Adaptive Reuse at U-Haul Moving & Storage at Montgomery St
24/7 Rentals  |  U-Haul Truck Share 24/7^© Location

The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, better known as A&P, was a grocery store chain as well as an American icon. Originally founded as Gilman and Company by George Gilman in 1859, the company opened a small chain of retail tea and coffee stores in New York City. The chain grew to 70 stores by 1878 and around this time George Gilman made Geroge Huntington Hartford the new business manager. Harford is credited for turning the company into a robust grocery store chain with nearly 200 stores by the year 1900. Hartford would eventually acquire full ownership of the company and by 1912 developed the economy store concept, a concept we see in many large supermarkets and retailers today.  

Reaching $2.9 billion in sales by 1930, the chain continued the trend of innovation and growth and implemented the self-serve supermarket concept in 4,000 stores by 1950. A&P’s size proved to be their downfall as high operating costs plagued the company and competitors began to open larger and more modern supermarkets. The Hartford family sold the business to the Tengelmann Group in 1975, though A&P's economic struggles continued for years after this transaction. Even multiple acquisitions and a corporate restructuring couldn't resolve the financial issues and A&P filed for bankruptcy in 2010. The company made significant cuts to their costs and returned to profitability for a short period of time until they faced bankruptcy again in 2015, closing all remaining stores by November 25th of that year. 

The A&P building was built in 1947 and U-Haul acquired the property in 1995. Adaptive reuse building conversions allow U-Haul to promote infill development to meet citizens’ needs while preserving the natural resources and land normally required for new construction. Adaptive reuse also allows resources to be focused on integrating environmentally thoughtful features into the existing building rather than creating waste in the form of demolition and using valuable resources for new construction. 

Serving U-Haul customers since 1995, this facility was built through adaptive reuse of an abandoned building. Adaptive reuse promotes infill development in an effort to strengthen communities, with the following benefits achieved at this site:

• 1,411 tons of new concrete pours avoided
• 1,459 tons of construction and demolition debris prevented

Energy-efficiency and waste-reduction programs at this facility provide the following estimated benefits each year for the Chicopee community:

• 622,820 lbs greenhouse gas emissions prevented

• 

  Steel Production 0 tons (0 tonnes) of steel manufacturing and delivery saved to date

• 

  Energy 0 kWh annual energy savings

• 

  Concrete 1,411 tons (1,280 tonnes) of new concrete pours avoided to date

• 

  Emissions 622,820 lbs (282,509 kgs) of greenhouse gas emissions prevented

• 

  Landfill Debris 1,459 lbs (1,324 kgs) of construction debris prevented

• U-Haul Moving & Storage at Montgomery St