The iconic A & P chain, who -in 1929- operated 16,000 grocery stores and was the nation's largest retail chain, was in decline by the 1950s. It was bumped out of the number one American retailer spot by Sears, Roebuck & Company in 1964.

Although it has been opined that A & P was slow in establishing suburban stores during the 1950s, the chain WAS forward-thinking enough to locate its supermarkets in several shopping malls. A & P's prominence in the grocery industry was eventually surpassed by its major competitors across the Forty-eight States. 

These grocery chain stores are chronicled in fifteen Food Store Focus sections. The first covered the A & P enterprise, with the second providing details on Massachusetts' Stop & Shop. All but one chain operated company-owned stores. The fifteenth -and final- Focus covers IGA, whose stores were -and are- franchised operations.