Acme Style's All-Time Favorite Acme!
Not only a favorite but also the very reason Acme Style was born. I discovered pictures of this store online back in 2004. Couldn't believe someone had the foresight to photograph this store prior to closing. Even went so far to contact the company to request permission to photograph the interior. The pictures were used for a web page entitled "Last of a Kind". I was absolutely stunned when I first came across the site. A whole page devoted to nothing but an old Acme. At the time, I never thought I would see an open pitched-roof store again let alone the fish-eye logo sign. And believe me, I had been trying. Searching all over the web for photos of old stores to add to my own personal collection. All the searching lead me to "retail history" sites like the Weis Project, Grocerteria and Lablescar which provided for hours of entertainment. But what about Acme? There was a serious lack of photos and history of the company online. Certainly not enough to satisfy my cravings So I spent the next few years wondering if I could start a site on Acme. 6 years later Acme Style was up and running.
"Last of a Kind" is a web page by Alan Turner. Created back in 2003 just before the store closed. I have reached out to Alan a couple of times but have never received a response. You can view his page by clicking here. Thanks to Alan and to the other retail history sites for the inspiration to start Acme Style.
Down below there are no shortage of photos for this store. I shot every last angle and detail despite the sub-zero temperatures of the day. This store truly is "last of a kind" and by some miracle still stands in it's nearly original form after being in business for 34 years and now closed for 7 years. While I was there taking pictures someone started shouting to me from the other side of the parking lot "Turn it into a blowling alley!"
Breaking news: The 3 colored squares on the right side were not in the same order on every store! Who knew? (The bottom square here has faded from blue to nearly white) When I first saw this sign years ago, I knew the colored squares were out of order. But what was the right order? After reviewing all of the fish-eye signs appearing on Acme Style, it appears the correct order, or at least most commonly used, is... from top to bottom... blue, yellow, red.
Stores with other orders include...
Port Reading: blue, red, yellow
Haddon Heights: red, yellow, blue.
Parkesburg was a small pitched-roof store with an awning just over the entrance and exit. Larger pitched-roof stores had an awning across the entire front of the store. It's interesting how the pitched-roof model got smaller and became less deluxe over the years. That may have been done to reduce costs of construction and maintenance as Acme built these stores at a frantic pace throughout the 60's. This location opened in 1969, just as the pitched-roof era was coming to an end.
Similar picture to the wider one above but I love the interior roof view here. I imagine when these stores were first built the glass fronts created an illusion of no front at all.
The emergency exits were included in later models of the pitched-roof stores. You can get a preview of the decor here... the dreaded Convenience Store look. I will say, however, that the look seems to have worked better here than at most other locations.
"For Rent" sign in the window. Offered by Levin Property Management which seems to be in charge of alot of former Acme's throughout New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Magic Carpets for opening the doors all the way to the end. Notice how the door handles with the old cursive Acme logo are gone. You can see the door handles at "Last of a Kind" by clicking here. Unusual for the logo to have been cursive on a late 60's store. Most had the fish-eye logo on the handles which you can see at the Somers Point store by clicking here.
A second set of doors? Not common to pitched-roof stores. The Clayton store still has only one set of doors. There, you are blasted by air vents when you walk into the vestibule to keep the outside air out. You can see the lack of interior doors at the Somers Point store by clicking here.
The manager's office/customer service was behind the brick wall there. The window above was for keeping an eye on customers coming and going from the store.
This is a first for me... the bread delivery door was inside the vestibule instead of on the outside of the store. Located here since having it on the outside was not option due to a store being right next door. Not sure why the original door was resized.
A view right into the bread room which was more likely used for computer equipment in the last decade or two.
Lots to see here in this shot. First off... the front of the store was retiled at some point. I would guess that happened during the "Convenience Store" upgrade. According to Alan's information, the store had a "major" remodel in 1988 but it does not appear to have had the 80's remodel. There is no checkerboard floor and the sign was not replaced with the red oval logo. I'm guessing that the '88 remodel entailed new cases throughout the store possibly brought in from a closed store or from an officially 80's remolded store. Perhaps the 80's decor was put up on the walls but the store certainly did not receive the full 80's remodel package.
Secondly... check out the Customer Service area. It looks to have been removed from this location when the front was retiled. There are no scars on the floor from where a counter or express checkout stand would have been. It looks as though this alcove just had shelving along the walls. Customer Service may have been moved down to the last register.
Thirdly... take a look at the scar along the brick wall. You can see a markings from the steps that went up to the manager's office.
Only 7 aisles here. The first and second extended further into the front of the store than the rest. This was common in smaller stores although the aisles were often shortened to match the rest during remodels and upgrades in order to increase space for Produce, seasonal selections and displays for higher profit items.
You can see how the first aisle was the longest. The second aisle, second longest.
Produce backroom through the door.
Unlike most Convenience Store upgrades, this store had alot of department names up on the walls. 3 along Produce. The first (which you can see below) may have been "Floral" but doubtful since this store was so small. "Lunch Meats" was probably last with "Produce" in the middle.
Produce spot lighting still in place but most likely not used since the store's earlier days.
Deli Department in the back corer.
Meat Department along the back wall.
The Dairy Department had two names along the wall. Possibly "Dairy" and "Eggs" which was the standard in the 80's remodels.
Small area of original wood paneling back in the corner that didn't get painted white. Check out the old water fountain still in place.
"Bakery" most likely on the front section although the bread was often moved to a regular aisle during the 90's so the Dairy aisle could be extended down further.
Relatively clean windows and the sun shinning on the back of the store made for some of the best interior shots ever. Some Photoshop tricks help clean the windows for a extra clear view.
To see the magic that lives behind this very sign, please click here to see. The colored tiles are most definitely still in place on the other side. Removing them would compromise the integrity of the front of the store.
This one is for the fans of backdoor numbers and signage! The door on the right says "Frozen Food" and "Dairy". The letters on the left door are blurry even in my original photo. It looks as though it may say "Rubbish". Not sure if that was a backdoor label option.
Breakroom and employee bathrooms up on the second floor. Does anyone know the purpose of the overhang at the top? Most pitched-roof stores had them and remain on most that have been converted to other stores. It's one of the biggest clues I look for when confirming a former Acme pitched-roof building.
A rear shot is the only "Bird's Eye" view available on Bing Maps.
Here's a view of the shopping center from Google Maps. I was so focused on getting up close shots, I didn't get one of the whole center.
The only shopping center in town. Below you can see how small the town is...
Back in the 60's it seemed Acme went throughout Eastern Pennsylvania and dropped a pitched-roof store in every small town it came across.
I've said it before and I'll say it again... the greatest grocery store design and store signage of all-time.
Thank you to the Supermarket Gods who prevented this sign from being painted over when Acme vacated the premises.
Nice work, Acme Style.
ReplyDeleteIt probably closed due to the building of a new Wal-Mart Supercenter down the road...shame too, since this store is still in near-perfect condition (at least on the outside).
ReplyDeleteWhen this beautiful store opened in 1969, it replaced a street-front Acme that had opened in 1942, at 418 First Street, just one block from the new store. The old store had less than 5,000 square feet, no tower, but the Acme neon sign over the sidewalk at 90 degrees to the ivory front. The new store was more than twice the size of the old one. It's a shame that after 61 years, Acme was no longer a part of Parksburg.
ReplyDeleteThis was almost a twin to the acme we had in Shamokin dam, Pa. The loading dock is the same but the store closed before the remodel this store had. The bread door wasnt there. We had the same emergency door in our store. It's scary when I look at the pictures in detail. The only difference was the front sign said "Acme super saver"
ReplyDeleteHi, I worked at this storeas a fill in many years ago. There was a second Shopping center about half a mile up the road that was the home of Charlies Super Thrift. I was up there a few months and the center is abandoned and boarded up and is in poor shape. I remember the stoe manager Paul who managed that store for twenty years and lived in town, I alao remenber that many of this crew were survivors of the Lancaster district that closed in the early 80)s,.
ReplyDeleteI remember when Charlie's was there. It lost too much business when both of the bridges got condemned near by. Then Toms produce gave a shot and ended up closing up after about a year. I think it's just a court house and maybe a youth center now. I grew up here.
DeleteNot to hijack the topic. but the acme in shamokin dam had been in the orchard hills shopping center right? I as told it was located where the Giant as last. Then in later years the Acme moved up to the mall where Weis is now.
ReplyDeleteThe Acme in Shamokin Dam was were the Giant used to be. The A frame stood many years empty during my childhood and was used as storage by red and derrick drug. All of the signs and wall features were left up. All they did was pull the food out. Giant tore half the center down to build their first store.
ReplyDeleteAcme moved down to the Susquehanna Valley Mall when it opened for a better location and the abillty to build a larger store. Bi lo went in after acme sold off the stores but never made it. The only part of the Acme left at the mall is the back loading dock. Weis bought the location to keep Giant out and tore down all of the orginial building except for the dock.
The closet Acme location left is the save a lot in lewisburg which is run by weis to also keep Giant out of lewisburg.
There is an old Acme in Sunbury which is a car dealership.
This isn't Western PA and Acme had significant gaps there, esp. W and N of Pittsburgh. They only had a couple stores in Erie and none in the towns near the Ohio border.
ReplyDeleteThe ranch prototype also was used for Alpha Beta in southern California and there are dozens of peaked roof stores that were obviously former A-B stores esp. in the LA area. It may be that the SoCal climate dictated the lack of vestibule and the air vent fix, which probably wasn't very efficient or reliable. The design was probably dictated by the need to have a standard store in both California and the East. Acme was not the only chain to build smaller stores across the 60s (A&P and Kroger did this) and they were a chain built on volume through market saturation (the old grocery store mentality, as opposed to the high volume, big store mentality of chains that began in the super market era), which meant that they were very cost conscious.
Acme was not the only chain to use a "ranch" design. This was the standard IGA Foodliner prototype and Safeway had it's own ranch design (less common than the marina). In their own territory, Thorofare used a variation on this. For whatever reason, it was never used as much as the "marina" design used by Safeway, Kohl's, Penn Fruit and many others, perhaps because peaked roofs were never as necessary as barrel vaults for structural reasons. For Acme, they probably made sense for SoCal's occasional big rains and for the snow of Pennsylvania.
This is most definitely eastern pa. I grew up here, its 45 minutes from Philly and the de/md border. Pittsburg is a good 5 to 6 hr drive.
DeleteYou are correct! I meant to say Eastern PA. Correction has been made.
ReplyDeleteAs Acme tried to expand the Super Saver concept in the fall of 1968, they opened two Super Savers in the Sunbury area. The twin to Parksburg was an Acme in the Orchard Hills Shopping Center, Shamokin Dam, PA that originally opened in 1964 (Apr 8). It closed in mid October 1968 for the repaint and re-merchandising needed to create a Super Saver and re-opened on October 30, 1968. On the same day, a brand new store opened as a Super Saver at the Sunbury Plaza, North 4th Street, Sunbury, PA. Sunbury was a Weis stronghold, being their corporate headquarters. It's interesting that after Shamokin Dam closed, it was used for storage by Rea & Derick, Acme's 59 unit drug store chain (in 1969) based in nearby Northumberland. When Skaggs sold Rea & Derick twelve years later, they had 134 stores!
ReplyDeleteWe dont know if they still had a lease to the building and figured if they were paying rent...use the building. Mainly there were displays and other items kept in the building during this time.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in the Orchard hills development and rode my bike many times down to the center to see what was going on. Often you would see rea and derrick trailers parked behind the store and stuff inside. The bulding was raised a little off the ground and our emergency exit had a few steps with it. Hence the Orchard hills name. I wish I would have taken interior pictures but the pictures on the site are dead on. I remember when they tore it down and were happy to see a supermarket going in here.
Also Acme might have kept the lease so weis wouldnt go in there, Doing to weis what they did to acme and a&p in the region. Running the competitors out with low prices and then raising their own. They have kept Giant out of lewisburg for many years.
im from the selinsgrove area myself. im too young to remember hen the acme was in shamokin dam. i do remember the acme being at the mall though then becoming the short lived bilo. i can remember when weis took over the old acme at the mall. they pretty much gutted the building and added a big piece on the back which covered over the old produce dock. im a truck driver for weis's by the way. i know we have several old acme stores. one of them is in carbondale. i dont know how old the store is but its not a pitched roof model. i think it had a major remodel sometime before we got the store though.
ReplyDeleteWeis also took over some a&p locations.
ReplyDeleteThe only reason weis took the mall store was to keep Giant out.
Thats fine I have nothing against weis. My grandfather loved to shop there.
do you know off hand which weis stores were old a&p's?
ReplyDeleteTo the Weis truck driver: I'm going to guesstimate and say the Carbondale store opened in either 1973 or 1974 and if I recall correctly, it opened as a Super Saver. And for the A+P fans out there, just a little further down Route 6 on the same side heading out of town, was a very old barrel roofed A+P which closed around the time this store opened. I doubt that building is even standing today.
ReplyDeletethank you tw-upstate ny, i didnt think carbondale was ever a pitched roof store. but like i said im sure it had a addition put on it sometime. when you are back in the dock area there is still the old windows in place from what i take may have been an open air dock.
ReplyDeleteI believe the carbondale acme opened in the early 70's. The carbondale Acme was sold around 1994 to penn traffic who changed it into an Insalacos. Shortly after, it was closed and reopened as a much larger store. Later it became a Weis market. I think that on this site there were some comments about that store on one of the Wyoming valley posts.
ReplyDeleteThe old A&P was a Ford dealer for some time and I believe it is still standing as a video store or an auto parts store.
There was a late 70s a&p in eynon, not sure if that was a replacement for the store in carbondale.
The late 70s A&P in eynon became a ShopRite a couple years after it opened and later a CostRite. It was vacant last I checked. It was in a shooping center with Burlington Coat Factory.
ReplyDeleteI know weis took over the a&P in clearfield and made it a weis market.
ReplyDeleteI take it when penn traffic took over the old acmes in the wyoming valley they were changed to insalacos? i know the acmes in wellsboro,troy and canton went to bilo's. im guessing the acmes in the coal region were changed to bilo's also? from what i was told it was the unions that did in the old acmes that penn traffic bought. anyone hear anything different why penn traffic failed with the acme stores?
ReplyDeleteThe Old acmes in the susquehanna valley were all changed to bi-lo. Im not sure what did them in. Giant maybe
ReplyDeleteHello all. As to the unions being the fall of Penn Traffic, SORRY. I think the word we want in MIS-MANAGEMENT. If you meant that the unions were the problem before the sale, that is wrong. The people that were employee's in the region are very proud and hardworking, so I can't even think they or the union were to blame.
ReplyDeleteParksburg had major plans. They were going to move where the Wal-Mart is located, but did not want to absorb the many improvement costs concerning road access and traffic control. During this negotiation with the township Wal-Mart stepped in and dug deep. Wal-Mart has very deep pockets... Acme wanted to focus on their core area, Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey. Penn paid well over what the North Region was worth.
Please spell Parkesburg correctly.
DeleteI agree with penn traffic being mismanaged. i have seen several stories about the higher ups being responsible for the money troubles the company had. so basically you can say the higher ups ran the company into the ground. as for penn traffic buying the north region i think they got more then what they bargained for. it seemed like most of the stores were run down and needed major upgrades done to them. i dont know what penn traffic was thinking when they bought those stores. seemed like they kept the stores long enough the change the signs on the stores and then they closed them. its something how big they were at one time and when they were sold they were down to 79 stores.
ReplyDeleteThe Acmes in the Wyoming Valley changed to Insalaco's first when Penn Traffic bought them ... then they changed the name BiLo when it was clear that the Insalaco's name didn't hold the same weight or popularity under corporate ownership as it did when it was owned by the Insalaco family ... the final BiLo in the area closed a year or so ago ... I think they failed because of the union, but also because the stores were not well kept or well run ... and Penn Traffic couldn't compete with the Wegman's, Wal-Mart Super Center and Price Chopper stores that sprung up in the area, as well as the family owned Gerrity's Supermarket.
ReplyDeleteI remember the last bilo that was in the wyoming valley. It was on rt 309 in dallas a mile up the road from the weis store. i always found it odd they had that one store in the area for quite a few years. I thought i had read somewhere that weis's tried to get a bunch of the old acme/bilo stores in the wyoming valley after penn traffic closed them. supposedly there was a bidding war between gerrity's and the other independents in the area and weis's. If that was the case i would say AWI was probaly backing gerrity's and the other indepentents so weis's couldnt get the stores. In the end weis's got a few of the stores anyway. they got stores in selinsgrove, lewisburg, carbondale, honesdale,tannersville and mount pocono.
ReplyDeleteBut the lewisburg store is a save a lot run by weis. It so looks like an old acme from the outside. Only half the store is in use. When i go home in Oct, I will try to go in and see if anything from acme is left
ReplyDeleteHi Ron from the Bakery in this same Anme
ReplyDeleteI worked in this store from 1970 until 1972. Yes...the bathrooms wre (and are) on the second floor in the rear. There was also a neat "passage way" that went from a laddered area in the stck room (south west corner) along the furnace area to the bathroom hallway. I neat way for an employee to take that extra long break and appear the he or she was dilligently working in the stock room. And the muzack system recycle the same dumb songs every couple of hours. I have also heard that it was one of the higher priced ACME stores in the area. Boy, do I miss that place. JM
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of my elementary school, opened in '64 and looked similar to the ACME, sadly in 2007 it was ripped down for a new school (that somewhat resembles a Penn Fruit)
ReplyDeleteI stopped here on my way back from a little league game in oxford. I noticed a sticker in the window that said:
ReplyDeleteACME
It is strictly prohibited to film,
take pictures,or anything like that
on this property
I think you were okay though because the sticker was a remmenant of the buisness formerly situated there
I think the door was resized so they could put shopping carts in there.
That sign is in most Acme's that I visit. It's a risk I must take to complete this mission.
ReplyDeleteTHE AWNING ON THE BACK OF THE STORE COVERED VENTS THAT HAD LOVERS THAT OPENED AND SHUT BY HYDRALICS...WHEN THEY WERE OPEN THERE WAS ONLY SCREENS AND THEREFORE THE AWNING PROTECTED THE INSIDE FROM THE WEATHER..WE HAD THE SAME SYSTEM IN THE LAUREL DELAWARE STORE.
ReplyDeleteI drove by there yesterday, one of the windows is broken and has not been boarded up very well, water could easily get in.
ReplyDeleteIs this store still standing, and is the store sign still intact? LOL I think I might want to go visit it, but I live kinda far (on the opposite side of Philly). Also, what street in Parkesburg is this Acme located?
ReplyDelete-- Rebecca
It's located on the corner of West 1st Ave and South Church Street. As far as I know, the sign is still up.
DeleteThanks :)
ReplyDelete-- Rebecca
The last time I was in Pburg to visit family, the sign was still on the building. I grew up there, and worked at Acme for a short time. Seeing these pictures brings back soooo many memories.
ReplyDeleteI happen to drive past this location the other day, looks just about the same as the day this post was put up!
ReplyDeleteJust noticed something, same company that is managing this empty store (LEVIN) is managing the shopping center the Mt Holly NJ Acme is in.
ReplyDelete