Former Acme — East Brunswick, New Jersey

Image courtesy of Michael Lisicky

East Brunswick Acme Markets circa 1982. Looks like it was in pretty bad shape back then and probably one of the only locations still sporting the old script logo in the 80's. The larger store down the strip is a former J.J. Newberry. I'm not sure where this strip mall was located and what is in it's place today. There are far too many strip malls in East Brunswick to even make a guess where this one was.

UPDATE 12.01.09: Below is an aerial shot of where the East Brunswick Acme once stood. Billy left a comment with the address and news that the building had been torn down and replaced with a bookstore. I can see on Google Maps that it is now a Borders bookstore. If the building was completely replaced it appears to have the same footprint of the former Acme building. Interesting to compare the size of the former Acme with the ShopRite just behind it. Oh how times have changed.



And a photo of how the store looks today...

Photo courtesy of Dan Asnis

Updates to Wyoming Valley Posts

Image courtesy of Wyoming Valley Blog

I have posted some more pictures in the Wyoming Valley Acme collection. Post with updates include:

Shickshinny: Unbelievable image of what the store looked like originally.

Luzerne: New street level picture.

Kingston: The Acme building is still standing! Street level pictures have been added.

Avoca: New street level picture showing the facade that now disguises the pitched-roof.

The advertisement above shows Acme's special Sunday hours after the Wyoming Valley flood of 1972. Several locations were damaged during the flood and had to be closed for repairs. You can see flood damage in the Edwardsville and Midway Shopping Center pictures.

The ad also lists the new Super Saver store at the Wilkes-Barre Mall which was not yet built when the "There's a friendly Acme Market near you!" was printed in 1969. It's a bit of mystery why the Pittston store was not shown on the map but is now mentioned in this ad of '72. The Pittston store was a pitched-roof store which replaced a smaller store located on Main Street.

News Break:

Employees have voted in support of a possible strike planned for November 19th. Workers have been without a contract April. The strike would affect 28 Acmes and would start a week before Thanksgiving. Hopefully thing can be worked out before then. For more details you can check out the articles listed below:

KYW Radio

Philadelphia Business Journal

UPDATE 11.19.09: The strike is now set for Friday night if an agreement on health-care benefits cannot be worked out. Will Acme allow employees to walk out on the eve of one of the biggest grocery shopping weekends of the year?

NJ.com

UPDATE 11.21.09: Strike adverted... for now. Talks are still underway and a new deadline has been set for this Monday at 12 am.
UPDATE 11.25.09: Strike adverted... again! And this time it is looking like a deal will be worked out soon between Acme and the Union. Click the link below for more details...

NJ.com

Acme - Wyoming Valley's Largest Retail Food Distributor!

Well not anymore. In fact, every Acme that is pointed out on this map is long gone. Acme has spent the past several decades retreating to the Philadelphia market where it has always been the undisputed number one food retailer, although probably not for much longer.

This ad is from the Wilkes-Barre Record 03.25.69 edition and comes to Acme Style courtesy of JSF0864's photostream on flickr. You can check out John's incredible collection by clicking here. His photostream is a must-see especially for the A&P fans out there.

So what I have done here is taken John's image of this Acme ad and tracked down nearly every store on the map. I was able to accomplish this with the help of another friend of Acme Style... James from the Wyoming Valley Photos blog has granted me permission to use his photos here on Acme Style. Turns out he has pictures of nearly every store on this map, some as the appear today and some as they appeared in their Acme days. You can check out his full blog by clicking here. To see just his Acme photo collection and commentary you can click here. Below you will see 17 separate entries starting with Shickshinny in the upper left-hand corner of the map and ending with Avoca in the lower right-hand corner. I've included aerial shots of all the stores along with the photos. Each entry lists the address as it appears on the map.

There are 3 stores that remain a mystery:

7 Main St., Luzerne

691-93 Carey Ave., Wilkes-Barre

619 Wyoming Ave., Kingston

Mysteries solved! Updates have been made to the above entries. Thanks to Mikeg for the information regarding these locations!

I have pieced the region together as best I could with the pictures, addresses and other information I had. Hoping for 100% accuracy here but I may have made some mistakes along the way. Please share with us any information you have on these former Acmes or if any of my Acme's of the Wyoming Valley information is incorrect. Enjoy!

And special thanks to John and James for allowing their images to be shared here at Acme Style!

Shickshinny – 32 East Union Street

Images above courtesy of Wyoming Valley Blog

Nanticoke – West Main Street

Images above courtesy of Wyoming Valley Blog

Nanticoke - Dundee Rd.

Plymouth – 501 Main Street

Images above courtesy of Wyoming Valley Blog

Mountaintop - Rt. 309

Image courtesy of Wyoming Valley Blog

Wilkes-Barre - 691-93 Carey Ave

Edwardsville - Gateway Shopping Center

Images courtesy of the Wyoming Valley Blog

Wilkes-Barre – Penn Plaza Shopping Center

Images above courtesy of Wyoming Valley Blog

Wilkes-Barre – Rt. 309

Images above courtesy of Wyoming Valley Blog

I believe this was the last Acme to close in then Wyoming Valley Region.

As the former Acme looks today...

Image courtesy of Wyoming Valley Blog

Wilkes-Barre - N. Penn

UPDATE 11.15.09: Turns out the N. Penn store no longer exists. Mikeg left a comment below explaining the fate of that store...

"This is not the North Penn Acme. This was built after the ad, when the Wyoming Valley Mall was built, probably 1971 or 1972. The North Penn Ave . Acme was close to Downtown Wilkes-Barre, just a few blocks from the Penn Plaza store. It was my Aunt and Grandmother's favorite Acme to shop in for some reason. The building burned down shortly after the ad was in the paper, probably late 1969 or early 1970. Of course, since it was so near the Penn Plaza and Rt. 309 stores, it was not rebuilt. It was the yellow tile front "neighborhood" Acme."

Since the N. Penn store is gone, I will leave this Wyoming Valley Mall Acme in it's place.

Images above courtesy of Wyoming Valley Blog

Shaverton - Back Mountain Shopping Center

Image courtesy of Wyoming Valley Blog