Store Prototype: Latest A&P Concept for the Semi-Urban
WEST NEW YORK, N.J. —A&P has developed a new format specifically designed to occupy an emerging niche in upscale condo, co-op and apartment developments that straddle urban and suburban spaces. The newest, in West New York, N.J., on the Hudson River shore across from Manhattan, combines specially tailored grocery, heath and beauty aids and pharmacy operations with upscale, convenience-oriented perishables in combination for the kind of communities developing in renewed downtown spaces and locales at the periphery of urban core markets that once were occupied by commercial properties.
The first of the new format stores opened a few months ago on North Charles Street in Baltimore, not far from the Inner Harbor development area.
The newest location is in a development area dubbed Port Imperial and is built around a new ferry link to Manhattan and light rail links which pull together gentrifying New Jersey riverfront communities stretching down through Hoboken and Jersey City. The supermarket is part of an emerging community where several building projects have been recently completed and more construction is under way.
Signed to accommodate the affluent residents of the surrounding development as well as commuters passing on the mass-transit links. Many are young families who have particular needs, so unlike the latest manifestation of A&P’s urban Food Emporium prototype, the West New York store has a pharmacy and complete yet compact health and beauty aid and over-the-counter drug presentation. General merchandise also is prominent but tightly apportioned with an emphasis on seasonal product. But it does have a featured display space that, in early spring, included outdoor café table sets.
Grocery is another department closely tailored to the core customer. Traditional products are limited but an entire aisle—and thus a disproportionate volume of floor space—is dedicated to international products.
Perishables are the stars. The meat case features wagyu beef, the variety that the Japanese use for their Kobe meat products. The meat case includes prepared and semi-prepared items with an eye toward grilling, including pre-skewered shish kabobs, and seafood offers items such as lemon-pepper catfish filets. “We have lots of fresh-to-go meat and seafood,” said Patti Council, an A&P spokeswoman. “That makes it easy for people interested in convenience.”
An elaborate bakery not only offers artisan breads but a line of A&P Signature Desserts as well. Artisan cheeses occupy their own department, and produce offers organic and baby salads, a floral operation and a dedicated case displaying 27 different kinds of mushrooms.
The new format is particularly important for A&P, which has been dedicating itself to its core Northeast market because so many of its stores are located along an urban corridor that is undergoing dramatic change both in terms of demographics and lifestyle preferences. Thus, A&P applied learning from its urban Food Emporium stores and its new generation suburban format Fresh stores, to create a hybrid concept for consumers who want the best of both worlds. “We have a lot of stores in the urban environment or densely populated suburbs, and we need to bring together all these fresh elements in the right way,” Council said.