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!
The 691-93 Carey Avenue one is the building that is in the left corner ... across from the Pizza Hut (with a combination brown/white face) ... it was an Acme before the 50s and 60s style ... it had the yellow and navy blue tile front ... today it is subdivided into a Dentist Office and Physical Therapy spot.
ReplyDeleteThe 7 Main Street in Luzerne is actually 75 Main Street Luzerne ... it is today a bar/restaurant called Rhythm & Brews ... it has been a bunch of bars over the years ... it was also one of the "neighborhood" stores that managed to survive into the late 1960s ...
The 619 Wyoming Avenue in Kingston is an office building today ... most of the Wyoming Valley was flooded in 1972 and the original Acme was torn down ...
The Kingston location is Voitek TV & Appliance now..
DeleteI also have pictures of the Shavertown, Dallas and Plains locations both when they were Acmes and now ... should you be interested
ReplyDeletenever mind ... i saw them further down ... great post!
ReplyDeleteGreat posts! Those classic photos are amazing. It's too bad that Acme wasn't able to succeed in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area, though I was told by JSF that Acme lasted a lot longer in the region than A&P and Shop Rite did.
ReplyDeleteWhat about the former Acme turned CVS in Point Pleasant, NJ?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous... this post is devoted strictly to the former Acme in the Wyoming Valley region of Pennsylvania. But your question did lead me to check out the former Acme in Point Pleasant. Looked it up on Bing Maps and see that it's showing up as an abandoned Acme down the street from the CVS. Has CVS relocated to the former Acme building?
ReplyDelete