Classic ACME - Harve De Grace, Maryland

NOW WITH PHOTOS
OF THE STORE STILL OPEN!

Location: 1000 Pulaski Highway, Harve De Grace, Maryland

Stepping back in time to see the long-defunct Harve De Grace store. Back in the day this store was very successful but in true ACME fashion, updates were not forthcoming after the 80's remodel. Weis Markets opened across the street and while I don't have official word, I assume that ran ACME outta town. The store closed in 2007. The building is still standing and relatively unaltered. It now operates as a Harbor Freight with a very oddly placed CVS impossibly close to the front of the store. We will take a look at aerial views below. 

Very traditional 33M model here. 

These photos date back to the early 2000's when the 80's remodel was still present and looking a bit tired. I would guess when the store first opened, there was another aisle here with produce cases directly across from the wall. Obviously, can't confirm this without checking for mismatched tiles on the floor In the 90's, ACME opened up most of their produce departments by making the produce aisle double wide and adding these wood display cases. The produce cases along the left wall were most likely upgraded since the 80's remodel.

A sharp eye will catch that the seafood service counter had been removed at this point, with upright freezers put in place of the counter. 

The store appears to have a lot of lights out when these photos were taken. Whether they were burned out or off to reduce electricity use is unknown. Made for some dark areas of the store. 12 aisles was pretty standard for the 33M stores. 

The abandoned store has been featured previously on the blog. You can click here to jump to that coverage. 

At one point, I believe soon after ACME closed, Sav alot took over, doing a very nice job fixing the building up and leaving nearly every exterior ACME detail in place. 

Above is an aerial shot showing the absurdity of the location of the CVS. 

Update: Former Parkesburg ACME

SPECTACULAR
TRANSFORMATION!

Location: 120 First Ave, Parkesburg, PA

A few "before" photos before we see the results of a new tenant taking over the space. 

The Parkesburg ACME opened in 1969 and closed in 2003. It then sat empty for 16 years, completely frozen in time, until renovations began in early 2019. 

These photos are from my visit back in 2010. To this day, my favorite ACME I have ever visited! To check out the previous coverage of the Parkesburg ACME, click here.

The classic fish-eye sign surprisingly survived long after the store closed. In most cases ACME would, at the very least, hit this with a can of black paint.

A few views of the ACME still showing up on google maps street view mode. A couple broken windows since the store first appeared on the blog. Hard to believe the place didn't suffer more vandalism in all the years it sat empty. 

AFTER>>>

Planet Fitness opened here back in mid 2019 after extensive renovations inside and out. The end results are pretty impressive with most of the building's original architectural features well intace. The spirit of the old ACME lives on!

The outline of the ACME sign is still remains to some degree. I would guess the light-up tiles on the inside have been removed but it would be so fun if they were still there. I might swing by here someday for a workout. Long road trip but it wouldn't be the first Planet Fitness in a former ACME that I worked out at! 

Really great shot here! Photos courtesy of google reviewers. The rear wall looks to be in the same exact place as ACME. Most likely due to the second floor platform right behind it. So great to see the pitched-roof still intact! 

Below is a google view of all the upgrades and new tenants at the shopping center. A bunch of new tenants along with a freshly paved parking lot and Parkesburg's downtown shopping center is looking better than ever! 

Clean up in aisle 6

RECENT COMMENTS
ACCIDENTALLY DELETED

So turns out I'm a little rusty around these parts! I posted a bunch of comments that had come in to the two new posts this week and then I accidentally deleted from the commenting board behind the scenes which removed them from the blog. Oops! I do apologize. Feel free to repost if you would like and I will get them published. 

CLOSING: Edgewater, New Jersey

ACME LOSES LEASE
TO SHOPRITE?

Location: 481 River Road, Edgewater, NJ

The ACME in Edgewater, New Jersey, notified its 115 employees on Friday May 15th that they would be laid off and the store would be closing by August 15th. Many of the articles online did not site a specific reason while others did mention the store had lost its lease. Shortly thereafter, comments online were stating that ShopRite was able to obtain the lease, giving ACME the shaft. Currently there is no official confirmation of ShopRite's involvement although it does seem plausible. I have wondered for years if ShopRite would build a store in Edgewater as land is continually stripped of former industrial plants. Alas, ShopRite may have found its spot at ACME's expense. Unfortunately for us locals, if this store becomes a ShopRite it will be operated by Inserra, which I personally find to be the worst ShopRite operator in all the land. Many of their stores operate with reduced and totally eliminated services. Pharmacies all closed, hot foods gone, bakeries operating at reduced capacity, deli cases abandoned with walls of Dorito displays in front of them. It's all very strange to me as ShopRite as a whole is wildly successful. 

I wonder if Inserra would even do much to upgrade the stores prior to taking over. As great as this ACME is, the store is showing its age in many areas. For some reason ACME has not done the level of remodeling here as they've done in so many other locations including Fort Lee, Hoboken, and the two Jersey City stores. So as we wait word on the fate of this store, let's revisit some its quirks.  

The spot left by Pathmark's Bella Cafe (seen below) has been a struggle for ACME to utilize. The last significant remodel saw this case added as an extension of the produce department. For years this case had fresh and fruit and vegetables but recenlty all was switched out for bottled drinks. The space behind this case has been a dead zone. It does get transformed into a booming floral shop for Mother's Day weekend.  

Pathmark's flooring remains throughout most noticeably in the produce department. While nearly every ACME out there had received hardwood flooring. Edgewater continues to go without.

The last remodel also saw the removal of Pathmark's long abandoned "Live Bistro". (Photo down below) ACME added in an Asian food service counter which I was guessing would not go the distance and it has not. Around the right corner, ACME added cases for grab and go foods. Nice idea but the cases were placed too far into the concourse and has often made the self-checkout area a congested, confusing mess. 

ACME also shortened the first few asiles to allow for the addition of a mini seasonal asile that ran along the newly opened space. That shelving was all recently removed, hence the abundance of Hot Wheel displays. This tile patchwork was shown on the blog previously and still remains a mystery. Was it so difficult to get white tile? 

Seasonal shelving gone. 

The updated red signage has finally made it into all stores, at least that I've seen. The swap from the previous black signs with a handwritten type font seemed to drag on for years. 

If there's one thing ACME loves, its water! This aisle has been reconfigured so many times I couldn't begin to count. Just recently reset yet again, switching categories all around. 

I was told during the last significant remodel, that Pathmark's old milk cases would finally get replaced with refrigerators with doors. As you can see in the further off case, racks are filled with product and then rolled into place. Apparently the cost of the upgrade was out of the budget so the old cases remain to this day. 

Adding doors to the dairy cases is yet another popular ACME upgrade which never happened here. From the looks of it these cases cannot be retrofitted with doors. A look at the old Pathmark decor is shown below. 

So a few years back, ACME went on a rampage installing additional "card only" self checkouts in their stores. They were super helpful in reducing wait times but in the past year or two they have been taken out of commision in all ACME's I shop in. Here at the Edgewater store I've been told they didn't have enough staff to monitor the checkouts, yet they have recently been reopened and I never see more than one attendant overseeing all nine self-checkouts. 

VHS drop box remains on the outside of the store! Will it hold on as a new tenant takes over?

Back in 2015!

Will ShopRtie take over? It has also been reported, in all of one article online, that Sprout's Famers Market is coming to this very shopping center in 2027. At the time of the article, there were no vacancies here for the store to move into and it's highly doubtful Sprout's has the capital to swipe ACME's lease out from under them. I would gladly take a Sprouts over ShopRite but I doubt that will be the case. 

Acme Style has reopened!

WELCOME TO A NEW ERA OF

ACME STYLE! 

After being shuttered 7 1/2 years ago, Acme Style has surprisingly reopened for business! (And let me tell you, no one is more surprised than me!) 

Lots of fun posts are headed your way as I have continued to photograph stores for years now. I also have carts full of photos which never made it up on the blog the first time around. Also on the way are updates to previously covered stores as ACME is currently in the midst of some of its most aggressive remodeling in decades. While the chain appears to be thriving, at least more so than it has during much of its history, store closings still occasionally happen. You can now rely, once again, on Acme Style to preserve those stores forevermore.

I will share with you that going forward in this new era of the blog, I will be posting less frequently than many of you became accustomed to in Acme Style's heyday. Back then I ran this blog like it was my job and I loved it. These days it will be relegated to more of a side project. I plan to do at least 2 big store posts a month and other shorter posts focusing on updates and former locations. The big posts will go up on Fridays with the other posts going up on Tuesdays. If you don't see a post by 7am on those days, there won't be one coming. I just like to mention this so you don't waste time checking back for new content when it is not coming. Posts this time around will be focused more on presenting photos and less on my chit chatty commentary. This will help keep things moving along. 

Also note, Acme Style will continue on with its out-of-date vintage blog look. I don't dare reformat at this point and while many of you out there might be pained by the dated look (and I completely understand), no remodeling plans are in the works at this time. 

Check back tomorrow for the very first post of the new era. A bit of a news break of a shocking twist for an extremely successful store. A blast from the past post will go up on Wednesday and then this Friday, coverage of one of the most spectacular remodels ever seen in the history of Acme Markets! 

BE SURE TO TELL A FRIEND

THE BLOG IS BACK! 

ACME STYLE HAS CLOSED

As most of you know, I announced at the beginning of 2018 that this would be the final year for the blog. My intention at the time was to go out with a bang by having a year chock full of big posts. Unfortunately, that was not meant to be. By May, I was already beginning to move on to some new projects and interests and just couldn't seem to get back to the blog despite several attempts. I have also been busy plotting a major a career change which will be taking all of my free time and energy in 2019.

I am not sure of the future of Acme Style at this point. My plan to move operations over to flickr is currently on hold. After 10 years of running the blog, I've realized I need a complete break in order to pursue some others things in life.

I truly appreciate all of the support and assistance I have had from so many of you over the years. The blog never would have lasted this long without all of you joining in on the fun!

All good things must come to an end...

Location: 80 Pemberton Browns Mills Road, Browns Mills NJ

After years of sitting abandoned, the former Brown Mills Acme has met it demise. While this store was absolutely despised by the people of Brown Mills (and rightfully so as it became a horrendous  eye sore), it has always been the biggest attraction in the history of Acme Style! 

Photos were sent in from several people visiting the site during demolition. Steve G even got some photos from the rear of the building confirming the survival of the psychedelic Acme sign facing the inside of the store! 

The Brown Mills Shopping Center has had an interesting history which has been fully detailed BurlingtonCountyTimes.com. 

Here is is!  I don't even want to think about those tiles getting thrown into the dump.









For past coverage of the Brown Mills Acme, please click here.

This will be the last post for Acme Style. Official closing announcement will go up on the blog next Friday.