Former ACME – Kirkwood Plaza, DE

 REDNER'S WOWS
IN FORMER ACME/PATHMARK!

Location: 4365 Kirkwood Highway, Wilmington, DE

The Kirkwood Pathmark became an ACME in 2015. ACME closed its doors November 16, 2024 after being plagued with horrible reviews for being dirty, visible mold and having a horrible smell. ACME may have decided not to show the store much love since it has other stores nearby. In a wild twist, Render's took over the space, dramatically transforming the building into their breathtaking Fresh Market 2.0 format. Their warehouse format a distant memory here. This is Redner's very first extraordinary Fresh Market 2.0 which opened on October 8, 2026. 

Photo courtesy of Josh Austin on flickr

The Kirkwood ACME has been covered on the blog previously. You can jump to the post by clicking here. 

Photos of the new Redner's all grabbed from random sources on the web. 

WOW! WOW! WOW!

The interior is strikingly beautiful, with several specialized service departments not usually seen in a supermarket. 

Not Redner's Warehouse anymore!

PREVIOUS INTERIOR

Only a few glimpses of ACME's Quality Built decor floating around on the web. 

 CLASSIC PATHMARK DECOR!

The original post on the blog has some great interior shots of the Pathmark interior. Some new views here from the A&P Preservation blog.

I would call this Pathmark's most classic decor in the chain's history. While maybe not its most attractive, with shades of Pepto-Bismol and Ibuprofen, it is the decor package that new Pathmarks are basing their interior design upon. 

Is Edgewater Saying...

"NO THANKS, SHOPRITE"?

Location: Location: 481 River Road, Edgewater, NJ

Popped into the ShopRite, formerly ACME til they got kicked out, last week in the late afternoon. Totally DEAD. Definitely surprising to see. It certainly appears that Edgewater's need for a traditional grocer is a thing of the past. (I have read that back-in-the-day, the Pathmark here was the highest volume Pathmark in all of New Jersey.) At the very least, Inserra must be disappointed with the early results and I would bet any additional remodeling plans are on hold. When I headed to the checkouts, there was only ONE other person checking out all the way down at the self-checkouts. Once I paid, I looked up and down the front-end and saw no customers checking out. There were three manned registers and one of the cashiers, bored out of her mind, asked me if I was looking for something. I said "PEOPLE, where is everyone? This place is dead." She didn't seem to catch on to the point I was trying to make. The ACME wouldn't have been slamming busy at this time either but certainly more people than ShopRite is attracting. 

And at the checkout I was reminded of a HUGE difference between ACME and ShopRite that is so annoying. With ACME you can enter your phone number on the credit card reader at ANY time you'd like. ShopRite? NOPE. You have to ask the cashier to stop everything and set the reader to take your number and wait. They can do nothing until the customer completes the task. Beyond ridiculous. To end on a positive note... the entire front-end staff were all former ACME employees. It's kinda bizarre but good for them! 
 

Saddle Brook ACME Days Numbered?

Location: 75 Mayhill St, Saddle Brook, NJ

 

A bit of old news here but the property where the Saddle Brook ACME is located was sold in early 2024. Articles report interest was high in the property due to its location and potential for redevelopment. Could ShopRite be snooping around? Rumors online are that ShopRite wants the Route 440 ACME in Jersey City when the lease is up there so who knows. ACME currently holds a 10-year lease here and its implied that will end around 2034. No word on what plans are in the works when the lease ends. That's also assuming ACME will be going strong a decade from now. There has been some talk that Alberstons is looking to unload some of their weaker banners. I have no idea if ACME falls into this category but judging from current remodels, I would think ACME is in a pretty good place. At the very least, much better than they have been in a long time. 

Flashback Fun!

 Location: 63 North Union Avenue, Landsdowne, PA

Revisiting the wildly successful Landsdowne ACME. A fantastic pitched-roof store that was never altered during its run, which came to an end in 2005. As you'll see below, the store had the 80's remodel, the only pitched-roof store ever to appear on the blog with this décor. I  have never set foot in a pitched-roof store with this remodel, and judging from the few glimpses we get in the original post, it looked pretty darn good here. The ACME had major competition move in practically next door. A much larger A&P/SuperFresh, which closed in 2001, was totally defeated by the ACME. In 2005, Giant opened across the street and was too much for ACME to survive. 

Another one-of-a-kind moment here is that the meat department was branded with "Lancaster" in the 80's remodel lettering, instead of "Quality". First and only time ever seeing this! 

This too is the one and only time we've seen an in-store bakery in a pitched-roof store, which obviously had not been added on to. You can catch just a glimpse of the customer service sign in the upper left-hand corner. Font appears to be from the Checkerboard Arch décor as ACME had zero signage for customer service in the 80's remodels. 

Not sure what the building became after ACME left but it would eventually become a Save-a-lot... 

Today the building is a DG market. Photos of the interior are hard to track down. The ones posted in google's directory appear to be from other locations and/or too close up on products to get a good look at the interior. 

To jump over to the original Landsdowne post, please click here. 

Former ACME Under Construction...

TRADER JOE'S COMING SOON!

Location: 3053 U.S. 46, Parsippany, NJ

Still no confirmation on this but it has been announced that Trader Joe's is coming to the Morris Hills Shopping Center and the former ACME space is the only store currently under construction. And serious construction at that.

A pretty big space for Trader Joe's to fill, but I am assuming they will take the whole space and not subdivide it. I'm guessing the rent is cheap since the center is virtually dead. Landlords often cut Trader Joe's a great deal on rent because once they open, long-abandoned storefronts will be quick to fill up! TJ's can instantly flip a dead shopping center into a booming success literally overnight. 

Of course, no ACME features remain inside except possibly the columns. The floor is currently being removed and probably not for the first time. 

Including this yet again. It's in a bit of rough shape but hopefully Trader Joe's will keep in place. No signs yet as to where the entrance and exit will be, although I'd say it's unlikely they will be where ACME's were once located. TJ's will want to have a more open vestibule than the former space on this side will provide.