(another subgroup within Wakefern) merged in 1966 to become Supermarkets General Corporation, with Perlmutter as president. Supermarkets General operated 75 ShopRite stores across Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania by 1966, with annual sales of about $420 million. Supermarkets General achieved high volume by opening large stores in densely populated areas and keeping prices low on both nationally branded-goods and private-label items. 1960s In 1968, Supermarkets General left the Wakefern cooperative, renaming its ShopRite stores Pathmark. Although Supermarkets General had other holdings, including the recently acquired Genung's, Howland's, Goerke's and Steinbach department store chains (the first three eventually were merged into Steinbach in the 1970s) and Rickel home centers, Pathmark was its major operation. Pathmark's stores included not only supermarkets (33 of which had a drug department with a pharmacy) but 11 freestanding drugstores and 11 gasoline stations. Pathmark's 81 supermarkets were accounting for about 85 percent of Supermarkets General's sales and 80 percent of its earnings in 1969. 1970s 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. In 1974, Pathmark pioneered the use of computer scanners at checkout counters. In 1975, Pathmark, as part of a negotiated deal with the United Farm Workers, agreed to lead a delegation of East Coast-based supermarket chains to lobby the California Legislature on the passage of the first legislation in the nation that provided a mechanism for farmworkers to choose union representation by secret ballot. The legislation ended the conflict between the Teamsters and UFW. In 1977, after relative stagnation, Pathmark opened its first Super Center, a larger, discount grocery store which also offered health and beauty aids, small appliances, and videotape rentals. These units generally were expanding and renovating existing stores. By December Pathmark had pharmacies in 81 of its 103 supermarkets, horticulture departments in 64, bakery departments in 60, and "mini-bank branches" in 13. In its 1977 annual report, Supermarkets General claimed its sales per store were the highest in the industry. "Pathmark does more than three