An agreement on terms of the deal could not be reached

BETHPAGE, N.Y. — Ahold Delhaize said Wednesday that its Stop & Shop division’s planned acquisition of King Kullen Grocer Co. is off.

A joint decision was made to terminate the acquisition deal because an agreement about terms of the deal could not be reached, Ahold Delhaize said in a statement.

The initial announcement of the proposed merger was made in January 2019. The deal would have involved King Kullen’s 32 supermarkets, five Wild by Nature stores and the use of its corporate offices in Bethpage, N.Y. Ahold Delhaize said at the time that the deal would strengthen Stop & Shop’s position in the Long Island, New York, market. Stop & Shop is Ahold Delhaize’s largest division in the United States.

King Kullen was founded by Michael Cullen, a grocery veteran who began his career at A&P and later worked for Kroger Co. The first King Kullen store, which opened in New York City’s borough of Queens in August 1930, is widely credited with being the first modern supermarket. The Smithsonian Institute describes that store as “the first to fulfill all five criteria that define the modern supermarket: separate departments; self-service; discount pricing; chain marketing; and volume dealing.”