Former Acme — Newton, NJ...
Photos courtesy of Rob Ascough
Dollar General has moved into the former Acme in Newton. The exterior work on the store is nothing less than spectacular! They've essentially returned the Acme to it's former glory rather than updating the exterior with a more modern design. The "Super Saver" mansard roof is back to being brown, the color it originally started out as. This section was added on during the 70's remodel to hold the new fish-eye logo sign. The store started out its days with the cursive logo across the awning. It never was a Super Saver formatted store.
![[acme_style_newton_up_01.jpg]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyYmEhUtusUyqZ_iH732dfMp-ljd6-vnvZXgNIZnLghDbhiF6kXkNJUUnqJT_WXwbQS27vFUiIBiRDrE2lLqDgoIpzhZ4QRc193nxbrMaJ9t-cX8UUpKFbZgPpL8dz9GykBFOTgShr-TY/s400/acme_style_newton_up_01.jpg)
Rob's photo from the late 90's above. Acme unleashed this horrible green paint in the early 90's to update the exterior of older stores. The paint was usually paired with the new block letter logo, but Newton never received the updated signage.
Still undergoing renovations during Rob's visit.
Renovations complete in this photo from JoshAustin610's flickr collection. Looks incredibly clean and fresh. Notice too, the produce room expansion of the 80's has been removed. I'm hoping to get out that way sometime in the new year to check out the interior. For all previous Newton coverage, please click here.
Acme — Middlesex, NJ...
Photos courtesy of Andrew K.
Former Acme — Bordentown, NJ...
Photos courtesy of Billy F.
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Look at this! A very nice update given to the exterior of the Middlesex store. The former flat-paneled sign has been replaced with the deluxe 3D lettered sign. HUGE improvement. Nice to see this old store getting some TLC. (The new sign is getting pelted by rain in the photo). For the original Middlesex post, with a look at the interior, please click here.
Former Acme — Bordentown, NJ...
Photos courtesy of Billy F.
And finally... the Bordentown store now operating as a Bottom Dollar. The Acme that was located here moved down the road to a brand-new shopping center. The new store, which appears to be among Acme's most successful new stores built in the 2000's, has been photographed and will go up on the blog early next year.
A look inside...
Completely gutted of all its Acme characteristics.
For the original Bordentown post, please click here.
The old Newton store looks fantastic (even better than it did when I took the photos before Dollar General had completed their work). I doubt it cost a lot to do the work that was done and I can't help but wonder if Acme could have helped themselves throughout the years by investing just a little money in their stores. There's no reason why the Newton store should have closed as a moldy, trashy mess.
ReplyDeleteThe Middlesex store definitely needed a new sign. The old one looked as though it was ready to fall apart and spill plastic panels into the parking lot. Maybe it did happen... if so, hopefully no one was standing below the canopy.
Does Bottom Dollar take up all of the former Bordentown Acme? I'm not usually a fan of the bare bones treatment given to discount grocery stores but that one isn't all that offensive. Interesting to see an old 33M made to look like a modern grocery store (sans ceiling tiles, etc.)
Billy said the space is subdivided but the other space remains vacant.
DeletePersonally, I believe that the company was far better off under the American Stores Company. Almost immediately after Albertson's took over the number of stores took a steep fall off a cliff.
ReplyDeleteThis is kind of a forgotten fact that may surprise a lot of you. Acme was considering a merger with A&P in 1991, and I wonder how both companies would be different today if they hadn't decided against it. Most likely both of them would be in better shape today, but A&P was to have been the buyer. Hopefully the combined company would have kept Acme executives, because A&P (as Super Fresh) failed at competing in the Philly area over 30 years ago and is now failing again.
ReplyDeleteAcme's struggles go back a long time too, but wouldn't it be great if A&P could have used Acme leadership? I don't get why A&P/Super Fresh has struggled as much as it has. The old 50's/60's/70's A&P stores in the Philly area seemed just as competitive and popular as Acmes from the same periods. But I don't get why a lot of the new stores Super Fresh built in the 90's failed while Acmes from the same period have hung on. After all, it seems to me that Super Fresh was just as aggressive with outgrowing older stores (ones that started with the A&P name) as Acme was.
Ahold (the Dutch company that owns Stop & Shop, Super G/Giant and Giant/Martin's) considered buying Pathmark in 2000, and I don't know why it didn't happen. Even more strange is that I learned this fact from the Pathmark website on a history section! Seems like an embarrassing mistake that a company would try to hide.
Also, wouldn't Acme/Safeway and Albertsons/Genuardi's mergers have made more sense instead of the opposites of those two that ended up happening? It would seem more fair if Acme and Safeway could have joined forces because both chains have struggled with upgrading old, small stores. And Albertsons was focusing on building new stores in areas new to them (instead of upgrading older stores) in the 90's, at the same time Genuardi's was growing fast. 90's Albertsons stores were VERY similar to what Genuardi's was building at the time, and even stranger... in 2002, Albertsons sold 16 stores in Houston to Kroger and exited the Houston market, and exactly 10 years later, in 2012, Giant bought the same number of stores from Genuardi's (16) as Safeway exited the Philadelphia market. Another similarity... most (if not all) Albertsons in Houston had Starbucks in them, and most Genuardi's had Starbucks in them too, even though many older Acme and Safeway stores were too small to fit one in.
Hindsight is always 20/20. While I'm not sure any of those merger ideas would have made much sense, I suppose Acme could have benefitted from having purchased the Genuardi's chain, as it would have strengthened their position in the Philly suburbs where Giant has been making a huge push in recent years.
ReplyDeleteA few months back, the idea of A&P purchasing both Acme and Shaw's from SuperValu was floated and I could see that having made some sense. A&P is weak in the Philly and southern Jersey shore areas (Superfresh is just about dead) while Acme still has a large presence in the former and is dominant in the latter. Meanwhile, Acme is pretty much gone from northern NJ while A&P has a lot of good locations, many in affluent areas.
The Stores that Acme does have in North Jersey are always VERY VERY BUSY! At 5:00 on a saturday night the Randolph store had Its parking lot 1/2 way to 3/4 of the way full. The A&P losing the battle had less than 1/4 full in its parking lot even though it had MUCH BETTER HWY ACSESS FROM ROUTE 10 !
ReplyDeleteIf you seriously believe this, then stop by Clifton any night after work when most other supermarkets are hopping...you'll be lucky to see 10 people shopping. Our prices have come down though and people are starting to notice... But I wish what you were saying was true...
DeleteI understand the Mount Freedom store does well but I've also heard Morris Plains and Middlesex don't do as well as they used to, and Clifton seems to barely hold its own. My point was that Acme has virtually no presence in northern NJ, which is an area it used to dominate with stores in almost every town. It's tough to figure how it makes sense to service so few stores.
ReplyDeleteThe Dollar General in Newton is a pretty good idea for one that took over a rather small Acme for the 2000's (with only 8 aisles!). And thanks to that Dollar General in Newton, construction now under way for the Dollar General on Rt. 94 in McAfee.
ReplyDeleteIt was a really good idea for Dollar General to take over the former Newton Acme. And thanks to Dollar General opening a store in Newton, construction is now under way to open another store in McAfee.
ReplyDeleteIt's a good idea that the Dollar General took over the former Newton Acme. And thanks to the Dollar General that opened in Newton, construction is now going under way to open another Dollar General in McAfee.
ReplyDeleteThe Bordentown Store is now an Aldi
ReplyDelete