[5] Known for innovation, A&P improved consumers' nutritional habits by making available a vast assortment of food products at much lower costs.

The tea company, which some sources say was co-founded by George Huntington Hartford,[10] continued to use the Great American name for mail-order purposes.

[8] After long debate, the Hartfords agreed to John's proposal of experimenting with an economy store designed to operate at a 12% gross margin.

Cream of Wheat, the largest breakfast food manufacturer, demanded that all retailers adhere to the cereal's pricing per box.

However, the Hartford brothers were concerned that gross margins had reached 22% to cover higher costs and that the chain veered from its low-cost discipline.

In early 1926, the brothers discussed the situation with division management and launched a program to lower prices and improve cost controls.

[8] While this legislation did not move in Congress, in 1936 Patman sponsored the Robinson–Patman Act that outlawed charging different prices to similar customers; this law passed.

George and John Hartford also took the unusual step of publishing an open letter pointing out that the legislation would increase food prices.

[15] A&P's success attracted the attention of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's anti-trust chief, Thurman Arnold, who was urged by Representative Wright Patman to investigate A&P.

[22] The same day the Dallas case was withdrawn, charges were filed in Danville, Illinois against the same defendants, and were assigned to Federal Judge Walter Lindley.

The prosecution complained that A&P had an unfair competitive advantage because their vertical integration including manufacturing; warehousing, and retailing allowed them to charge lower prices.

[23] Thousands of letters poured into the Justice Department supporting A&P; the Hartford brothers gave extensive interviews with Time magazine and appeared on the November 13, 1950, cover.

[23] In fighting the anti-trust suits, A&P also emphasized the considerable impact of their activities on the public welfare, which had been recognized as the legacy of George Hartford Sr. and his sons.

The concepts pioneered and perfected by the Hartfords and their competitors enabled the public to enjoy healthier eating at lower cost.

[15] While Burger started with A&P in 1910 as a clerk in Glens Falls, New York,[26] he was a staffer who lacked John Hartford's strategic marketing skills.

Kane believed that A&P could be turned around by focusing on basic store operations, including cleanliness, product availability, customer service, and courtesy.

When his program stalled, Kane implemented a strategy to substantially cut prices by converting A&P to a warehouse store concept that became known as W.E.O.

[7] Scott continued Kane's efforts to improve basic store operations (including cleanliness and customer service) instituting a large training program.

Born in 1930, Haub studied retailing in the U.S. after World War II and built his family's grocery business into a 2,000-store chain with annual sales of the equivalent of $2 billion.

[15] In Germany, Tengelmann had considerable success with Plus stores; they were smaller units featuring low price private-label products along with a limited assortment of meats and produce.

However, the concept failed to win American customers who were attracted to other chains offering low prices on national brands.

[15] William Walsh, then a recently retired executive, filed a class action that was ultimately settled by increasing the value of the annuities.

[35] In 1989, A&P acquired Michigan-based Farmer Jack; also, A&P attempted to expand into Europe by bidding unsuccessfully for the Gateway Corporation (then the United Kingdom's third-largest grocery chain), although they did open stores in the Netherlands, which they operated until the early 2000s.

[17] A&P continued to suffer in the South and abandoned most of the region by pulling out of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, the Carolinas, Tennessee, and Virginia.

In May, rumors emerged that A&P was in more financial trouble as it declared a huge loss (in April) for the previous year, losing more business to better-managed competition.

[48] The A&P Historical Society describes early stores as "resplendent emporiums" painted in vermilion and equipped with a large gas light T sign.

A clerk stood behind a long counter to serve customers (self-service did not become common until the 1930s), and the cashier's station was shaped like a pagoda.

After John Hartford became responsible for marketing in the 1900s, A&P began offering S&H Green Stamps to free space for the expanded line of groceries available in the stores.

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.

[7] Until the creation of a combined Manufacturing Group in 1975, the corporation's production operations were conducted by four separate divisions:[8] In the mid-1990s, A&P introduced a new simplified store brand called America's Choice, which would last until the chain's demise in 2015.