My dad, Pete Ferrara, worked for A&P for over 30 years in Brooklyn and Queens NY. He would occasionally bring me to work with him which I enjoyed and remember fondly. RIP dad.

I remember the A&P stores in the 60s and 70s. The smell of freshly ground Eight O' Clock was heavenly. I could stand by the grinder and breathe in the delicious aroma for a long time. One thing my mother and her sister agreed on was A&P quality. Seldom did they ever agree on anything else.

I'm 72 and I remember going food shopping at our local AP. The coffee machine was at the register to grind your beans and the smell was so gooood. I surly miss those days .

My mom always shopped in our local A & P back in the 1960s on Long Island. She got to be friendly over the many years with the workers there. She passed away at age 47 when I was 17 and I remember my father actually made a special visit to the store to tell them in person the sad news.

In the mid 60s on Saturdays my mom would load the 5 kids in the station wagon for the weekly shopping trip to A&P. Two items that we talk about even today is their Ann Page fruit cake (the best fruit cake ever) and a spice cake also by Ann Page, I think. Bottom line, I will always have fond memories of A&P and those Saturday morning outings.

I remember going with my parents to the local A&P when we went grocery shopping. It was a sad day when the local A&P closed shop back in the 80's. 🍏

My grandmas sister Mary Rapp worked at an A & P grocery store for most of her life. During WW2 Mary Rapp rose up to being manager of the whole A & P store. After WW2 was over she was fired to make way for the men when they came home from the war. She always said it was her best years working as a manager of an A &P grocery store. I still remember the good smell of 8 oclock coffee. RIP my dear great aunt Mary. ♥️😂

Thank you so. For over 60-years I thought it was only I who have enjoyed those beautiful A&P memories, 8 O'Clock aromas, fresh baked goods, etc. Wonderful video.

I miss A&P, I was born 1955 and grew up with A&P, they had items that you couldn't find anywhere else. Thank you for the memories.

We all have fond memories of the way things were. Thank God we're still here to remember

I worked in the Bronx store in the 1960s as a cashier, produce manager, butcher, assistant, and so much more. It was quite a colorful place to grow up. I save my money to go to college from this job and babysitting.

Thank you for this well done presentation! Growing up in the 1950s-60s, A&P was a staple of my childhood. My beloved Mom never said she was going to the supermarket, it was always "I'm going to the A&P." I fondly remember their 'house' brands; Jane Parker and Ann Page. And who remembers Yukon Club sodas, another of their own branded line? Three cans of for a mere twenty-five cents. I was fascinated by the coffee grinders at every checkout where they would grind their brand of coffee beans right in front of you. Eight O'Clock coffee was my family's favorite and it smelled delicious. If you bought ice cream they would give you a metallic insulated bag at the checkout to avoid having the ice cream melt on it's way home. Going to the A&P was a fun experience, one that I sorely miss!

my dad Hector ( cover photo), worked at A&P coffee processing center in Armenia Colombia South America, he was the administrator and we lived in a house inside that center, we grew up playing with the coffee beans and jumping over stacks of coffee sacks...fantastic days!

I really enjoyed this very well done video. My father spent his entire career with the "Tea Company" as he referred to it. He was the manager of many of the various small stores in the neighboring villages; people for miles around knew and liked him. Finally, he became a department head in the first A & P supermarket in the area. And that was the store he retired from after 50 years.

I use Eight O'Clock coffee today partially from memories of grinding it at an A&P (but mostly because it's still the best imho).

I worked for A&P in the 70's. Got a photo with my sister and I taken by a photographer at an A&P in the early 60's. We still have that photo. The store where it was taken had saw dust on the floors in front of the meat cases. Jane Parker bread was 25 cents a loaf. It occasionally went on sale for 10 for $1.00. Seems like another world now.

Great video. Born in 1949, A&P supermarkets were all we knew until the early 1960's when other grocery stores started to pop up. Who could have thought that kids at in the 1950's would actually get excited to hear "we're going to the grocery store". We couldn't wait to get in the cereal aisle to see all the colorful boxes. Television commercials had a big influence on what cereals we liked to eat, and we always hoped we'd get one that contained some sort of toy or cut out on the box to play with. Having brothers and sisters, it usually ended up with someone crying because they didn't get what they wanted. The cry didn't last long as mom or dad would order us to stop crying or we'd "get something to really cry about" ! I wouldn't change those memories and great times for anything.

Grew up in Athens GA in the 1960s. We shopped for our groceries at the old A&P store in the triangular building down town. With wooden floors. The grinding of the coffee beans that perfect roasted aroma ensured I'd grow to become a dedicated coffee drinker. Still get 8 o'clock beans. Grind them fresh at home.

I remember eight o'clock coffee to this very minute!! Both of my grandmothers bought it and anytime I was with them as a kid, it was a real treat to go into our local A & P and smell that incredible aroma of freshly ground coffee! Nothing close to it in any grocery store or market today, that I know of.

A&P was my family’s favorite store . My grandma brewed their “ MY OWN TEA “ for as long as I have been alive . When A&P went out of business. My granny bought all of the MOT on the shelf . I miss granny and her great tea ! Thank you A&P for the best tea “My Own “ 💯

I worked for The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company my last two years of high school. I look back on it with very fond memories.

I never realized how big A&P was. I worked there form 1970-1982 when our manufacturing plant closed in Horseheads NY. At one time there were over 3500 people working in that plant. Now it's just another shopping plaza and yes WalMart stands in it's place (amongst other places)

I worked at A&P in 1977 when I was 16 years old, and thoroughly enjoyed it!

What fantastic memories of shopping with Gramma & listening to those cash registers rumbling & dinging. I remember the ladies wore red smocks with little red & white name tags, the S & H Green Stamp program, the paper grocery bags, the fresh produce, the butchers & bakers, all such nostalgia. Sure wish I could go back for a day & shop.

My Mom bought me " Meet the Beatles" album at A&P what an awesome Mom.

An A&P opened in our small town around 1965. I remember going in it with my Mom and watching her grind the coffee beans in the store's grinding machine. The pleasant aroma lingers to this day (and I'm not even a coffee drinker).

I worked at the A&P for 11 summers. We were unionized and I paid my college tuition and supplemented my teaching career. . In 1965 Teachers were paid very poorly. I loved working at the A&P.

I loved my neighborhood A&P when I was a kid. It always smelled like fresh ground coffee, and had a big pickle barrel where you could pick your own pickle for 5 cents ❤

Used to have a A&P store in my home town growing up. They had everything we needed. If my grandmother didn't have enough money, the owner would give her several items for free.

I worked at A&P in Canada for more than 30 years. A&P continued to be very successful here after the USA bankruptcy. It was finally sold and now operates under the banner Metro and Food Basics. Thank you the memory.

My Uncle Augie was a DP (displaced person in Europe who arrived to the USA in 1951). He worked his way up from being a bagger for groceries in the Pittsburgh A&P stores to becoming a store manager...I have a lot of happy memories as a kid.. Jane Parker, Ann Page and that delicious 8 o'clock coffee smell when grounded in the store..♥

As a child I remember A & P, they made it comfortable and friendly to shop, and prices were reasonable too. My mother wouldnt go anywhere else. It was agreat place to go, you really wanted to go shopping. It was great, then. Now it gotten too hectic, I should know, I have worked at 3 different markets in recent years, shop rite, stop and shop and king kullen.But my memories of A & P are the best. I miss them. Thanks for this posting!!

Good video! I worked from 1966 thru 1969 as a part time stock clerk, bagger, floor mopper, and finally as a cashier. I got drafted in 1969, and never went back to the grocery business. It was a great job for a school kid, and this video brings back lots of good memories.

I have been in an A&P occasionally over the years, but I never was aware of their significance to the industry and the social fabric of the country. Very interesting video

I remember the A&P store in Corning, NY from the late 50's. The store was on the corner of the business street. It had wooden floors that creaked as we walked on it, and wooden blade paddle fans slowly turning. When I think if this I can smell the coffee and other products to this day.

Memory Mountain I worked at A&P and waited 10 years to get a job I was very proud to work for them and so sad when they closed. As a Kid we always shopped at the Old A&P in downtown Pottstown Pa. Even when I was Laid off I still bought my Food there. To Me They were the Greatest Grocery EVER!

A bunch of us kids got our first jobs at the local A&P. Started out bringing the carts in, bagging groceries, stocking shelves. Many of us stayed and later became Dept. and Store Managers and some went up the ladder to corporate. Then 2015 and everybody lost their jobs and scattered to do other things. Wonder where are they now?

I started working at A&P when I was 16 in 1986. It was my favorite job. I had the best boss ever. And we had quite a bit of fun. I got carts, counted bottle returns, cashiered and best of all, I ground the coffee. It smelled so good. I miss that place.

Thank you for this. This is my family's history (Hartford) and you presented it in a thoughtful and accurate manor.

I remember shopping at A & P Clean stores, very friendly and helpful employees. Fair prices, great 8'oClock coffee. And everyone knew where everything was at and could tell you all about the product and make recommendations. These days you do good if anyone knows what they have or where it's located. Forget them taking you to the product 99% of the time. And never knowing anything about the product or any recommendations. God bless you and your family for sharing 🙏

Grew up shopping at A&P's in late 70s and in early 80s before they started shutting down. The coffee being ground and brewed will always be an iconic memory to me, I think I even remember them announcing it throughout the store during that time. Being a kid I wasn't impressed with drinking coffee but that grinding and smell always made want it. Probably why I don't really do coffee at home as an adult, but if I'm somewhere where they do that up fresh I'm always down for a cup.

My mother loved shopping in our A&P. I have fond memories of the aroma from the coffee bean grinder. We were saddened when the A&P closed in our town in the mid-eighties.

We had an A&P in our town and my parents always shopped there until they sadly closed….. What a great history! ❤️

I live in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. I too still use Eight O'Clock Coffee...the Regular Blend in the familiar Red/Gold Bag. The best. The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company wisely sold this brand to I think Tata Beverages??? before they finally dissolved into Bankruptcy. I worked for A&P for two years in High School. The Canadian Stores under the A&P/Dominion/The Barn Markets/Food Basics were sold to metro richileau (metro) in 2007. metro and food basics continue to sell Eight O'Clock Bean Coffee to this day at their stores. Another brand that still lives on...only online is The Jane Parker Bakery Brand...selling Christmas cakes and the famous "JP Spanish Bar Cake...with the frosty white icing on the top...delicious.🙂

My Mom worked there as a teenager and loved it. That coffee was amazing.

Wanted to compliment you on this piece. Well-researched, terrific photos, and folksy narration. A+ You were absolutely correct about that fresh coffee grinding aroma at the checkout. This, in itself, made A&P unique. I hate it when chains like this die. It's like losing a member of the family. At least we have the memories.

I remember when the A&P in my town got automatic doors put in , there was this rubber mat you stood on and that triggered the door..,..

I remember the A&P near my home in Ft. Lauderdale on East Las Olas in Florida growing up in the 60s.

cant tell you how much i enjoyed this video and the comments are all very touching listening to their positive comments 😇

I remember the bright red Eight O'Clock coffee grinder and the bright red bags of fresh coffee my mom always used in the coffee percolator we had at home.

August, 1959 at A&P with a mile-long shopping list. We had just moved from Detroit to the suburbs. We had to stock the kitchen and prepare our first dinner in the new house. My father and I loaded up two shopping carts. For the dinner festivity my father got a beef tenderloin and some lobster tails. These two loaded carts rang up just over $60.00! What a haul! My Dad's knees buckled! A dollar sure went further back then.

Brings back great old memories, growing up in the 70’s.my mom used to shop at A&P .

I remember people loving their jobs much more THEN than now. So I note that this story of A&P brings out anecdotes of those who worked there and again echo that sentiment. It was a great store!

I remember the old A&P Where my mother shopped every Wednesday because that was double stamp day. At the end of every 4th or 5th aisle there was a large, floor standing ash tray for their smoking customers.

In the mid to late 1960's/early 1970's we had a large A & P store in Natchitoches, LA (where the movie Steel Magnolia was filmed) that dominated the grocery market in that small town for years. Soon, once other supermarkets opened up (like Brookshire and Kroger - where I got my first paycheck job in 1973), their business declined rapidly until they were no more. What I remember most about A & P was their catchy theme song advertisement that was played often on the local radio station. The school bus that picked us up for going to/from school had speakers hooked up to the AM/FM radio stations and we'd hear that A & P commercial often.

Well done video! I am a retired semi Truck Driver from two large grocery chains, Safeway and Albertsons. This was interesting history!

I remember going with my mom and brother to A&P across the street from the Biograph theater in Chicago. My mom would have a full grocery cart full of food for $20.00 & don't forget the S&H green stamps too ! 🤔👍

The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company. 1859-2017. When I was small, they were everywhere. The last ones in St. Louis left around 1982. And yeah, the coffee grinders. Funny to see Eight O'Clock Coffee these days at Kroger.

We ate every imaginable thing from "Ann Page" (A&P's private label). Mom drove three towns over to shop at A&P. Remember their "Price and Pride" commercials?

A & P, and Safeway: Easily my two favorite Grogery Stores-EVER!!! I was born in Harrisonburg, Virginia in 1962. We had an A & P in the Cloverleaf Shopping Center, as well as other Businesses as Joe The Motorist's Friend, and Town And Country. On East Gay Street, about a Mile to the North-northwest of where I lived, was the Safeway Grocery Store. I absolutely fell in love with the atmosphere, and the very scent and essence of that Store! Thank you for having this Video Clip on KZfaq. It certainly brings back a lot of memories.

My mom worked at the A&P in Noblesville Indiana for her entire career as a cashier. She retired from the company in the late 80's when the store was closed. She knew almost everyone in our town because of her time working there. The first location in town was a very small store by today's standards, about a half block from my grandparent's home, and I can remember walking the isles and seeing the displays, open refrigerators and freezers and even talking to the department workers regularly. The pictures in my mind are still vivid 55 years later and mom regularly talks about her experiences with the company. Great video that stirred up fond memories.

Miss this A and P store my grandmother would take me there every day yes the coffee we still use and we just loved to see and meet so many people happy times....

my mom shopped there wonderful times I miss her so much

I grew up in the fifties and sixties and This grocery store was the main grocery store that my mom would Shop. I loved the coffee grinder and the wonderful smell. Great memories.

Fond memories of my grandmother and I shopping at the local A&P. Always clean and neat.

I''m 68 and and remember the A&P store down the street. It was a walk as a kid but I enjoyed it, when mom or grand mom would go for groceries they would take me, I always like it. They gave green stamps and we had bags of them. I remember mom letting me stick the stamps into the books and when she had enough she would trade them in for something. You could get some really good items with them, the more groceries you purchased the more stamps you got. Woolworths was another great store back then, had a counter for people to get a meal, ice cream soda, etc, had all kinds of things for everyone. I used to buy my model air planes for them with my allowance.

amazing channel

So MANY grocery stores I am familiar with here in Southern California from the late 1970's and on. After the military, I worked for 18 years with Vons/Pavilions, however, my early childhood years was in the Youngstown/Girard, OH area and so A&P was one of the stores my grandmother would shop at. I just remembered how the employees would know REGULAR CUSTOMERS and she was addressed as Mrs. Morgan. I would like to believe that this was a precursor to me LEARNING PROPERLY to address customers as it shows respect and appreciation for shoppers shopping with the store.

I remember the A&P here in our town. We went there for years and bought groceries. The Eight O Clock coffee was just wonderful and the Jane Parker items. We miss the old store not being here and things aren’t the same. I know all good things have to end but it still crossed my mind. Find memories of going there I still have..

i use to go there with my father as a kid brings back fond memories THANKS FOR SHARING.

I grew up in Aurora Ontario just north of Toronto. The subdivision I grew up in was built in the early 60's and A&P had a store in the shopping center. I remember going there with my parents when I was very young. I was born in 65. The A&P was closed by the early or mid 70's. Whenever I go back home to visit and go to that shopping center I often think back to when I was 5 or 6 years old and shopping with my mom at the A&P.

Being from New Jersey,A&P and Pathmark were THE two best supermarket chains to get your weekly groceries.

I remember the A & P store that was in canton, NC when I was a little girl. My parents always bought 8 o'clock coffee, and I was always amazed while they put it in the grinding machine there and ground it up. Many years ago.

Went to meet Ranger Hal at the A&P in Suburban Matyland circa 1964. I think Hayattsville. The sponsor I recall , was Hostess Cup Cakes. I broke out crying when I met him in the parking lot. I always enjoyed A&P especially smelling the fresh ground coffee at the in store coffee grinder.

My dad loved the 8 o clock coffee it smelled so good when you went into the store.

I only went to an A&P once, in Illinois, when visiting relatives. This would be late 60s, early 70s. The one near their house had the first of the "high basket" grocery carts that later in the 70s became a standard before the deep carts came back. Not only were the baskets shallow and high, each one had a set of rollers and a belt in them. When you went to check out, you pushed the cart up against the conveyor at the checkout booth, and the cart locked in against it, engaging a sprocket on the cart. The groceries would move forward as the belt in the cart turned, moving the items onto the checkout belt. It worked pretty well. I never saw that technology again.

I will never forget the A& P in Hopewell, Va. my mom always shopped there. I remember well that fresh ground coffee aroma. Also interesting to me was those mechanical cash registers & the rhythmic’tune’ they played.☺️. I was saddened when the last A&P in our area (Lakeland, Fl) closed. Another one bites the dust, thanks to the likes of Chyna Outlet (wallmarts). By the way, this video was very educational! Learned a lot I never knew before.

Sunday shopping at A& P in the seventies and eighties, we knew where everything was and conversation was always a part of the trip.

I remember the A&P in Buffalo. We moved to the suburbs in the early 1960’s. When we’d go back to city to visit my Grandmother, we’d occasionally visit the A&P. By the 1970’s you could see that he A&P looked like a 1940’s grocery store while our stores in the suburbs were getting larger like today.

I remember spending some time in the seat of a shopping cart as a very little kid in the A&P. Early 1960's. I remember at the meat section you could ring a bell and the Butcher would come to the window and take an order for special cuts of meat. A whole different world then.

I remember shopping with mom at the local A+P. At the end of each check out line stood the coffee grinder. It was my job to grind the Eight o'clock coffee to just the right blend. Ummm I can still smell that delicious aroma.

Remember A&P stores well. My mother shopped our local store on Saturdays when we lived in Brooklyn. Back in the day when you shopped in your neighborhood and stores were only a short walk from home.

Wonderful trip down memory lane. Going to the A&P as a child was exciting🥰

I remember the A&P on Metropolitan Avenue, on the way to my grandparents house in Williamsburg Brooklyn. I remember stopping there to do some shopping for Sunday dinner. I also remember the wonderful smell of the 8 o'clock coffee. Wow, I remember when it was Bohack super market. Then it was Waldbuam super market. Now it's a school.

My mom ONLY shopped at A & P until we moved to Florida where we didn't have one near us. Such a sad story and I learned so much from it.

My childhood memories going with my mom to the A&P once a week in the late 1950s early 60s

What I recall mostly about our small town A & P was the syncopated rhythms of the cash registers. ( and of course the smell of 8 O’clock )

I worked at an A&P in Taftville, CT in 1964. I have good memories of it. I was in the Air Force in 1972 and out it had closed. Thanks to your KZfaq site I know what happened. Thank you.

I shopped at the A&P in Moosehead Lake Maine . It was in the 90s and Sheriff Mickey Squires shopped right next to me , with his service revolver at hand. ❤

My first job was an A&P on Long Island. Every can and item had to be stamped with the price, for the cashiers to read.

A&P Coffee was a staple in our house. My parents would drink no other. If we ever did which was never the day would never start. I remember as a young boy getting the coffee ready for my parents before they went off to work and I to school.

My first “real job” was at A&P’s headquarters in Montvale, N.J. in the design department as a draftsman. I can’t tell you how many store interiors I drew, properly laying out rows of shelving, etc.! Worked with about 10 guys over a two year period before moving on. Every now and then I see an old A&P store repurposed but sadly the cupolas are mostly gone. Thanks for the memories!

My maternal grandparents moved to Los Angeles in the 1930s when it was still a smaller (almost 50,000) city and even though the big grocery store was Safeway, my grandmother still called it the "A & P" into the 1980s.

My dad was a relief manager for A&P during the war.

Two best smells in the world are fresh ground 8 o’clock coffee and honeysuckle 😊 you just can’t help but breathe in as much as you can 😄

We had an A&P in town for years. I remember shopping there with my mother on Friday afternoons after I got out of school. Two memories: the big pickle barrel and the Old 100 ice cream on a stick with thin chocolate shell. I got one of those ice creams only if I was truly deserving.............and the taste made the wait so worthwhile. A&P was the place that my mother ran into family and friends, and we never left the store without meeting someone we knew. The good old days!

I remember them. Growing up in St. Louis, MO. How time changes things.

What I remember is the aroma of the freshly ground coffee as soon as u walked in the store. That was back in the 1960s and I have never experienced that since then with all the fancy coffee shops out there no one comes close to the A&P

I remember while I was young and living in Brooklyn in the 50s, we had an A&P a couple of blocks away. Mom shopped there a lot.

My mom used to take me to the A&P in New Brunswick, NJ around 1960. We have a 1950s style supermarket in Springfield, IL today. It is very cool. But our Hy-Vee is a wonderland.