Huntington Waldbaum's is next for Stop & Shop conversion

Signs of change were apparent Monday, Sept. 21, 2015, at... — Signs of change were apparent Monday, Sept. 21, 2015, at a Waldbaum's in Huntington as supermarket operator Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. won bankruptcy court approval to sell 95 of its stores for $370 million, including nine on Long Island. Credit: Phil Nobile

By AISHA AL-MUSLIMaisha.al-muslim@newsday.comOctober 22, 2015

Stop & Shop Supermarket Co. Thursday announced its third wave of store openings as it converts 25 grocery stores it acquired from the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co.

The locations Stop & Shop acquired include nine Long Island stores. With each wave, Stop & Shop closes former A&P-owned stores for about a week before reopening them under the Stop & Shop banner.

The third wave of grand openings is planned for Oct. 30, and includes the Waldbaum's in Huntington, along with locations in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Howard Beach and Flushing, Queens, as well as Kinnelon, New Jersey. The stores closed Thursday for renovations.

Stop & Shop opened its first wave of stores last week, including the Waldbaum's stores in East Hampton and Southampton, along with locations in the Bronx, Ozone Park, Queens and Brooklyn.

The stores that are part of the second wave will open Friday. Those include the Pathmark in Greenvale, along with locations in the Bronx, Springfield Gardens and Howard Beach in Queens, and South Orange in New Jersey.

During the conversion process, groups of up to five stores will close for about seven days, but pharmacies and banks within the locations will remain open. The stores will reopen as Stop & Shops and have new decor, refrigeration systems and lighting, as well as other improvements. Modifications at all of the stores are expected to be completed by Nov. 13.

Aside from the stores in Huntington, Greenvale and the Hamptons, the other Long Island stores bought by Stop & Shop include Waldbaum's locations in Baldwin, Hicksville Road in Massapequa, and Long Beach; and Pathmarks in Seaford and Franklin Square.

Stop & Shop has hired about 1,100 former Pathmark and Waldbaum's workers at the nine Long Island stores it acquired from A&P, which is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy.