


A&P stores closing; apparently one in Yorktown Heights

Has anyone heard of others in Westchester etc. that might be closing? I frequent the one in Croton and am rather fond of the place. Small but easy to get in and out of. Looks like the one in Yorktown that is closing is the one that used to be Food Emporium. I didn't even realize that had become an A&P. I really dislike the big one at the Triangle Center-- too crowded (guess it will stay open for that reason). The one in Shrub Oak and the one in Peekskill are kind of a dumps also.


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  1. the next question is what will take its place? Another large store or will it be chopped up.

    1. In the Fleetwood section of Mt. Vernon our A&P was sold to CVS and touched off a firestorm of controversy. In the end, a much nicer Key Food Marketplace was opened in a different space a block over and I, for one, am very happy with the result. Not sure how the CVS is doing though.

        1. re: DGresh

          Thanks, I've stopped in the A & P in Yorktown a few times when Turco's was too crowded, and thought it was a very strange store--lots of open space, limited stock and very few customers. It will be interesting to see what will take its place--PLEASE not another CVS!!!

          1. re: Marge

            There are currently 2 A&P's in Yorktown, only a few blocks apart. One is the large one in the Triangle Shopping Center. That's not going anywhere. The one that is closing is the store in the K Mart center which was Food Emporium until fairly recently. Other than the senior citizens who live up the hill on Allen Street, I doubt that many people will miss it. A&P probably would have closed it when they got rid of the FE's in Westchester except they own the location and did not want to encourage competition.

            I'm more disappointed that the Pathmark in Monsey is closing. They had the best Passover section, like 5 aisles worth of stuff.

            I will keep hoping that Trader Joes realizes that they have a large area that has no coverage between Hartsdale and Danbury (not to mention everything north in Dutchess) and wise up and take the location. Sadly, I doubt that will happen.

          2. re: DGresh

            in connecticut, A&P is closing their West Hartford location,along with Branford,Middletown,Old Lyme and Mystic.

            the big y chain has agreed to buy 7 A&P locations but has not announced which ones.

            its pretty sad to see what is happening to A&P/Pathmark/Waldbaums but the times have changed. the great atlantic&pacific tea company hasnt.

            1. re: mrbeachy

              I think it may sit vacant for awhile...they lease the space and I cant see them letting anything pergeived as competition for their other location down the street. With that said would love a Trader Joes or Whole Foods or PF Changs/CHeescake Factory to go in there

              1. re: apples

                Are you talking about the Yorktown location or one of the CT stores? Because A&P owns the location that they are closing in Yorktown (as they do the building that houses Turco's). So they make money no matter where you shop.

          3. The closing of the A&P in Yorktown is long overdue. With a larger A&P and the far superior Turcos nearby, the existence of this store always puzzled me. Now we Yorktowners could hardly wait to see what takes its place! Any insight in the Chowhound community? A Trader Joes would be terrific but my personal wish would be a bookstore/cafe. In any case, my fingers are crossed for a lovely new addition to the Yorktown retail community (please please no dollar stores or fast food establishments!)

            19 Replies
            1. re: jdip

              TraderJoes would be amazing but from what I heard from the staff in the Yorktown store, it is going to be a Shoprite. Dont know how reliable that is but it is the buzz I have heard through town as well.

              1. re: xecuchef

                Hmmm.. I will have to stop in and ask about that but I can't imagine that happening. Shoprite is far superior to A&P and would really hurt their business at the other store. Plus the store is smaller than their normal Shoprite.

                I think that Trader Joes makes the most sense but they do not seem to have any interest in being up here.

                A bookstore is definitely not going to happen. The one at the mall already closed. Be happy you have a B&N in Mohegan Lake and Borders in Mt Kisco.

                1. re: MisterBill2

                  I hear an Ocean State Job Lot schlock store. A&P will never let in a competitor. They have a long term lease. If that does not work out they will put in a furniture store or gym to kill the location and protect their store at Triangle center.

                  1. re: Barrels41

                    That would make a lot of sense. I stopped by the store today and asked two employees and neither had any idea what was going in (one of them said "none of us know"). I asked someone high up at town hall and they had not heard anything, either.

                  2. re: MisterBill2

                    You think shoprite is "far superior" to A&P? My only shoprite experience is the one in Croton, which is really very poor. Our Croton friends drive to Yorktown to do their major shopping.

                    I think a bookstore would do very well there, actually. The one in JV only died because it was a Walden Books, and they have closed locations all over, including a number in Manhattan.

                    1. re: dma1250

                      Yes, I do. I will acknowledge I do not buy meat or usually fish, or bakery items (although I doubt one chain is better than the other on that stuff anyway). For grocery items, Shoprite is far superior to A&P, especially when you're looking for sales. I am not a regular shopper at the Croton Shoprite but it's seemed fine when I shopped there and they seemed busy enough. Do your Croton friends drive to Yorktown for A&P or Turcos?

                      And there is no way that a 50,000 square foot bookstore would survive in Yorktown.

                      1. re: MisterBill2

                        My Croton friends come for both the YH A&P and Turcos, as well as Mrs Green's. They complain horribly about the Croton ShopRite. I only go to the ShopRite on the rare occasion to grab something on the way home from the train, but the items always seems sub par to me. Now, Zeytina, on the other hand, is great and has things you won't find in Turco's or A&P or the Yorktown Mrs. Green's.

                        I disagree about the bookstore. That location draws people from a large radius and there isn't a major bookstore anywhere nearby to the west or south.

                        1. re: dma1250

                          Barmes & Noble in Mohegan Lake, Borders in Mt. Kisco.

                          I do not know what sort of sub-par items you have found at Shoprite. Their produce seems better than A&P And they carry the same groceries. Shoprite at least has a number of higher end products under their own brand name, kind of like A&P had under Master Choice (which they seem to have gotten rid of). A&P often has long lines because they do not have enough registers open. Shoprite's lines are more reasonable with more registers open.

                          1. re: MisterBill2

                            "Barmes & Noble in Mohegan Lake, Borders in Mt. Kisco."

                            That was my point--as I said, there "isn't a major bookstore anywhere nearby to the west or south." Which leaves a large area for which YH would be much closer than going up to B&N or east to Borders.

                            As for Shoprite, I can only tell you my experiences with the Croton one and what Croton residents have repeatedly told me--the meat and produce is nowhere as good as the YH A&P and there is less variety of products across the board. When we go to the Croton Shoprite we always end up going to A&P the next day to get the things Shoprite didn't have. And, as I said, Croton friends routinely drive to YH to do their shopping there. Perhaps other shoprite stores are better.

                            1. re: dma1250

                              Just chiming in. I live in Croton, and only shop at Shop Rite briefly and for emergencies. Invariably there is some major screw up at the cash registers, including once shopping there when everything rang up with the proper price but added up incorrectly.

                              I do most of my food shopping at Zeytinia, farmers market, Stew Leonard's and Trader Joe's. I can usually do the out of town shopping to coincide with some other trip. If I need to go to a supermarket, I prefer the A&P near Amberlands. Cole's Market is great for meats. Used to make trips to Turco's with side trips to the Food Emporium (I guess that's the store that's closing?) before Zeytinia opened up.

                              I can't imagine Trader Joe's would consider that spot for a store. All their stores are near major or secondary highways (and no, Rte. 118 is not major enough for them). Perfect spot for them is where Mrs. Green's is in Briarcliff.

                              1. re: Elisa515

                                That location is only 5 minutes off the Taconic Parkway and Route 35 is the major (such as it is) east-west road to 684 and the towns in that area. Not that it matters since I am fairly sure they have no plans for the area. I agree that where Mrs Greens opened in Briarcliff would have been a perfect location, or where D'agostinos was in Jefferson Valley (across from the JV Mall).

                                1. re: MisterBill2

                                  Right, but Trader Joe's doesn't want something that's convenient if people know about it, they want a place that people will see passing by.

                                  Think about all the locations in the general Westchester/Fairfield area. None of them are 5-10 minutes from a not very trafficked exit off a major highway. Central Avenue, Rte. 22 (across from a big shopping center), major strip mall right off I-84, downtown Larchmont--big population center. Plus keep in mind that the TJ's trucks can't use the Taconic. If I were running TJ's, Yorktown wouldn't be up on my list for store expansion.

                                  Note that they're concentrating now on NYC locations.

                                  There's a big difference between what we'd all like and having the population to support it.

                                  BTW, you got that address bug thing; you mention D'Ag's near JV Mall and it posted an address near Syracuse. :-)

                                  1. re: Elisa515

                                    The TJ's in Westwood, NJ is in a downtown area like Yorktown. And Costco has decided that there is enough population to support a store in Yorktown.

                                    And it's not my bug. It;s Chowhound that is adding it on its own and doing a poor job of it.

                                      1. re: wincountrygirl

                                        Yes, on Route 202 next to the Taconic where the motel/homeless shelter was. They do not have town approval yet but they are confident enough that they had a booth at the Yorktown Festival and Street Fair yesterday. They were telling people they plan to be open in 2012. They said that 99% of the people who had stopped by were positive about them coming.

                                      2. re: MisterBill2

                                        I don't think anyone would describe the location of the A&P that's closing as "downtown." This is, of course, part of the problem with Yorktown in general...there is no downtown.

                                        Having not been to Westwood, NJ, I can't comment on where that TJ's is.

                                        As for a proposed Costco, wouldn't that be more like Rte 6/35? Costco is much more of a destination store than TJ's, IMO. Of course, for me, TJ's is a destination, but I try not to generalize from my own experiences when describing business decisions of others.

                                        1. re: Elisa515

                                          There is no such thing as Route 6/35 (except in downtown Peekskill). And the A&P that is closing IS in downtown. It is one of 3 major shopping centers in downtown Yorktown (or if you prefer, call it the Yorktown Heights shipping district). Other than Decicco's in Jefferson Valley and A&P in Shrub Oak (both small stores) there are no supermarkets in the Town of Yorktown that are not in the downtown area.

                                          1. re: MisterBill2

                                            Geez, okay, that hodgepodge designation of routes...what do they call it there, 202/35? I suspect you knew the place to which I was referring.

                                            1. re: Elisa515

                                              Locals just call it 202 there. Officially it is 202/35. The main thing is that Costco is NOT going to be on Route 6.

                2. There is an A&P in the Cortlandt Town Center which should be staying open in case you are looking for a replacement. I'm not familiar with another A&P in Yorktown aside from the Triangle Center.

                  The dump of an A&P in Peekskill is rather pathetic, but then again that whole "shopping plaza" is a bit of a mess. I'll be glad to see the whole place renovated.

                  A new Whole Foods-style market is opening in Cortlandt within the next few weeks though. I'll be interested to see if it carries a larger range of specialty products than the typical supermarket.

                  11 Replies
                  1. re: easyonthesalt

                    The A&P that is closing is the one in YH next to the Big K. The A&P in the Triangle Center is staying open--and is excellent. There were two A&P's in Yorktown Heights literally a stone's throw from each other.

                    Were is the "Whole Foods-style market"??

                    1. re: dma1250

                      It's opening up on Main street Cortlandt Manor/Peekskill area, just before the entrance to Shoprite. It's replacing the Hollywood Video that shut down some time ago. There is a Home & Hearth and Tuxedo shop there also. I see the signs are up, but the last time I passed it was still empty.

                      I cannot for the life of me remember what the name of the place is though.

                      Home & Hearth
                      2090 E Main St, Cortlandt Manor, NY 10567

                      1. re: easyonthesalt

                        I will look forward to seeing this!

                        1. re: DGresh

                          Someone please post the name of the new store if you come across it! Thanks!

                          1. re: Kat_in_Ossining

                            The name of the place in Cortlandt is Valley Market and I'd be really surprised if it is "Whole Foods style" in terms of quality. I don't doubt that they will have fresh deli, fish, meat, but so do supermarkets. I suspect it is related to the Valley Market that used to be on Route 6 in Peekskill. I expect it to be similar in quality to the C-Town in downtown Peekskill, although I would love to be proven wrong.

                            1. re: MisterBill2

                              Oh God, I hope there's not a repeat of C-Town. It's helpful when I need last minute groceries (as I live about 2 minutes away) but I need a place I can buy good specialty ingredients sometimes! The way I was told Valley Market was supposed to carry some good quality products *fingers crossed*

                              Valley Market
                              RR 6, Jefferson Valley, NY 10535

                              1. re: easyonthesalt

                                What are they going to tell you? That they'll carry crap? "Good quality products" does not equate to Whole Foods.

                                1. re: MisterBill2

                                  No. That was rude, I wasn't told by anyone who works there as no one works there yet, I was told by one of the officials in the Peekskill area. If their information is wrong and your assumption is right then congratulations, you win.

                                  1. re: easyonthesalt

                                    It would be nice if you are right, but I suspect it will be nothing more than your local Italian deli, albeit larger and with produce and groceries. Even the new farm stand in Cortlandt that people had big hopes for doesn't seem that great (I went there twice and was not impressed). I see they are advertising 99c specials now. And I still contend there is a big difference between carrying good quality stuff and being "Whole Foods-like". Shoprite and A&P are Whole-Foods like if you don't know better and just consider that they have the same departments.

                                    I will admit it's nice that the new market replaced the old sign by the street that still had "Lafayette Radio Electronics" visible underneath it.

                                    1. re: easyonthesalt

                                      So, I drove past last night and noticed that they are open but did not have time to stop in. The signs for specials in the window were for some deli items and there was a large sign for "Bronx Bread". So please let us know if you still think it's like Whole Foods after you visit.

                                      BTW I was probably unfair in comparing it to C-Town in Peekskill. It's more like DeCicco's in Jefferson Valley.

                                      1. re: easyonthesalt

                                        This is about the new Valley Market in Cortlandt Manor.

                                        Bad news for you, I win. It is nothing even remotely close to Whole Foods. Good news for me, it was much better than I expected. The store is not by any means a full supermarket. Half of it is produce, the rest is a fish counter and deli with a small dairy case. No grocery section. Their produce prices were excellent, as close to Apple Farm that I have seen up here. And the quality seemed good, too. If they keep their prices like this, the Mohegan Farm Stand at the former gas station across from McDonald's is going to quickly die, as if it were not going to on its own (I had planned to stop there today to look for deals but did not bother after buying everything I needed at Valley Market). The fish didn't look all that great, some of the stuff was kept under plastic wrap. I did not look at the deli because I don't buy that stuff. I don't think they had meat.

                                        Real problem with the registers (and probably illegal), there is no display where the customer can see what is being rung up, I had to check the receipt at the end to make sure I was charged the correct price per pound for stuff (I was).