Newspapers / The Kings Mountain Herald … / Nov. 11, 1949, edition 1 / Page 15
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All over Ibc world today there are people teaching bitterness and hate. Here in America we have learned to live together in friendship. For, us here at A&P, it has been a wonderful and thrilling ex perience to get from those with whom we compete day after day such astounding evidence of friendship and respect. The things that have happened since the anti-trust lawyers from Washington brought suit to destroy A&P have amazed us. While we sincerely believed that we had earned the friendship of millions of consumers for whom we have provided better food at lower prices, and the friendship of millions of farm families for whom we have provided a better market for their produce, we were not prepared for the avalanche of offers of support. But most of all, we have to confess that we had underestimated the fine sportsmanship of many of our competitors all over the country. Can anyone believe that these competitors would rush to our defense if, as the anti-trust lawyers allege, we had been trying to put them out of business? - We and they have fought hard for business. *? There are nearly 350,000 individual grocers competing with us. They have a larger share of the nation's grocery business today than they had ten years ago or twenty years ago. Many o( them do as good a job as we do, and they make it plenty tough for us. No*v, day after day, these same competitors are letting us know that they are in our corner. AM we can say is, thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Isn't America A Wonderful Country! A COMPETITOR S OPINION of The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co . I . The se/f sty/ed I ine government, V I "nes as a reci.i J r - busters 'ymadeih move to Lr, , he ?Mr. Simpson wu named "Grocer of th? Year for 1948" by the National Retailer Owner Grown' Association. Who hollered for Uncle? ?, r^aiif the A&P\ Put Out of Business The owner of the undcnilKncd store is ah independent merchant in this com inanity. We run our own store, set our own prices, maintain our own policy. ti e consider the Great Atlantic ft Pacific Tea Co. as a chain store. Because they are a chain they give us stiff competition. The competition offered by the keeps us on our toes. The Den? ? Who wants him to break up AfcP? COULD IT BE INDEP?NOENT GROCERS? Doesn't seem likely. In ten years America's_jnde pendent storekeepers almost tripled thsir business. In 1938 they did just under 5Vi billion dollars worth of food business. Last year the independent storekeepers handled over IS billion dollars worth of food. WHOLESALE GROCERS? Hardly. For many of them are directly or indirectly engaged in or support ing some form of voluntary or cooperative chain to match chain economies. THE EMPLOYEES? That wOuld.be funny ? except that some folks probably believe it. Actually, less than 25 years ago many food chain stores could have paid ell expenses ? rent, heat, light, wages, etc. ? out of the .. money a store manager alone gets paid now. And the store manager of 25 years agO would have been happg to get what a clerk gets today. * PRODUCERS? Well, take farmers. Certainly part of thsir prosperity must be attributed to the markets that big chains create for them. The big chains buy the entire pack of many a cannery. Those canneries pack the farmers' crops. What would the farmer do with his highly perishable crop if the food chains were eliminated as big volume buyers? COMPETING CHAINS, MAYBE? No. Practically every chain in the grocery business had more sales last year than the year before. One chain that we know a lot about increased its food business 21% last year and is up 19% in the first eight months of this year. THEN IT CERTAINLY MUST BE THE PEOPLE! Like fun. If the people hated food chain stores, would they have spent 9'/? billion dollars in them last year? Folks lik* the low prices and high stardards of chains ? and the better the chains are run, the better folks like tbem. Does This Sound at Though We Need Help? Thorofare Super Markets came into existence 10 years ' ago. The food chains Thorofare replaced were doing about three million dollars worth of business a year. Housewives liked our policies well enough to boost their purchases in our 90 stores to about 30 million dollars e year. Wa call that a vote of confidence. And we're going to keep right on proving that as long as we stick to food brands and better-than-average selections at rock bottom prices, we can compete with anybody in the buslpaaa. And keep right on growing, tool ? ? ? - We don't believe any chain will be punished for being efficient, or for pleasing housewives so well that it is forced to grow. We, too, believe that it to a storekeeper's duty to bring the public the beat food at the lowest possible prices, end hope to see the chain store way of doing busi ness vindicated. And ae iong as the producers, the employeee, the cus tomers, the wholesale grocers, the independents and the competing chains thrive so well, we will continue to think it's ? good way t> business . art >Harinieni of Justice has brought ? suit against the A&P claiming 'feat the ASP is a monopoly.. Whether it is or not we are in no \ tion to judge. What we do know is that .ae doesn't do all of the grocery buslne this area. We are here and ready to i "local customers'. WE DON'T WANT TO SEE PUT OUT OF BUSINESS. The A&P is keeping food l We in turn keep ' that hel??* ? A&p * I In ttlE A&p I Welcome A&P Competition i| We Agree With A&P Ys?, wa want our A&P competitors to itsy in business on thsir present icsls boc,. use we know what it would mean to the American people without them. We are only one (tors snd srs striv ing to serve our community with good food st low prices, but ths A&P is s nationwide organization serving the American people everywhere with good food st low prices. ? Destroying the A&P would mssn elim ineting competition nstionslly in ths food field which every poor men knows consumss ths msjor portion of his selsry. We congrstulsts ths A&P for e job well dons. Kssp up ths fight. Ws welcome sny fair competition which hslps us bring lowsr food pricss to ths -consumer. SCHWEGMANN BROTHERS GIANT SUPER MAKKKT 2222 St. Claude Avenue New Orleoes BECAUSE ? e e e like myself, many hundreds of Independent groc ers got their start with the TEA COMPANY. e e e e The great A&P is not detrimental to the progress of the grocery business. On the contrary, A&P has always been beneficial to any open-minded businessman who be lieves in FREE ENTERPRISE. Founded on the principle of FAIR PLAY and FAIR PRICES, A&P developed from a humble start to its present commanding position in the field of retail merchandising. o ? o o My experience as a former employee of the TEA COMPANY has served me well. I attribute my success to the ideas and methods tried, tested and proven by the A&P stores ? at a great cost. ? t ? ? A&P upholds the rights and privileges of a good worker. I know this from personal experience. A&P Is ever on the lookout to promote sincere and ajnbitlous employees to trustworthy and Important positions and has never crossed the efforts of any employee to enter into business for himself. A&P helped me to start In business ... IS THAT AN ACT OF A COMPANY MONOPOLIZING THE GROCERY BPSINESSt NO! AAP taught mo to serve tho public BITTER? MORI ECONOMICAL and MORI EFFICIENT, thanks fo the ?tart given ma by I. F, VINSON. ? o o ? During the depression of the thirties, A&P paid higher wages than any other chain. A&P has striven to keep up the standard of living in this country. I shudder to think what would happen to its 110, MO employees if It was forced out of business. e ? ae I an not afraid of A&P competition it. It's democratic ? it's the American Way. -1 welcome Pouf Simpson * SIMPSON'S SUPER MARKETS 763 Mor eland Ave., S. L SM McDonoogh Blvd., 8. Z. Atlanta, Georgia The Anti-Trust Suit Against The Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. This suit is another threat against our great American system of free enterprise. The A&P Co. has always been clean, above board competition and any successful independent merchant, if he is honest, will admit that they have taught him a great many things regard* ing merchandising, reducing overhead, bet ter buy in*', afrj., thus lowering food costs for the great American Public, PACIFIC TEA COMPANY! |ggifcg& ; -v. ;
The Kings Mountain Herald (Kings Mountain, N.C.)
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Nov. 11, 1949, edition 1
15
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