Pathmark is a supermarket chain headquartered in Montvale, New Jersey. It was founded in 1968 when its then parent, Supermarkets General Corporation, pulled out of the ShopRite retailers' cooperative. Pathmark was acquired by The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company on December 3, 2007.
As of January 2008, there were 132 Pathmark stores across Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. Before A&P's buying Pathmark, Supermarket News ranked Pathmark No. 31 in the 2007 "Top 75 North American Food Retailers" based on Pathmark's fiscal year 2006 estimated sales of $4.1 billion. Based on 2005 revenue, Pathmark was the 67th largest retailer in the United States.
Pathmark is well known by baby-boomers for its radio and television commercials starring character actor James Karen, who was the chain's spokesperson for more than 20 years. Pathmark's original spokesperson was Arlene Francis, who appeared in its commercials beginning almost immediately after Pathmark broke off from ShopRite. Peter "Produce Pete" Napolitano has starred in many of the company's commercials since 2001.