Anyone remember A&P grocery stores?

My grandfather worked there a half century ago and my cousin just brought this to us that he found out on the grandfather's old farm. It's aluminum, I think its not magnetic, except for the handles. Trying to figure out it's original purpose, possibly a shipping bin or tote?

O Yeah! :-)

Yep, I remember them!
Ours had a coffee grinder at the check out lane and ill never forget the smell, I still like it.

yes , one could always smell the fresh ground coffee

The fresh ground coffee smell was great. It was called "Eight O'clock Coffee" I believe :-)

But does anyone recognize the container?

Sorry, nope.

Too bad ya don't have the lid too

Didn't have those here to my knowledge.

Not sure it had a lid. So far ive only found two other pics of this item on the net and nobody else has a clue what it was for. Too me it looks a a tote

Sure do! but not the container sorry

Banana Basket :-)

They are still here-they just changed their name to Metro in 2009.

Ok, i thought it looked like the handle do-hickies lock a lid down.

Dang, I'm getting double posts for some reason!

Here ya go: https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/91171824_vintage-aluminum-aandp-grocery-store-large-basket-box

Sure do. Mom and dad would take me to the local A&P every now and then when I was a young lad in the mid 50's. That was the go to store for most pantry items. It is now some sort of thrift store with novelty and outdated grocery items.

I believe those were used to carry glass gallon milk jugs. The ones i remember had spacers in them.

Looks like you're going to have to think about resurfacing your deck soon. Love the tote. That's a treasure, be nice to have a stack of them. .

yeah its been a few years since it was last stained

Yup....had one in town. I remembah those cashiers wouldn’t even look at the keys....punch them suckahs and pull that handle ....it was a blur !

If the handles fold to the inside ? perhaps when stacked kept the next tote from crushing contents below. Made before Plastic and made solid. The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company .Tut

I worked in one as a kid.I believe A&P stood for Atlantic and Pacific.

Had them around when I was a kid. They merged with stop and shop. Changed name to Stop and P.

Sure do. My Dad was the assistant manager at the A&P in N. Conway NH back in the 1960's.

Wood plank floors and wooden bins with the vegies in that you weighted right there then went to the cashier. Two blocks form the first house I remember living in(the second house for me really). Guys back form the war carrying things to your car, telling me all sorts of stuff about the war and Germany......jk

And S&H green stamps.

Yup, them too :-)

Yup,,hand crank coffee bean grinder at the end of the isle.Wonder how many of them ole grinders are in land fills.Wish I had one.

Yep we had them around DC.
I think they became Giant Foods.

Dad worked as assistant manager there for most of his career; worked his way up from Meat Cutter (back when beef came into the store in quarters, not boxes).

I bagged groceries and ran the register when I was in high school.

The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company, Inc.

WEO!

If this thread is about groceries it belongs in Coonmans "I sold fur yesterday" thread.

Cleaned the warehouse on Saturdays. Made good money for a kid.

Yep, A&P are now "Metro" here

I remember the coffee grinders, the aroma from the coffee and the S&H stamps. Like it was yesterday for me.

We had an A&P in town it had a Nickel Coke Machine near the back of the store.
I managed to buy one Coke for a Nickel and a week later the machine was gone.

Never going to see a Coke for a Nickel again.

There is a big, fairly new A & P grocery store near Hackettstown, NJ. It's been sitting empty for the ten years or so I've been passing by that way for winter work.

My mother worked there for 35 years Canton OH then retired. I do not know what that aluminum basket is wish I could ask my mother she would of knowed.

If I 'm not mistaking A & P, in Canada anyway, was the first grocery chain to experience a unionizing of employees, as I recall employees experienced a dramatic over night increase in wages, creation of pensions, etc., price of product followed suit. All of which may have led to it's demise or at least re structuring and re branding.

I have wooden crates just like that, handles and all. The ones I have were used for bananas when they were shipped still on the stock. They were laid in there and the handles flipped in and another box set on top and repeat. Never seen a metal one though.

Yes I do the coffee smell can't be forgotten every friday i walked down there at noon hour and bought a plug of Days O Work chewing tobacco the ol gal at the checkout would hold it up for all to see and hand it to me 15 cents i think was the price

Had one here left with Ben Franklin 5 & Dime. Winn Dixie replace it. around 1975

We had an A& P near us for shopping during the 50s where I lived. There are no Metros in that area today.

Bryce

There was one in Circleville Ohio a long time ago.

Are there still Piggly Wiggly stores around?
just

They're actually expanding. They took over the Foodland stores around here. Used to be more a southern store.

They were a common grocery store in Michigan. First "outside" job my mother ever had was at an A & P. during WW2. Didn't that stand for "Atlantic & Pacific"?

The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company

Piggly Wiggly guy myself that name made me chuckle as a kid. LOL

Bryce, I am pretty sure the change to Metro was just a Canadian thing.

We used to have an A&P. There is a piggly wiggly in Crivitz Wi.

Here in East-Central WI Piggly-Wiggly is very common. We do most of our shopping at a couple near us. The better ones here have great delis and also great bakeries. Their meat specials many times are very, very competative and we have lots of meat markets in our area.

Bryce

I think we shopped there in ny, 35 years ago

I remember A&P. The one we shopped at is now rhe local school district's book depository.

Mom shopped at the austin MN one fifty years ago

Had one in my small town. Sears was across the street. Me and my cousin would put the s&h stamps in grandma book till we were sick of licking stamps.

Got a knife and hatchet set with green stamps when I was like 7 or 8 years old.

had one close to home as a little kid, only thing i can remember is the big coffee grinder, and the awesome smell!

can't tell you how many bags of Eight O'Clock coffee I've ground, but I enjoyed every one of 'em!