The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Co. (Montvale, N.J.), owner of the A&P supermarket chain, said yesterday that it might sell its Canadian unit and would sell or close its 90 Farmer Jack stores. The Farmer Jack subsidiary is headquartered in Detroit and operates throughout southeast Michigan and northern Ohio.
Selling its profitable Canadian unit would improve Great Atlantic’s balance sheet, permitting it to focus on its 250 stores in the New York region and its 75 stores in the Middle Atlantic States. Great Atlantic has lost money for seven consecutive quarters.
Once the country’s largest retailer, Great Atlantic will be left with its mainstay A&P chain; Super Fresh along the East Coast, from New Jersey to Virginia; Waldbaum in New York and New Jersey; and Sav-A-Center in Louisiana and Mississippi.