the number of pathmark supermarkets had reached 91 in october 1971, with 38 others either a gas station or a drugstore. in may 1972, all but 2 of the 96 supermarkets began operating seven days a week, and around the clock during the work week ("twen-ty four hours a day," in the words of television spokesman/actor james karen, from the 1970s to the early 1990s.) it was the first new york-area supermarket chain to have stores with overnight hours.