Clifton
Opened in February 2004. Replaced an old store over on Rt. 46 which opened in 1959. This store has the Albertsons Marketplace decor. The Sav-on Pharmacy closed in March.
690 Millbrook Avenue, Mount Freedom, NJ
The site of a planed Grand Union, Acme took over when GU went under. Opened in 2002. The store was to have the Acme Theme Park decor but wound up with the Albertsons Marketplace look. Very nice store and appears to be extremely successful. It's loaded with every self-service food bar that Acme has to offer. The Bakery has high-end offerings not commonly seen in Acmes. The store is smaller than it appears here. The aisles are relatively short but the store is quite impressive nonetheless.
329 Speedwell Avenue, Morris Plains, NJ
One of the most successful North Jersey Acmes of all time. This store was to be torn down and replaced with a new larger store on the same property. Those plans fell through and the store was remodeled instead. Currently has the Industrial Circus decor.
125 Bound Brook Road, Middlesex, NJ
One of the most classic Acmes still in existence. Checkerboard Arch decor with the original layout still in place.
Milltown
300 Ryders Lane, Milltown, NJ
Milltown opened in 2001. You can see the back of the store from the New Jersey Turnpike. Can be tricky to get to. The interior is the Acme Theme Park decor. Sav-on Pharmacy closed in March.
576 River Road, Fair Haven, NJ
A must-see Acme. Around 15,000 square feet with an entrances in the front and back. Scaled down Albertsons Marketplace decor. Impressive "grand aisle" and in-store bakery for such a small store. This store's decades worth of success is all about location, location, location. No Walmart or Wegmans opening down the street from this one.
616 Newman Springs Road, Lincroft, NJ
This new store replaced the old Lincroft store in the same location. Premium Fresh and Healthy on the outside, the deluxe Chalkboard Market decor. This store was part of Acme's big push back into North and Central Jersey back in the early 2000's. This store was a big success. Many others were huge failures.
Shrewsbury
1080 Broad Street, Shrewsbury, NJ
The cut-off point for the North Jersey stores here at Acme Style. This store has the Chalkboard Market look. Looks to do quite well despite a much larger A&P Fresh just down the street.
What happened to Manasquan and Freehold? They are both part of the North Stores.
ReplyDeleteWhat about Manasquan and Freehold? Both are part of the North Region.
ReplyDeleteAs I said... here at Acme Style the North Jersey area cuts off at Shrewbury. Manasquan will be featured when we tour the Jersey Shore stores this summer. Freehold will be part of the Central Jersey group.
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to see that the Morris Plains location is doing so well, being a 70's location.
ReplyDeleteWas the Milltown location a replacement for an older one or just a totally new location?
ReplyDeleteWas wondering, due to the location of it kind of separated from, but still accessible to, a large shopping area with Target, Home store and many others - wondered if there might have been one in there at some point?
Not as far as I know. I believe Milltown was a entirely new location for Acme. The Target and Home Depot were built about the same time as the Acme.
ReplyDeleteHere are my comments regarding this topic:
ReplyDelete*It is so sad that there are just eight Acmes left in Northern New Jersey. (Prior to reading this article, I had no idea Acme was in such dire straits in this region.) If you break it down county by county, there is/are one in Passaic (Clifton), two in Morris (Randolph and Morris Plains), two in Middlesex (Middlesex and Milltown), and three in Monmouth (Fair Haven, Lincroft, and Shrewsbury). (However, I actually disagree with the webmaster and consider Monmouth county to be in the southern half of the state; therefore, Acme is down to only five locations in northern NJ.)
*I really dislike the Randloph location (despite it having a great selection of prepared foods), because it does have that dreaded Albertsons Marketplace look, thus making the store an Acme in name only.
*I'm glad to hear that the Morris Plains location is still successful. (Would anybody here happen to know the exact year this store opened?) You know, it's possible that this store was actually a replacement for a much smaller former Acme located further down Speedwell Avenue (in Morristown); according to what somebody once told me (and therefore, I have no idea as to the accuraccy of this comment), back in the 50's and 60's, there was an Acme in the same brownish building as Shalit Drugs (and some other businesses), which today can be found nearby the Morristown DMV.
*Although I am not one who is obsessed with celebrity sightings, my 7th Grade English teacher told the class that he saw Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis shopping at the Morris Plains Acme.
*I actually like the prototype found on the Middlesex Acme even more than the Pitched Roof. However, when it comes to supermarket prototypes--or any retail prototypes for that matter--the A&P Centennial will always be my favorite.
I worked at the Morris Plains location for eight years. At the time it led the northern NJ area in sales along with the Rockaway location that was built a few years later and was considerably larger. Former co-workers led me to believe the Morris Plains store opened in 1977 or 1978 and it replaced a store that sat right on Speedwell Avenue. If you go to historicaerials.com, you can see a smaller building that disappears in the late 70s when the current Acme appears all shiny and new. The original Acme was demolished and the site was turned into a parking lot for the "new" store, which explains why the large Acme has relatively small Speedwell Avenue frontage. As this site's webmaster explained in the post, there was a time Acme considered purchasing the abandoned Tetley site behind the current building and using it to build a new store. Those plans (if they ever really existed in the first place) never came to fruition and the late 70's Acme was remodeled around 2000.
ReplyDeleteWhether you want to include the Lincroft, Fair Haven and Shrewsbury stores as northern NJ or not, Acme's presence in the upper half of the state is pathetic, especially when you consider how many Acme stores once did business in the region. The Middlesex location is the only old school Acme you'll find in the area, and that's even stretching things a bit since the store was obviously updated in the early 90's when it was doing great business. The Mount Freedom and Clifton locations are just Albertsons stores with Acme logos.
I remember someone telling me that an Acme once operated in the Shalit Drugs building off The Green in Morristown. If so, it must have been a very small store (and oddly shaped like a narrow triangle because of the Speedwell Avenue/Sussex Avenue intersection) but that doesn't surprise me, knowing what I now know of Acme stores that operated before the old neighborhood stores were replaced with supermarkets beginning in the 50's.
Hello, when I tell people I shop @ Acme they can't believe such a store exists. Today I went looking for a photo online of my local Acme in Middlesex (where I shop at least once a week) in order to prove--and happened upon your blog. Great work!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks xenadanielle! Glad to hear Acme Style was able to help you out. That's what we're here for! The Middlesex Acme will be featured in it's very own blog entry in the near future.
ReplyDelete