 He soon found that he was working an excessive number of hours just to keep food on his own family's table.Large chains, such as the Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. (A&P) could buy in bulk and therefore offer their groceries less expensively, while small grocers had to pay full wholesale prices and their profit margins were meager.It was soon apparent that if other small grocers like himself could purchase goods at lower prices by forming a buyers' group, they might all work fewer hours and make a profit.