Sav-A-Center

[1][2][3] In addition, the Sav-A-Center division included three regular A&P stores, one of which was a small "corner grocery" in the French Quarter of New Orleans that A&P had been operating since 1931.

In May, the company announced a restructuring plan that would limit A&P to the East Coast region, and the Sav-A-Center stores.

[10] It was announced in September 2007 that the remaining Sav-A-Center stores would be sold to the locally owned Rouses chain.

[14] After the sale, A&P found itself sharing strip-mall space with many Bradlees stores, which at the time were owned by Stop & Shop.

The campaign featured images of larger, cleaner, modern-style stores, happy, upscale-looking shoppers, and friendly, cooperative staff.

The Sav-A-Center stores were renovated with oversized graphics of fresh-looking produce and baked goods; they also were outfitted with IBM-POS checkouts.

However, A&P had trouble shedding its high-price perception; gradually, the low-volume Sav-A-Centers lost sales and shoppers to stores such as Pathmark and NYC area-leader ShopRite.

[21] A few months later, Rouses Markets bought 19 Sav-A-Center and A&P stores from A&P, including the historic location in New Orleans' French Quarter.