ShopRite bids to take over Waldbaum’s in Massapequa

The parent company of ShopRite has bid to buy the lease of a former Waldbaum’s in Massapequa for $300,000.

Wakefern Food Corp., a cooperative operating under the ShopRite banner on Long Island, made the bid to take over the vacant Waldbaum’s location at 5508 Sunrise Hwy. in Massapequa from former supermarket operator Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., according to a filing last week with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in White Plains.

In October, a bankruptcy court judge approved bids from Wakefern to buy the leases of a Waldbaum’s store in Deer Park and two Pathmark stores in Bethpage and New Hyde Park as part of a $40 million purchase package of 12 former A&P stores. Those three ShopRite stores are expected to open in the spring after undergoing renovations, a company spokeswoman said Friday.

Separately, the bankruptcy judge last month approved A&P’s request to get out of its lease for the Waldbaum’s in Hauppauge. The lease was turned over to the landlord, listed in court documents as Vets & Spartan LLC. The firm is associated with First Development Corp., a commercial real estate firm in Hauppauge.

The move allows the landlord to lease the space to a new tenant, and eliminates costs for A&P, which filed for Chapter 11 in July.

“We will probably be dividing it into smaller stores,” First Development partner Robert Steinberg said in an email.

All 51 Waldbaum’s and Pathmark stores operated by A&P on Long Island closed by November. So far, 29 have been purchased by supermarket chains, 20 have been turned over to their landlords, and one was sold to a real estate company. Wakefern’s bid for the Massapequa store awaits bankruptcy court approval.