Location: 714 Taylor Avenue, Manasquan NJ
Can you believe an Acme like this still exists? I genreally don't show stores that are still open on this blog but couldn't pass this one up. As far as I know, this is the last Acme to still have this sign. It's located in Manasquan New Jersey, very close to the shore. Just about a 15 minute ride down from the abandoned Acme in Belmar. Not sure when this store was built but this exact style of Acme was built in several locations including Belmar, New Providence and in the Philly suburbs.
Plenty of "No Loitering" signs. Clearly a problem at this store. When I was there on a sunny Saturday afternoon, there were all sorts of shady characters hanging out on the right side of the store.
It appears that some sort of restoration work has been done on this sign. The colors are too vibrant to have lasted all these years, especially in the salty shore air. Looks like the colored sections have been carefully repainted. Hopefully this summer I will get a picture after dark with the sign lit up.
Here's what the wall decor looks like. I believe this look was rolled out in the early 90's. It was commonly put up in stores that had the 80's remodel but needed a bit of refreshing. I think it was inspired by the 80's checkerboard floor which remained in stores that had these wall treatments put in. It was also similar to the 80's look with the arches on either side of the department name. I will be posting pics of the mid-80's look in a later entry. The other departments had different color combos of the painted tiles but were not nearly as striking as the blue and green combination seen here. I was in several Acmes in the 90's that had this blue and green look throughout the whole store rather than different colors for the various departments.
This store appears to have never had a full scale remodel. The 70's produce floor is still intact! Wasn't sure if I would ever see this again. (See below) The layout of the store has been virtually unaltered over the years. The Customer Service Dept and office are still intact. Most stores had these areas removed or closed in for the 80's remodel with a customer service stands added to the front of the stores. Funny thing about this store is that the bread is no longer located under the "Bakery" wall graphics in the last aisle. The dairy cases have been expanded into this section as well as shelving for other products, but no baked goods.
I refer to this as the "Faux blue and red slate tile floor" in other posts. The rest of the store has been re-tiled in all white. Gone are the red and brown Meat Dept tiles and the gold and brown Bakery aisle tiles. Thankfully they decided to leave the old produce floor. One of Acme's best design elements... ever.
The Acme clock... with "fish-eye" logo still intact! Cell phone pic so it's not a great one.
Live Maps snapped a pic of this are before the awning of the store was recovered in blue.
Store built around 1964 to replace a really old one that was located in the middle of town about 150 yards away. That store had a cool conveyer belt system to bring up goods from the basement. It is now an Eckert Drug Store.
ReplyDeleteI passed by this Acme once on a school field trip. I was shocked to see that it still had the classic fish-eyed logo. Very neat discovery!
ReplyDeletei used to live in manasquan in 1977 i can remember this store and the 7 11 next to it.i was born in edison nj and we lived not a mile from a acme,on route 1? i belive.i vividly remember hanging out in the foyer while my parents shopped.there was a savon and a whole strip of stores in that strip mall.we moved to florida in 1982.well i went back in 2005 for the first in 25 yrs and its gone.in fact the whole mall has been replaced with korean stores.the acme is now a furniture store.any ideas when this one went under? james c.
ReplyDeleteI started working at the Manasquan Acme in 1969. It was built in 1968. Yes it has not changed much since. I retired from Manasquan Acme in 2007.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the Edison Acme closed around 1991 or 1992.
ReplyDeleteWow, amazing a store like that still exists!
ReplyDeleteWell, have been to this Acme too; my husband lived in Manasquan for many years, as well has his parents owning the beach houses for years before that. We still stop at this store occasionally when down there. You should definately make a trip to the Mapleshade Acme, if you can't, let me know, I'll take pics, as I'm in that area occasionally.
ReplyDeleteAh yes, the good 'ol Maple Shade Acme, store number 7910 is very close to closing also. Sorry to say. The store is located on Main street at Lippincott in the heart on Maple Shade. That store has been on and off the hit list for many years. I hope it can survive another year.(or more)
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I have been to Maple Shade and have it photographed for an upcoming post. Although this store is extremely old and small, the interior is surprising nice and very well kept. It has received far more attention over the years than most small outdated Acmes.
ReplyDeleteMy father, Horace Brown, was manager of the Manasquan Acme Market in the late 40's and early 50's. I remember the groceries being tied in parcels with string and the saw dust on the floor in the meat department
ReplyDeleteI also started working at this Acme in 1969 while still in high school. Stayed there until December 1972. I was the dairy manager my final year and a half. It was a GREAT place to work for a kid my age. I looks almost exactly the same now as then.
ReplyDeleteUs older, long-term residents of Manasquan remember when the "original" Acme was located in what is now a Rite Aid store. The fish-eye logo was also fairly new when the current store was built. The aisle markers in this store were removed during the 1980's redo - there were named after local streets such as Sea Girt Ave and Main St. I was sorry to see those go, because they added to the local feel of a neighborhood store.
ReplyDeleteYesterday I made a special excursion to the Manasquan Acme because I wanted to see the Fish Eye Logo Sign with my own eyes. There it was! I could not believe the charm that this store still has. It was unfortunately not that busy for 6 pm on a Thursday evening.
ReplyDeleteIt was my first time actually walking in a 60’s era Acme. The aisles seemed narrow to me, but I appreciated how everything was within easy reach. At points it was hard to get past other customers in the aisles. I am interested in whether the shopping baskets of the sixties were smaller than the ones of today. In Germany shopping carts are smaller because the grocery stores are smaller. Does anyone have a picture of a sixties era Acme shopping cart anywhere?
At any rate, the trip was well worth it. All the features that the Acme Style Blogger posted in 2010 are still there, including the coolers and beach chairs. Manasquan wasn’t really damaged much in Superstorm Sandy. After I posted a selfie in front of the Fisheye Logo Sign on Facebook, a friend of mine commented that she grew up in the neighborhood and shopped at this Acme location all the time. She says that people stopped shopping there because it started to get run down a little, and it got the reputation for higher prices. For me, the prices are now more competitive, especially on sale items, and you don’t end up buying more than you intended, like at Big Box stores. It’s now more quaint and historic than old.
When did the Acme (on the corner of Taylor Ave & Main St.) open for business? Was there another business there, prior to the Acme?
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