Preferred Shares
Preferred Shares Podcast
Marc Levinson on The Great A&P
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Marc Levinson on The Great A&P

Welcome to Episode 14 of the Preferred Shares Podcast.

In this episode, Preferred Shares explores the evolution of grocery retailing in the United States with a focus on the rise of A&P, it becoming the largest retailer in the world, and the company’s ultimate demise. To help tell this story, there is no better expert than historian, author, and economist Marc Levinson, author of The Great A&P and the Struggle for Small Business in America. Levinson has authored several other books, including The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger, and has contributed to reputable publications such as Time magazine, The Economist, Newsweek magazine, and Harvard Business Review.


In this episode

  • A&P tea distribution

  • The grocery retail landscape in the late 19th century

  • Spices, baking powder, and the rise of branded goods

  • Packaging innovations

  • Wholesaler influence and control over grocers

  • Kroger, Albertsons, and Grand Union all began as tea companies

  • Perishable vs stable goods

  • Early store dimensions - 20 ft x 25 ft

  • Manufacturer-set pricing, markups and ‘fair pricing’

  • Chain stores gaining bargaining power

  • A&P Economy stores - bare-bones, limited selection, rock-bottom prices

  • Rethinking profitability, inventory turnover, margins versus returns

  • A&P’s vertical integration efforts, including dairies, canneries, macaroni and cocoa factories, and more

  • Scaling bargaining power

  • What does ‘fair price’ mean? The counterargument that discounting is actually harmful to consumers over the long run

  • Advantages of private company vs. being public

  • Long-term perspective

  • State and federal efforts aiming to crush chain stores

  • Fixed prices, scaling chain taxes, and targeted restrictions

  • Weighing regulation and innovation

  • Anti-trust case against A&P

  • Pressures closing A&P’s discount gap and eroding its reputation

  • Strain from a lack of distinct succession plan and ability to adapt

  • Pressures from being public to produce dividends rather than reinvest and reinvigorate the business

  • Our post-interview discussion

A&P Supermarket, Public Domain via Creative Commons, 1938
The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., East Main St., Brevard, NC, via Transylvania County Library
Ad for Eight O’Clock Coffee, Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., Public domain, 1922
Nelson Dionne Salem History Collection, Salem State University Archives and Special Collections
Photo, Public Domain, New York Public Library via Creative Commons
Stock certificate for The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company

Episode Resources

Additional Reading

Curious to see what else we’ve been working on? Below are some pieces we’ve written independently that we think you’d like:

Book Review: The Great A&P and the Struggle for Small Business in America by Marc Levinson, Lawrence Hamtil, 4/1/2021

“Excising the Old”, Part III in a three-part series on IBM’s electric typewriter and computer printer division, Douglas Ott, 10/6/2024


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Disclaimer

All opinions expressed by Preferred Shares hosts and guests are solely their own opinions and do not reflect the opinions of their respective employers. This podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions. None of the information contained in the podcast or this web site constitutes a recommendation that any particular security, portfolio of securities, transaction, or investment strategy is suitable for any specific person.

Clients of Andvari and Fortune Financial may maintain positions in the securities discussed in this podcast. Furthermore, from time to time, the Hosts may hold positions or other interests in securities mentioned in the Podcast and may trade for their own accounts based on the information presented. The Hosts may also take positions inconsistent with the views expressed in its messages on the Podcast.

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