Pathmark was established in 1968 by Herb Brody, Milton Perlmutter and Alex Aidekman. The company was a pioneer in the super center concept, which combines traditional grocery and perishable items with expanded nonfood offerings. Pathmark was the first supermarket company in the Northeast to operate stores 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In addition, the company was among the first in the Northeast to utilize scanning registers at the checkout aisles. Pathmark operates more than 140 supermarkets in the New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia metropolitan areas and employs over 27,000 associates. The company has stores that are located in both urban and suburban marketplaces.