The old Moorestown Acme closed down in February 2006. A massive replacement store was built about a mile out from downtown. Prior to the new store opening, Acme said it intended to keep the old location open as well which pleased residents who were within walking distance to this store. The old location remained opened for several months but was eventually closed. In the end, claimed it did not make sense to keep both stores operating since they were located so close to each other.
Unlike the store in Haddonfield, this Acme was not retrofitted into an existing building. This store was designed and built from the ground up to be an Acme. Moorestown had strict building codes that required new buildings to have the same style as others in town. In order to accomplish this, the company hired a prominent architect from Philadelphia to design the store. I don't know if this same architect worked on the Haddonfield store as well or if the Haddonfield store served as inspiration for the Moorestown store.
The old Acme is located at 119 Chester Ave about a block off of Main Street. The building has been purchased by the Friends School whose campus is located across the street. Not sure what relation the Friends School has with the former Friends Meetinghouse in Haddonfield. The murals you see on the windows were added by the Friends School who announced renovation plans back in 2007. At that time, their intention was to persevere the structure and to not make any significant changes to the facade. So far, no work has started on the building.
Impossible to get a glimpse inside. The indoors reflect the outer doors. I am about 100% positive this store had the Checkerboard Arch decor.
One lonely cart remains. Just about the only concrete proof that this store was an Acme. Wonder what else was left behind inside the store.
I believe the checkout stands ran along this side wall.
No loading docks. Not even a double-wide door to be found on either side of the building.
The fish-eye logo sign used to be up at the top. Not sure if this store had an updated logo in it's later years. I do have a picture of this store when it was opened but unfortunately I don't have permission to post it at this time. Maybe the owner would be willing to provide an unwatermarked version and allow me to post it, credited however he wishes?
Couldn't see a clue as to what logo was underneath the paint.
No main parking lot here. Just a bunch of smalls ones located around the property. Would have been a long walk from the rear most parking lot to the front doors.
The center section looks to be a second floor were the breakrooms may have been located.
And now for the brand-new Moorestown Acme...
As new Acmes go these days... this one is quite unique too.
The windows along the top are seen from the inside of the store as well. The decor inside is Albertson's Marketplace. The store is so huge, many aisles are extremely wide.
Located at 350 Young Avenue, this Acme must have been a huge success when it first opened. Competition has since opened up nearby. Rumors are this store is not doing very well these days.
Wegmans and Target opened up just across the street. Check out those crowds. Target with their low grocery prices and Wegmans with it's extensive fresh food offerings leave shoppers with little reason to go to Acme.
Here's a very outdated aerial shoot. The new Acme is located at the orange dot but had not been built yet when this photo was taken. The Wegmans and Target would be built in the section at the bottom of the image near the ponds. More stores were built all along to lower half of the image along the main road. Today this entire area is jammed with shopping options.
If I remember correctly, the old store also had windows visable from the inside.
ReplyDeleteMaybe they put windows on the new store to connect it with the old store?
It seems like Acme is getting slammed everywhere....I'm surprised they have not had more extensive store closings. I was at the Warminster, PA store this weekend (a newer early-mid 2000's store that replaced a 70's store in Southampton PA (approx 2 miles away). Now, Sunday afternoons are usually a busy day for supermarkets. This Acme had TWO checkouts open on a busy afternoon (with no lines), and a handful of customers cherry-picking items (as I was doing). I can't see how they can even afford to operate stores in these conditions. It's a very nice, clean store, but the prices are not competitive at all. This store competes with a Giant in one direction, a Pathmark Sav-A-Center in another, and a new Walmart Mini-Supercenter, as well as another Giant and Wegmans 2 or 3 miles away.
ReplyDeleteThey're gonna get Shaw's in Connecticut'd real soon if they don't shape up. Wonder who SVU would sell it to...
ReplyDeletehey anonymous person who went to the Warminster Acme , i worked there from 2004-2010, i left three months ago to go to Shoprite of warminster full time. that acme is really nice but no business its very sad because i worked with alot of great people there. i just couldn't take the bull shit and no hours to go around. if you want to check out a toilet of a store go to the Dresher Acme in Dresher,PA
ReplyDeleteI would agree with the above comments. I am a resident of Moorestown and no matter what time of day I go into the new store, there are very few customers. Ironically, if Acme had kept the small store in town, it would probably have kept up a steady business from local residents, but by building the much larger store, they alienated locals and fell prey to Wegmans.
ReplyDeleteWow. What an amazing Acme, especially considering that it was designed and built that way! But then it's not surprising since Moorestown is an extremely old town.
ReplyDeleteI love it. Thanks.
An architectural firm will be moving into this building. Story: http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20130111_Vacant_Acme_in_Moorestown_gets_a_new_tenant.html
ReplyDeleteThe old Acme on Chester Ave was very busy but in the end (2005) you could tell the management did not care anymore. No one seemed to mention that just a mile or so down the road is/was the Lenola Road Acme which is large but not overpowering, The new one (now closed) was always too big. People could walk to the old Acme and there were a lot of apartments near the store. Many of these people had no cars so were not going to rush over to the new one. Then the prices at the Acme's went out of sight making it undesirable to shop there with ShopRite being accessible by bus.
ReplyDelete