Supermartifacts / The Artifacts of A&P

125 E. Main St., Northville, MI, US
2019

In the 1930s, A&P operated a pre-supermarket store in this location...which now houses nothing more than an ATM and a pedestrian walkway.

48 Wellington St., Stratford, ON, Canada
2019

In the late 1920s, this 3-story building became home to the first A&P store in the charming southwestern Ontario hamlet of Stratford. It lasted about ten years before being replaced with something larger.

373 Talbot St., St. Thomas, ON, Canada
2019

In 1935, this building housed one of A&P's two premiere locations in St. Thomas, Ontario. Turnover of stores was quite rapid in that era, and A&P had replaced this location by 1940.

742 Richmond St., London, ON, Canada
2017

This particular storefront was built in 1925 and housed an A&P from the 1930s until 1955. The space was subsequently reoccupied and for many years was home to Bob Turnbull Flowers, a business owned by my first cousin twice removed.

424 Dundas St., Woodstock, ON, Canada
2019

This was the site of the second A&P location in Woodstock, opening in the late 1930s and lasting over 30 years until closing in the 1970s. The first A&P in Woodstock predated the second by a decade, and occupied the left half of this storefront across the street.

495 Talbot St., St. Thomas, ON, Canada
2017

This site was once home to an Eaton Groceteria, operating in the late 1920s and 1930s. By 1940 A&P had moved in, and they lasted until the 1950s.

1120 Washington St., Manitowoc, WI, US
2009

Another typical downtown storefront, housing an A&P in this case from 16 Nov. 1939 until 1971. In contrast to its aggressive relocation practices of the 1930s, A&P later became notorious for retaining anachronistic stores such as these for years after most of its competitors had modernized.

69 Downie St., Stratford, ON, Canada
2019

Stratford's second A&P store spanned two storefronts in this positively massive, pilister-encrusted building downtown, and replaced the first by 1940. This location had an unusually long life for a storefront, remaining open through 1959 or beyond.

125 King St., London, ON, Canada
2018

Here's the site of yet another one of A&P's downtown London stores. This one had its start in the early 1940s, and lasted all the way up till the 1980s!

139 E. Main St., Northville, MI, US
2019

This mid-block store opened in approximately 1940, and was replaced by a larger supermarket with parking facilities in 1961.

882 W. Ann Arbor Trail, Plymouth, MI, US
2019

Like Northville's mid-block A&P, this store dates to about 1940. It was replaced in the late '50s. This may also be the only supermarket artifact left in downtown Plymouth, since the city has been a little too redevelopment-happy over the years...

131 Elm St., Wyandotte, MI, US
2019

Opened by 1941; replaced by the 1970s. Though the original facade has been stuccoed over, the "stairstep" at the top of the front roofline is a likely artifact of the original brickwork.

2620 W. Jefferson St., Trenton, MI, US
2019

This store downstream from Detroit opened by 1945, and remained open until closing in the 1970s. Faint A&P labelscar is still visible on the facade. Unfortunately, the store itself backed into the shadows on the day I was in town, so you may have to take my word for it...

502 Gallatin Rd., Nashville, TN
2022

Opened by 1946, and closed at some point after 1970. Note the roofline stairstep, common to other 1940s A&P stores.

831 Dundas St., London, ON, Canada
1951 (London Free Press), 2019

Opened 11 January 1951, with an open house the evening before. Closed as A&P in the late 1970s. The address number for this property seems to have slipped from 831 to 809, but the building's original footprint (and its distinctive corner entrance configuration) remains intact.

300 N. Genesee St., Waukegan, IL, US
2011

This commanding monolithic structure (formerly identified as a National) actually operated as an A&P, opening by 1951 and closing in the 1970s. This store currently houses a Mexican grocery.

118 S. 1st St., West Dundee, IL, US
2016

Another example of a later (but still quite old and small) store with street-flush alignment; possibly from the early 1950s. Most likely closed as an A&P in 1973.

16125 West Rd., Woodhaven, MI, US
2019

This store was reportedly built in 1953, and lasted into the 1970s per Downriver Locations Thru the Years. It seems a little big for its age, but the building may have been added onto.

611 E. 9th St., Hopkinsville, KY, US
2022

An interesting example of an early-1950s store (built by 1955) that was subsequently remodelled with a parapet peak and lattice into the 1960s Centennial look.

124 Queen St. E., Sault Ste. Marie, ON, Canada
2019

This store opened by 1955, and remained open in Sault Sainte Marie as late as the 1980s! The building still stands today, although it's gained a horrendous brick facade obscuring its original appearance.

1351 S. Gratiot Ave., Mt. Clemens, MI, US
2019

Opened by 1958. I'm unclear what this building is being used for today, though the oppressive security gate suggests that it's something frightening...

144 N. Wisconsin St., De Pere, WI, US
2010

A documented former A&P location, now home to Seroogy's Chocolates. The building has been added onto on the right side.

416 St. Clair St., Chatham, ON, Canada
2019

This Canadian A&P store opened by 1959 as part of an early shopping-centre development, and closed in the early 1990s. It has been facelifted and added onto on the left side, however, obscuring its originality.

3663 Tecumseh Rd. E., Windsor, ON, Canada
2018

This location is the site of the Central Mall, which opened by 1960. A&P was an original tenant, and Metro continues to operate here today...though the store has been expanded and remodelled to oblivion in the intervening decades.

161 Court St. S., Thunder Bay, ON, Canada
1956 (Fort William Daily Times-Journal), 2019

This store was the very first A&P on the head of Lake Superior, opening on 27 March 1956. The exterior is dominated by a structural pylon with integral glass block, and survives in almost completely original condition. Following A&P's closure in 1988 the store was reoccupied by Renco Foods, and groceries are still being sold here after more than 60 years!

891 St. Mary's Rd., Winnipeg, MB, Canada
1956 (advertisement, Winnipeg Tribune), 2021

Opened 11 October 1956. A&P Canada's western expansion of 1956 didn't stop at the Lakehead: The company opened stores that year as far west as Winnipeg, Manitoba. When the company withdrew from the city in 1972, they left some surprisingly-intact buildings behind...including this marvellous specimen, which features a pylon and glass block nearly identical in detail to that on the aforementioned Thunder Bay store.

479 St. Mary's Rd., Winnipeg, MB, Canada
1957 (advertisement, Winnipeg Tribune), 2021

Opened 8 October 1957. Yet another Winnipeg store! The parapet lends this one a slightly different appearance, but it's evident that it originally had a protruding pylon and glass block detailing much like its St. Mary's Road companion. This location is listed as "1 Haig Ave." in period sources, and it briefly operated under the Payfair name following A&P's 1972 exit from the market.

1981 Portage Ave., Winnipeg, MB, Canada
1958 (Winnipeg Tribune), 2021

Opened 28 October 1958, and closed during A&P's exit from the Winnipeg market in 1972. The massive canopy is a post-A&P addition.

570 Syndicate Ave. S., Thunder Bay, ON, Canada
1984 (Thunder Bay Business), 2019

This 15,000 sq. ft. (1394 m²) modernist specimen opened on 19 February 1963, and closed in 1985. Decorative motifs include porcelain enamel tile with fieldstone corner towers. The words "FOOD STORES" were once emblazoned on the facade, while an enormous A&P circular sign was once mounted to the twin posts protruding from the canopy. The aesthetic was completed by space-age parking lot lights, and these survive intact.

The bulk of A&P's mid-century Canadian buildings have either been demolished or renovated to oblivion, making this an extremely rare example in its original condition.

640 River St., Thunder Bay, ON, Canada
1963 (Thunder Bay Museum acc. no. 990.41.502), 2000 (Thunder Bay Museum clipping file donation by David Nicholson), 2019, 2020

An identical store in what was then Port Arthur opened on 16 April 1963, paired off with a development called the Grandview Mall. Unlike its Syndicate Avenue twin, this store went through a bewildering number of expansions and renovations...first around 1980 in a conversion to the "split-level" facade of that era (second image), and again in 2001. Initially I figured there was a demolish-and-rebuild somewhere in that chronology as well...but the back wall of the store is a Frankenstein-like spectacle with brickwork from the 1960s, so I'm satisfied that this is one of A&P's living artifacts of the era.

145 Erie St., Stratford, ON, Canada
2019

Stratford's third A&P opened in the 1960s, and resembles the Thunder Bay stores somewhat in physical appearance. It was also fairly short-lived, since A&P jumped ship to a new store at the Stratford Mall a decade later.

390 Springbank Dr., London, ON, Canada
2018

Yet another store from this period, operating as A&P from the early 1960s to the early 1980s. The structure has been expanded at left to nearly twice its original size...note how a remnant of the original left-wall "tower" juts up above the Giant Tiger sign. The metal towers add quite a bit of visual interest; however, these are a shopping-centre embellishment and are not original.

111 Centre St., Espanola, ON, Canada
2023

I have an strong if unproven suspicion that this small-sized building (roughly 900m³) is a former A&P, and a carbon copy of the store in Stratford. A real estate listing describes the building as a "former grocery store." A&P's successor, Metro, does not currently have a presence in Espanola.