Editing Pathmark (section)

===Supermarkets General and Pathmark ===
Pathmark was formed out of the [[Wakefern Food Corporation]], parent company of [[ShopRite (United States)|ShopRite]], Wakefern was both a wholesale operation and a retail operation; among its members was a subgroup, Supermarkets Operating Co., in [[Union Township, Union County, New Jersey|Union, New Jersey]],<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.sec.gov/news/digest/1964/dig032364.pdf | title = Securities and Exchange Commission News Digest | access-date = October 10, 2013 | publisher = [[U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission]] | quote = Supermarkets Operating Co., 1416 Morris Ave., Union, N.J.,}}</ref> formed in 1956 by Alex Aidekman, Herb Brody, and Milt Perlmutter.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Nagle |first=James J. |date=1971-10-24 |title=Anticipating Consumerism |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/10/24/archives/anticipating-consumerism-policy-benefits-pathmark-food-chain.html |access-date=2024-08-29 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> This company operated ShopRite stores; in 1963 it branched into non-food retail by acquiring Crown Drugs.

In 1966, Supermarkets Operating Co. and General Super Markets (another subgroup within Wakefern) merged to become Supermarkets General Corporation, with Perlmutter as president.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Wedemeyer |first=Dee |date=1986-08-08 |title=BUSINESS PEOPLE; EX-LAWYER AT TOP IN GROCERIES |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/08/08/business/business-people-ex-lawyer-at-top-in-groceries.html |access-date=2024-08-29 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> At this time, Supermarkets General operated 75 ShopRite stores across Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, with annual sales of about $420 million (~${{Format price|{{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=420000000|start_year=1966}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}). Supermarkets General achieved high volume by opening large stores in densely populated areas and keeping prices low on both nationally branded-goods and private-label items.

In an attempt to diversify, Supermarkets General bought Genung's Inc., a White Plains retailer that operated the Howland's and [[Steinbach (store)|Steinbach]] department stores in 1967. It also acquired the New Jersey–based [[Rickel]] home centers in 1968 and [[Hochschild Kohn's|Hochschild Kohn]] stores of the Baltimore area in 1969.<ref name=":0" />

In 1968, Supermarkets General left the Wakefern cooperative, renaming its ShopRite stores Pathmark.<ref name=":0" /> Pathmark's stores included not only supermarkets (33 of which had a drug department with a pharmacy) but 11 freestanding drugstores and 11 gasoline stations.

Pathmark's 81 supermarkets were accounting for about 85 percent of Supermarkets General's sales and 80 percent of its earnings in 1969.