Rumors of this one have been floating around for a while... and it is now official... the Rockaway Acme will close it's doors for the last time on Saturday, April 10. Once one of Acme's most successful North Jersey stores, the store is now a ghost town due to competition from ShopRite, WalMart and Target... all of which have opened nearby within the past 10 years. There is no better example of Acme's inability/unwillingness to compete with lower priced chains that move into it's territories.
I will have a detailed post on this store after the closing. Pictures of the original Rockaway Acme and... with thanks to several Acme Style fans... tons of interior pictures of the store will be included. It's a sad site these days with the hole left by the the Starbucks and the shut down Seafood department. A huge contrast to the 80's when this store was packed on a daily basis.
You can read an article about the closing here.
This is unfortunate news, and it now means that there are only two Acmes left in Morris County: locations in Morris Plains and Randolph.
ReplyDeletehow sad i like acme after newton closed this was the only acme i could go to !
ReplyDeleteWeird how things change. When I worked in Morris Plains, Rockaway was one of the best Acme stores in the area. Last time I was there, the place was a ghost town despite it being early in the evening when people should have been shopping on their way home from work. Seafood department closed, big hole in the corner where Starbucks used to operate and a half dozen customers in the store... just sad. Acme really dropped the ball. They should have found a way to remain competitive- other grocery store chains found a way to survive in the modern era of Walmart Supercenters and Target Greatlands.
ReplyDeleteWell, I blame the customers as well as the "heads" that make all the closing calls. I recall all the "new found customers" that flocked to the Newton store for their 75% off closing sale. I recall several customers being concerned over where they will do their grocery shopping. Maybe they should have supported Acme "before" the store closed, and not just when the 75% off was on. That is the same story at Rockaway. Everyone wants the large container at Acme for the Walmart price, but when Walmart helps close local stores, you'll have to pay for large and receive small...
ReplyDeleteYou'll be hard-pressed to find someone as anti-Walmart as yours truly and I know that company alone is the reason for the death of many beloved stores, but other grocery stores have found a way to survive in the Walmart era and I can't figure out why Acme didn't do the same. Unlike most parts of the country, northern NJ isn't dominated by Walmarts so there is definitely room for other chains. If Acme couldn't compete when it came to price, why not have moved in the opposite direction and become more like Kings? None of that chain's stores are very large but a lot of floor space is dedicated to high profit items so I'm sure there is a way to offer the basic groceries people want while also offering quality seafood, deli and bakery items. I think part of the problem was Acme giving up market share by closing so many locations without opening replacement stores. I recall some stores struggling but others did okay, and probably would have done a lot better if they were modernized.
ReplyDeleteHey, Acme!s parent company has a ton of debt,is a wholesaler without a good sense what retail is. They made Acme into a large indirect customer charging them an upcharge of 6%. These factors make it verry hard to compete.
ReplyDeleteSuper valu needs to sell them to a Kroger or spin the East coast chains they own off and bring in nreal grocers, not bean counters and warehousemen to run them
All but one of the managing staff at the Rockaway ACME were all rotten and bad. They brought the store down. They did not want to be there. They made your shopping trip a nightmare. Coupons were always a gigantic issue. It was big job shopping there and getting and using a raincheck was a migraine ordeal! I completely blame the management staff for the store's failure. They chased steady loyal customers away. Who wants to shop there and endure fight after fight, day after day, I didn't, so I took my business elsewhere. Good riddance!!!
ReplyDeleteI came to Rockaway Mall this past weekend 4/25/10 and was sad to see that Acme was closed. I was not surprised though because the last time I was in there, (about a month ago), they were selling outdated food/cosmetics/etc. It seems like SuperValu or the management ran the store into the ground. I hope another grocery store moves in.
ReplyDeleteI shopped at Acme for the last 8 yrs... partly bec. It was easier to find things, you were in and out in 1/2 the time it took at Shop-rite. I hate shopping at Shop-rite. People move slow down the aisles, block the way and are oblivious to you being behind them. The manager at acme, a middle aged , heavier build brunette never acknowledged anyone as a regular. That was a big problem in a store so small... sometimes she would look at me as if she never saw me before...and I was in there 3 or 4 times a week. Would it kill her to say "hey how ya doin today" ??? There's a lot to be said for customer service... and sadly, that store went way down hill the last few years.
ReplyDeleteThe Rockaway Acme is becoming a Nordstrom Rack.
ReplyDelete