Acme has returned to
Jersey City, New Jersey!
Location: 125 18th St, Jersey City, NJ
Opened November 4, 2015. Yet another store with just a banner and a left over Pharmacy sign. Interesting since the Hoboken store has the official sign and opened 4 days later. These pictures were taken last weekend, so it is possible a proper sign has since been installed.
BEFORE...
This store was built in 1987 and I believe it started as a Waldbaums. The interior remained unchanged until the "fresh" remodel in the mid-2000's. I was surprised to discover the store had been built in '87. The interior was very 70's. Various shades of yellow and gold used throughout the store, from floor to ceiling. As I've mentioned before, the department signage was very odd. Each one looked like it was painted by elementary schools kids. I doubt they were original to the store. Judging from how everything else looked, I imagine the original department signage was just simple lettering.
When the fresh remodels kicked in high gear, I was puzzled why A&P was waiting so long to remodel this store. Despite being sorely dated, it seemed to do decent business. Add to that, the entire surrounding area was exploding with new apartment buildings and condos. I'll never forget the evening that I walked in here and saw a sign declaring the "fresh" remodel was coming soon! I then stared stopping in several times a week to watch the extensive transformation happen here. Once it was complete, this store became my go-to supermarket. I left it behind a few years ago when I moved a bit farther North. It also became unpleasant coming here on the weekends as the store was insanely busy.
Heading inside... we see the new lighting in Produce. I followed a woman into the store pushing a cart with her kid sitting in it. As soon as we walked in, she said "wow, they've cleaned the place up!" It is pleasantly bright even though the spot lights here did some sophistication which is lacking with the fluorescent tubes.
A look to the left of the entrance with the pizza station and café.
Customer Service across from the Café. Forgot to swing back around for a people-free shot. Nearly ran right into this woman.
New cases here for the organic produce.
Finally remembered to take a closer look to see if all of the shelving in the cases are new... they are! When I walked by that employee has started talking to someone else saying "all they want us to do is rotate, rotate, rotate..."
A closer look at the new shelving.
This was early in the morning so I'm not sure about the selections of hot foods. A&P started out with a large selection when this department was added but pared it down to almost nothing over the years.
Acme stripped this place of display. Almost looks too empty!
BEFORE...
Huge difference!
Bakery still looking great. This used to be the Deli before the fresh remodel. The Bakery was around the corner to the right and faced the front of the store.
Acme added some lighting along the back. Some of the aisles here are still very dark. I'm sure Acme will eventually add ceiling mounted lighting throughout.
You can see here how dark it seems at the far end of the aisle.
One strip of new lights above the milk cases in the corner.
And new lighting down the Dairy aisle!
More new lighting here too. During the fresh remodel the Pharmacy was moved from just inside the entrance to this corner. This used to be the soda department.
BEFORE...
A look across the front-end with the registers to the right....
Big surprise here... a brand-new front end! All of A&P's register stands have been replaced with brand-new ones. A&P had the doubled up register stands where one faced out to the left and the other faced out to the right. This style is used at most Whole Foods as well. You can see below how the register signs were paired up together.
BEFORE...
No Acme sign here yet.
A look a the new registers. I have to say, these are among the nicest I've ever seen. Very attractive and shopper friendly. The belts are nice and smooth too so you don't have to worry about bottles tipping over once the belt starts moving.
Scars left from A&P register stands.
Hopefully Acme will upgrade the facade here or get the landlord to do it. It's pretty ugly.
The view from Target's parking lot next door!
A look at nearby competition. A huge Target is right behind the Acme. The A&P didn't seem to be terribly affected by the Target's PFresh remodel a few years back. Prior to becoming a Target in the early 2000's, the building was occupied by an International Food Mart. Prior to that the store was a Bradlees. An extremely successful ShopRite is just a few blocks but it is not a pleasant store to shop in by any means. The A&P Fresh was successful in attracting shoppers looking for a nicer experience despite having higher prices.
HISTORIC AERIALS
2006
The Target was open as of 2006.
2002
Back in 2002, the International Food Mart was still open. Word on the street was Target got the landlord to throw them out.
1994
1987
So surprised to find out the A&P was built in 1987. The interior seriously looked like it was deigned in 1975.
For a look at Jersey City's former Acme which closed back in 2010, please click here.
Yep, this was indeed a Waldbaum's. All the lettering was original as well, and I see Acme left the pharmacy letters up as they were.
ReplyDeleteAt least I know where the Target is now, because when I go into Hoboken on the train you can see it as you start to approach Hoboken. (The new Acme in Hoboken is also near the train tracks as well.)
Not happy with the new lighting, I always liked the mood A&P had after the remodel. Oh well, at least it's an acme now and I'm so glad they now have two locations in JC.
ReplyDeleteWas the Wall A&P the last 1st generation futurestore left as an A&P and the Ortley Beach A&P the only 2nd generation futurestore left as an A&P before they were both changed to Acmes?
ReplyDeleteThe second generation futurestore is my favorite model of supermarket design out there. The first generation futurestore is ugly. A close second place for my favorite is the previous generation of Saker Shoprites, as demonstrated in stores such as East Brunswick, North Brunswick, East Windsor, and Wall, NJ. I'm not a huge fan of the current generation of Saker Shoprites, as demonstrated in the brand new Howell and Toms River Shoprites. The layout is wierd in the really old Saker stores, such as Edison, where the pharmacy has its own area and checkouts, along with, essentially its own storefront. Third would be
There is a 2nd generation A&P Futurestore this is still in operation and about to close on Valley Rd in Wayne, NJ. There is an abandoned 2nd generation store in Wyckoff, NJ that is to be torn down to make way for a new Shoprite but legal battles for years with S&S have stalled the project.
DeleteAssuming you are thinking of the East Brunswick (as in on Route 18)?
DeleteI know that one is a bit different now than it used to be, but I remember it having a similar "separate" area where one had to go up a ramp into the "main" part of the store and I assumed it was in fact another store at one time that they expanded into.
Perhaps the Edison one is a similar situation?
You are right about both the Edison and East Brunswick stores expanding into pre-existing store space. The EB store later got another expansion, and the floor is level, but you can still tell where the "old" store begins because it has a lower drop ceiling, while the new portion has an open ceiling.
DeleteThe Piscataway and Spotswood stores are rather similar to the Edison one IIRC. I don't remember if they had anything similar going on with the pharmacy sections in particular. Can't say I'm a fan of these older Shoprites. I think they should move the Edison location to the current A&P space in Tano Mall. Though that would also be a good spot for Acme.
It's strange how all three of those 2nd generation futurestores have their own unique look. I don't remember where, but there was a former SuperFresh in a futurestore that was identical to the Ortley Beach store. The Wall Township store is the only 1st gen futurestore left? Also, do you know of any other old Saker Shoprites that are like the Edison store?
ReplyDeleteAllendale would've been the other had they not decided to reconstruct the store.
DeleteThere used to be a second gen Futurestore in Kinnelon, which is down the hill from the old Pathmark Stop & Shop went into. A&P closed it years ago and none of the features were retained by the current occupier of the location.
That used to be a Futurestore? With the barrel roof I had assumed it to be a Centennial. Maybe it started as one? When did that store close? I don't ever remember an A&P being there, only heard about it.
DeleteThat would be my guess. Wayne underwent a conversion, so I assume Kinnelon did as well. Both stores looked almost identical from the outside.
DeleteI don't know when the Kinnelon A&P closed but it was quite a long while ago. I want to say it was sometime in 2000, and that it and the other A&P in Wayne (a former Stop & Shop half of a Bradlees/S&S Supercenter) were targeted once A&P built and opened their now former Pompton Plains store.
Hey guys, I think you're mixing up the 2 distinct models A&P created in the early 80's... The future store and sav-a-center were 2 different styles, the future stores were not the angled store fronts that you see in Wayne(valley rd) and Ortley Beach, those were Sav-A-Centers with green interiors and bulk type shelving in every other aisle. The Kinnelon A&P was across the hwy on rt 23 from the Grand Union turned Stop&Shop and it was a mocked up version of the Sav-A-Center w/o the arched front, then it closed down for good and was subdivided in the early 90's. The Wall twsp A&P was a future store because most future stores had the curved glass atrium style store front, although the Wyckoff future store had the arched front as an exception... Later in the 80's into the early 90's, A&P started to build only the savacenter Proto type and they merged the atrium style curved glass into the new stores... An example still standing is the old A&P sav-a-center on Oak Tree rd in South Plainfield, that was built in 1989 as an A&P sav-a-center, closed & became an Asian market and became a Pathmark until about 4 years ago when it shut during the 1st bankruptcy... A&P already had built another super food market turned fresh, diagonally across the street which is now Acme!
ReplyDelete