Location: 3241 U.S. 9, Freehold, New Jersey
Taking a break from all the converted stores for a look at a regular ol' Acme. This location has been requested numerous times over the years but I just haven't gotten to it. The pictures you'll be seeing here were taken a year and a half ago. No idea if any significant changes have happened here since then. I had planned to get this post up last year but then the A&P acquisition happened and the course of this blog, and Acme Markets, was forever changed.
Freehold was the home of 2 brand-new Acmes in the early 2000's. This location managed to survive and apparently does pretty decent business. The other location on 200 Mounts Corner Drive lasted a miserable 13 months. If you're not familiar with that store, you can catch up by clicking here.
You can see a Starbucks/Seatle's Best/Bucks County Coffee? label scar to the right of the Acme sign. This store apparently never had "Save-on" added to front. Funny how Acme yanked the branded coffee bars out of their stores in recent years and now can't seem to open them up fast enough in the former A&P stores.
No Pharmacy or Save-on signage. I should have looked closer for label scars.
Update: No I shouldn't have. This Acme doesn't have a Pharmacy!
Typical Alberstons Marketplace layout and décor package...
Dated signage in the Wild Harvest aisle. Probably all removed by now since Acme is all O Organics these days. Side note: O Organics commercials have been running very frequently on the New York City TV stations. They're very well done. Completely generic until the end when the announcer says you can find the products at Acme. The "Organics For All" tagline is very catchy and a nice slam against Whole Foods whole paycheck perception. It worked on me. I've shifted nearly all of my Whole Foods shopping over to the six new Acmes in my area.
It's funny with these Alberstons Marketplace stores... I usually like them in person but in pictures, they always look painfully dull. I think the photos tend to capture more of a warehouse feel than actually exists when your in the store in person.
Hair Care sign is still up! These were standard issue for these new stores back in the early 2000's.
Nit picking here but one thing I don't like about the Alberstons Marketplace stores is the Dairy alcove. I prefer an aisle over an alcove in this part of the store. Alcoves tend to get junked up with displays and interrupt the flow of the store.
Strategically placed floral arrangement to help cover up some mismatched paint on the wall. These dust collectors used to appear above the cases throughout theses stores back when they opened.
Center aisle looking over toward the Produce side of the store.
World's worst aisle markers. They tell you virtually nothing.
Blurry look a the front-end.
Self-checkouts may have been removed by now.
Flat screen TVs were getting added to stores back in 2015. The screens feature slideshows of the store's employees. They have not been installed in the converted stores.
AERIAL VIEWS
Judging by the parking lot in various aerial views, the store attracts a decent crowd. ShopRite is located about 10 minutes away and Wegmans about 15 minutes.
HISTORIC AERIALS
2013
2006
2002
The Acme was built in the exact spot of a former A&P which is clearly seen in 2002.
1979
1970
1963
Looks like this store has the same decor as the big former Acme in Moorestown. Glad to see that this one wasnt taken out by Wegmans or Target like the other one
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned not noticing any label scars for a pharmacy/Sav-On. Could that be that they didn't have one due to having the Walgreens directly next door (which might have existed before Acme? Would they even have built a non freestanding store in the last 15 years? The only one I know of in more recent history was a conversion of part of an existing supermarket space, and even then it was the end of the strip so they could still have a drive thru on the end of the building).
ReplyDeleteThis just occurred to me... the doesn't HAVE a Pharmacy! It's so unusual for an Acme this big not to have one. That explains why there isn't any signage!
DeleteIt has never had a Pharmacy it opened with Drug Fair now Walgreens next to it.
DeleteAnd that makes it completely more sensible - had forgotten about the Drug Fair switchover so Walgreens had to take what was there in those cases.
DeleteAcmeStyle, this was a fantastic post! I really enjoyed it. I look forward to checking out this location the next time I am in Monmouth County.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for sharing this with us.
The Flatscreen at the Milltown store is now running adds for Acme's Farberware promotion.
ReplyDeleteMy pictures of Freehold from December 2015 https://www.flickr.com/photos/31660989@N05/albums/72157662157107426
ReplyDeleteI never would've guessed that this place has the marketplace decor and I thought it would have had a drop ceiling but it looks nice overall. I also never thought it was that big! I'll have to go there and check it out
ReplyDeleteHonestly looking at this store from the front and the overhead shots, it really does look like an albertsons
ReplyDeleteI don't see it mentioned, but this store was on the site of a former centenial A&P. The A&P closed a long time ago. I remember the store as a la-z-boy store in the 90s and a pool table store after that. I think that the drug fair was temporarily in the former A&P while their store was being renovated. The A&P was torn down when Acme built their store.
ReplyDeleteI think that the A&P closed around 1975
DeleteMakes sense, this looks like a strip mall that existed way before Acme came around.
DeleteI was at this one a year or two ago- it left me completely underwhelmed, just because it was very much like so many other Albertsons-era stores. It reminded me a lot of the Wildwood store in terms of look and layout.
If you look closely at the historic aerial image from 1979, the building appears to have the distinctive facade and cupola from the A&P Centennial store.
ReplyDeleteI was in this store in the last few months and they still had the self checkout. I wish this trend of removing them would stop. Having to deal with an employee at checkout generally dampens my shopping experience. I'd rather do it myself.
ReplyDelete