Older residents of Brookfield speak with a mixture of nostalgia and wonder, when asked to recall the presence of the A&P store in the village. Or rather, one should say stores, in the plural, because they were once located at four different sites, spanning the years from 1924 to 1971.

So take a sip or two of your fresh ground A&P Eight O’Clock Coffee, and take a bite of your Jane Parker Jelly Cluster Coffee Cake, because this is the story of the village’s longest-existing food store business.

The first available information on the first store was to be found printed in a blue, hard-covered McDonough and Company address and telephone number directory for 1924. The listing read, simply, “Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., George D. Wilson, manager, 118 Grand Boulevard [3738].”

No additional advertisement was included in the classified “pink pages” at the back of the book. Wilson and his wife, Emma, lived locally, at 231 N. Vernon Ave., on the east side of the 3600 block.

Apparently the store was without a phone, because the July, 1924 Illinois Bell telephone (not only address) directory fails to mention the existence of the A&P. However, the July Bell directory does mention the name, address and phone number (Brookfield 1362-J) of the new store manager, William A. Nesbitt, of 5 Grant Avenue (9143). Apparently Wilson hadn’t lasted very long in his managerial position. Possibly Nesbitt, having his own phone at home, could make and take a few store-related calls over it.

The McDonough address directory for 1928 listed a significant change. Now the store had moved two doors northwards, to 122 Grand Boulevard (3732). Still no phone number appeared, nor any ad was printed in the classified section.

Curiously, the A&P seemed from the beginning to abhor advertising its name in Bell Company phone books and even in the yellow pages sections until the year 1932. Maybe the Depression changed the chain store’s mindset, and it became ready to try just about anything to attract more customers

It was not until December 1932 that the Bell directory finally registered the existence of the store at 3732 Grand Boulevard, and with the phone number of Brookfield-4214. However, now the A&P was indicated as being “The Great A&P Tea Co.” In addition, the store’s name was mentioned in the classified section, as well.

Another couple of doors away, the failing Brookfield State Bank at 128 Grand Boulevard (3726) was, by June 1934, in the hands of receivers. By the time the December 1934 Bell directory came out, the Brookfield State Bank was nevermore to be found listed in any phone books.

Within a year, by December 1935, the A&P food store had made yet another move northwards, to the empty bank building at 3726 Grand Boulevard. Mr. Nesbitt appears to have been still at the helm of this “new” 4,000 square foot store as manager, and the A&P was still being listed in phone books.

In the late 1930s and early 1940s, the A&P’s name once again disappeared from phone books, for reasons unknown. But the chain store’s presence in Brookfield was hardly nearing an end. Mr. Nesbitt was replaced by Walter Richter, and then George Pross took over as manager of the Grand Boulevard store.

The post-war years were a boon to the A&P business, and larger quarters were again considered. It was determined that what was needed was a brand-new, separate building. A site was scouted for and found on the southeast corner of Washington and Broadway avenues. Construction began here in 1950, on the triangle of property once known as “Booster’s Field,” where, for years, local sporting events had been held.

By Jan. 4, 1951, the old store on Grand Boulevard was still in limited operation, and the new Broadway store was about to open. A&P took out a full four pages of ads in the Jan. 11, 1951 issue of the Brookfield Magnet newspaper, trumpeting the arrival of “Another shopper’s dream, presented by: The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Co.

“See the big, streamlined, refrigerated fresh fruit and vegetable dept. See the new, big streamlined candy dept. Visit the big, new, streamlined Ann Page food department. Be sure to visit A&P’s big streamlined coffee dept. Every aisle is broad and uncluttered … every department is spacious and streamlined.” Truly, this was going to one heavily “streamlined” store.

Grand Opening Day, Tuesday, Jan. 16, 1951. 9 a.m. The excited crowd gathered outside the Washington Avenue entrance. Officials present for the ribbon-cutting ceremony were Brookfield Village Manager C. Harold Eash; J. P. Smith, vice president of the A&P Middle Western Division; Paul Henry, A&P supervisor; George Pross, resident manager of the new store; and Dan Kulie, Brookfield village president. After opening remarks were made, President Kulie cut the ribbon across the entrance to the building, and opened the store to the general public.

Inside, the consumers of 1951 found much to exclaim over, besides the streamlining. So much was brand new to them that we supermarket shoppers of today take for granted. Today, every big food store has entrance and exit doors that swing open automatically when we approach them. But this was cutting-edge technology back in 1951. A&P presented them to their customers with pure pride.

“Even the Venus de Milo wouldn’t have any trouble opening A&P’s ‘Magic Carpet’ exit doors. No hands are necessary … these ‘almost human’ doors swing wide automatically the moment you approach.”

Oddly enough, however, the doors into the store still had to be pushed open by hand.

Other innovations abounded. Handy aisle-end directories were available to “make it easy to find what you have in mind.”

“Telescoping glider baskets,” which were truly tiny-looking shopping carts, could be pushed, or you could use Tote-O-Carts, which were probably carryable baskets. Rubber-tiled floors, high acoustical-tiled ceilings, fluorescent lighting and a pale green color scheme “scientifically designed for shopping” made this look like the supermarket of the future.

Prices for items were both stamped on the items and also on small signs beneath them. Advertised prices were good for one full week, Thursday through the next Wednesday. And speaking of prices, each cash the register receipt was individually itemized. Six checkout counters were in place, with one more”an Express Counter specially available for customers who had six items or less to purchase.

“You’ll be ‘ohhing’ and ‘ahhing’ from the moment you step inside the door,” declared the newspaper ads. That just may have been the truth, back then.

Approximately 120 items and their prices were printed on the single page ad of the next week’s Magnet issue, on Jan., 18, 1951, covering everything from Campbell’s Vegetable Soup, at two cans for 25 cents, to Fresh Cashew Nuts, at a 6-ounce package for 33 cents. And have you priced grapefruit lately? Back then, a 5-pound bag was only 39 cents.

Years later, in 1962, another shopping innovation came to the A&P: “Plaid Stamp” trading stamps. You would get one stamp for each 10 cents’ worth of items purchased, then lick it on the back and stick in it your official Plaid Stamp book and save up books for all kinds of useful or fun articles.

Although modern and up-to-date for 1951, time generally seemed to stand still for the A&P. One notable example was the way products were brought to the checker for ringing up. Customers would put their items onto the counter. But no conveyor belt would be electrically turned on, bringing them closer. No, instead, the checker would have to take hold of a raised, vertical wooden handle and physically pull a sort of “scoop” to slide the items up to the register. It was the most primitive and unusual thing I ever saw in a supermarket.

Competition abounded. In December 1954, Jewel opened right across from the A&P’s parking lot, at 9139 Broadway Ave. Then in 1958, Kroger’s moved from Grand Boulevard to 9118 Broadway, where Tischler’s is now. Still, A&P survived. People who still remember the store sometimes wonder why.

“The floors always seemed kind of dirty,” Village Trustee Cathy Edwards recalls. “A dirty tile flooring, maybe. Could have been wood at one time.”

Maybe the original rubber tiles wore out and the store just never replaced them. My own mother remembers the floors as wood, and I, myself, have a slight memory of that. About the dirtiness: I have heard this comment from several people over the years. My mother also remembers a strange smell when you walked in the door. I remember this, too. But it is my experience that just about every store has its own aroma, its own scent.

January 1971, marked the 20th anniversary of the opening of the store, and besides special sales, each of the first 500 customers was given a free cherry pie to take home. But the celebration was to be short-lived.

Within a few months, the store closed forever. And so ended the 47 year life span of the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company’s stores in Brookfield. Locally, A&P still holds the record of continuous service by a chain store that has never been equaled, nor, perhaps, ever will be.