<PAGE>



                                                                    Exhibit 31.1
                  CERTIFICATION OF PRINCIPAL EXECUTIVE OFFICER
                            SECTION 302 CERTIFICATION
I, Eric Claus, certify that:

1.  I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of The Great Atlantic &
    Pacific Tea Company, Inc.;

2.  Based on my knowledge, this quarterly report does not contain any untrue
    statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to
    make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such
    statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by
    this quarterly report;

3.  Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
    information included in this quarterly report, fairly present in all
    material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash
    flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this
    quarterly report;

4.  The registrant's other certifying officer and I are responsible for
    establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined
    in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over
    financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and
    15d-15(f)) for the registrant and have:

    a) designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such
       disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision,
       to ensure that material information relating to the registrant, including
       its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those
       entities, particularly during the period in which this quarterly report
       is being prepared;

    b) designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such
       internal control over financial reporting to be designed under our
       supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of
       financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for
       external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting
       principles;

    c) evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure controls and
       procedures and presented in this quarterly report our conclusion about
       the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the
       end of the period covered by this quarterly report based on such
       evaluation; and

    d) disclosed in this quarterly report any change in the registrant's
       internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the
       registrant's most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant's fourth fiscal
       quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially affected, or
       is likely to materially affect, the registrant's internal control over
       financial reporting;

5.   The registrant's other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on
     our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to
     the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of registrant's board of
     directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):

    a) all significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or
       operation of internal control over financial reporting which are
       reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant's ability to record,
       process, summarize and report financial information; and

    b) any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other
       employees who have a significant role in the registrant's internal
       control over financial reporting.

/s/ Eric Claus                                       Date:  January 9, 2007
--------------
Eric Claus
President and
Chief Executive Officer



                                        69