The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company Inc. (A&P)(NYSE:GAP) today announced that Andreas Guldin has been elected to the Company's Board of Directors, and also to the new position within the Company of Executive Managing Director, Strategy and Corporate Development. He will report directly to Christian Haub, Executive Chairman of A&P.

Mr. Guldin most recently was Senior Executive Vice President, Corporate Finance and Co-Chief Financial Officer of Tengelmann (Mülheim, Germany), a diversified international retail organization that is majority shareholder of A&P.

Commenting on Mr. Guldin's election, Christian Haub said, ?We are delighted to welcome Andreas to both our Board and Company. His expertise and counsel have been invaluable to A&P's strategic development, as recently exemplified by his instrumental role in our pending acquisition of Pathmark Stores Inc. I look forward to working with him as our Company's strategic transformation moves forward.?

Before joining Tengelmann in 2005, Mr. Guldin was Chief Financial Officer of E. Breuninger GmbH & Co., a leading department store and fashion retailer based in Stuttgart, Germany. Prior to that he was a senior business consultant at PA Consulting and CSC Index, also in Germany.

Mr. Guldin has been a Visiting Faculty of the University of Stuttgart for several years and is currently a Visiting Faculty Member at the University of Dusseldorf for Finance and Performance Management. He holds a Master's degree in Psychology from J.W. Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany, a Masters degree in Business Administration from London Business School, and a Doctorate in Economics and Business Administration from the University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany.

Founded in 1859, A&P is one of the nation's first supermarket chains. The Company operates 406 stores in 9 states and the District of Columbia under the following trade names: A&P, Waldbaum's, The Food Emporium, Super Foodmart, Super Fresh, Farmer Jack, Sav-A-Center and Food Basics.