unless in the unlikely event it’s closer or equidistant to me than the Acme.
I largely agree with this. I love Wegman’s, but I’m not hauling over to Columbus Blvd for it or anything else. It would be ideal if Wegmans could be included in the proposed development at Broad & Washington. Then I would skip Acme (which I do live close to), at least when I plan to get more groceries than a couple of one-off items.
I would go to Wegman’s over other markets even if I had to travel a little further. It wouldn’t stop me from going to the italian market though. What we really need is a Fairway! This is what I miss the most from NY.
https://www.fairwaymarket.com
Anthony –
Bart Blatstein apparently “begged” Wegman’s to be a part of that very development, and they turned him down:
http://philly.curbed.com/archives/2014/11/18/bart-blatstein-washington-ave-broad-st-casino.php
I’m wondering if Wegman’s reluctance to open a store in Philadelphia is due to unions. I don’t think Wegman’s is a union store though they pay well and offer benefits to employees (niece works there). That’s the reason Giant won’t open a store in the city.
How about a Trader Joe’s or a Costco there.
We live at 11th and mifflin, and we drive to the Shoprite next to the Target for our weekly groceries, even though Acme is totally walkable. The price difference on produce, and especially meat is pretty significant (even though the Fish guy at Acme really does know his shit) and it’s an all around nicer store in my opinion with way better sales. If we aren’t buying our Meat from the Italian Market, we are getting it from Shoprite.
We’ve actually driven to Cherry Hill to go to Wegmans on the way down the shore, or if we are stocking up on wine/booze and also need groceries. More expensive than shoprite, but the quality and selection is second to none, and while not a regular thing because of it’s distance over the bridge, if there was one where the superfresh was, I’d say we’d probably buy half of our groceries there over the course of a year, and almost all of or produce because they really do carry great stuff.
You’re also ignoring what it COULD do with the supermarkets in the area. If a Wegmans came in, Acme would have to shape up or toil into the abyss, and Shoprite would have to get even cheaper, or get an even larger array of produce (although they do have a lot) So it could have a positive impact on the supermarkets you frequent even if you never set foot in a Wegmans.
Also Wegmans has guacamole and it is amazing. The End.
eh… you can get far superior guacamole at any of the 100 taquerias throughout South Philly. Fresh, made to order, not the pre-made stuff they have at Wegmans.
Hell I drive to Jersey just to go to Wegmen’s, of course I’d go if there was one closer.
Fair enough, I stand corrected.
South Philly Food Co-op!
Replace it with a roller rink. Or an all people’s dancing spot. Seriously. There are a lot of opportunities beyond grocery stores. Or Rite – Aids. Talk to anyone old-ish in SP – it isn’t the grocery shopping they remember with such fondness.