Editing Pathmark (section)

===1980s===
In February 1982, Leonard Lieberman was named president and chief operating officer of the Supermarkets General Corporation and Herbert Brody became vice chairman and chief executive officer.<ref name=":12"/> That month, the company agreed to acquire [[Food Fair|Pantry Pride]], which operated 150 supermarkets in Florida, Georgia, and Virginia.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1982-02-10 |title=PATHMARK OPERATOR BUYS PANTRY PRIDE |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/02/10/business/pathmark-operator-buys-pantry-pride.html |access-date=2024-08-29 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> However, the deal fell through by April when shareholders sued to stop the sale.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Metz |first=Robert |date=1982-04-14 |title=Market Place; Pantry Pride: Lure of Losses |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/04/14/business/market-place-pantry-pride-lure-of-losses.html |access-date=2024-08-29 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

Pathmark sales reached $2.8 billion (~${{Format price|{{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=2800000000|start_year=1982}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}) in 1982, when it was the nation's 10th-largest supermarket chain.<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 14, 1983 |title=Herbert Brody Dies, Was Prominent Philanthropist |url=https://jhsnj-archives.org/?a=d&d=jeho19830414-01.1.19&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN------- |access-date=2024-08-29 |website=The Jewish Horizon |publisher=jhsnj-archives.org |page=19}}</ref>  In 1983, Pathmark opened its first Manhattan superstore, a 42,600-square-foot (3,960 m2) unit, in Pike Slip, near [[Chinatown, Manhattan|Chinatown]]. At this time over 100 Pathmark locations included pharmacy departments and 27 had [[Barnes & Noble]] bookstore departments. Pathmark continued to dominate Supermarkets General's sales and operating profits, accounting for 87% of sales and 83% of operating profit, respectively.<ref name=":2" />

In January 1984, 7,000 butchers and delicatessen clerks at 336 Pathmark, ShopRite, Grand Union, and Foodtown supermarkets in New Jersey and New York voted to go on strike during contract negotiations.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Upi |date=1984-01-16 |title=7,000 Workers Strike At 336 Supermarkets |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/01/16/nyregion/7000-workers-strike-at-336-supermarkets.html |access-date=2024-08-29 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Narvaez |first=Alfonso A. |date=1984-02-02 |title=STRIKE AT SUPERMARKETS DRAGS ON AT HEAVY COST |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/02/02/nyregion/strike-at-supermarkets-drags-on-at-heavy-cost.html |access-date=2024-08-29 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> A tentative agreement was able to be reached after a 26-day strike.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Narvaez |first=Alfonso A. |date=1984-02-10 |title=STRIKING MEAT WORKERS REACH AN ACCORD WITH SUPERMARKETS |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/02/10/nyregion/striking-meat-workers-reach-an-accord-with-supermarkets.html |access-date=2024-08-29 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> In July the company announced the acquisition of [[Purity Supreme]], including 28 supermarkets and 14 Heartland warehouse stores.<ref>{{Cite news |last= |date=1984-07-07 |title=Purity Supreme |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/07/07/business/purity-supreme.html |access-date=2024-08-30 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The chain was still No. 1 in the New York metropolitan area in 1985, with a 12.5 percent sales share.

In order to foil a takeover bid by [[Dart Drug|Dart Group]] Corp., Supermarkets General agreed to be acquired by [[Merrill Lynch]] Capital Markets Inc. and its own senior managers for $1.58 billion in April 1987. Pathmark president Kenneth Peskin replaced Leonard Lieberman as chairman and chief executive officer.<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 22, 1987 |title=Supermarkets General agrees to be acquired - UPI Archives |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1987/04/22/Supermarkets-General-agrees-to-be-acquired/9633546062400/ |access-date=2024-08-30 |website=UPI |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Cuff |first=Daniel F. |date=1987-06-16 |title=BUSINESS PEOPLE; Supermarkets General Elects Its New Leader |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/16/business/business-people-supermarkets-general-elects-its-new-leader.html |access-date=2024-09-01 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> To help pay down related debt, the company sold 25 of its Heartland and Pharmacity drug stores in New Hampshire and Massachusetts to the [[Melville Corporation]], which operated [[CVS Pharmacy|CVS]] at the time.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1987-07-14 |title=COMPANY NEWS; Melville to Buy 25 Drugstores |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/07/14/business/company-news-melville-to-buy-25-drugstores.html |access-date=2024-08-30 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

Although corporate sales reached $6 billion (~${{Format price|{{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=6000000000|start_year=1989}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}) in fiscal 1989 (which ended January 28, 1989), the 51-unit [[Rickel]] subsidiary was performing poorly, while Pathmark, now with 142 stores, had slipped to third place in the New York area. Many Pathmark units had become "unkempt, dirty, and outmoded" stocked with "scores of the dreary no-frills offerings customers have shunned for years."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gasparino |first=Charles |title=Circle of Friends |url=https://bookreadfree.com/457780/11245149 |access-date=2024-09-01 |website=bookreadfree.com |page=8}}</ref> Merrill Lynch fired Chief Executive Kenneth Peskin, replacing him with Jack Futterman.

In November 1989, Robert E. Wunderle, the company's chief economist and vice president of public affairs, was found shot to death in a Rockaway drainage ditch. Police theorized it was a mob hit related to Wunderle's role with union negotiations, but the case was never solved.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hanley |first=Robert |date=1989-11-18 |title=Grocery Official Is Found Slain By Rural Road |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/11/18/nyregion/grocery-official-is-found-slain-by-rural-road.html |access-date=2024-08-29 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Considine |first=Bob |date=2011-07-12 |title=Cold Case: Nearly 22 years later, Westfield supermarket exec's killing still baffles authorities |url=https://www.nj.com/news/2011/07/cold_case_nearly_22_years_late.html |access-date=2024-08-29 |website=The Star-Ledger |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Musson |first=Valerie |date=2021-11-16 |title=STILL UNSOLVED: Police Seek Clues Decades After North Jersey Businessman's Body Found In Sewer |url=https://dailyvoice.com/nj/parsippany-troy-hills/police-fire/still-unsolved-police-seek-clues-decades-after-north-jersey-businessmans-body-found-in-sewer/820139/ |access-date=2024-08-29 |website=Parsippany-Troy Hills Daily Voice |language=en}}</ref>