#7794 Exton, PA
#7807 West Chester, PA
#7807 West Chester, PA
Employees at each location were notified on Friday that their store would be closing on February 20th. I received several emails over the past few days about the closings but was waiting for a public announcement from the company regarding the closings. As far as I can tell, that hasn't happened yet. There are no articles to be found online reporting the news. Perhaps they will start popping up on Monday. As of yesterday, Acme had confirmed on their Facebook page that both locations are in fact closing. The stores will be featured on Acme Style in the very near future. In the meantime, here are some photos from JoshAustin610's flickr collection...
Please note: Acme Style does not report store closings until they are 100% confirmed. Submitted comments saying this store is closing, that store is closing, so and so told me this one over here is closing… are NOT published to the blog.
Location: Whiteland Towne Center, 111 Lincoln Highway, Exton, PA
Update 1.15.14: Some pictures have been sent in of the Exton store giving us a glimpse of the interior...
Location: Westtown Village, 1161 Wilmington Pike, West Chester, PA
Update 1.15.14: Articles are now popping up online about the closings. Interestingly, Patch.com was the first to break the news yesterday. SupermarketNews.com just put up an article today. Both articles mention that the leases are up at these locations and Acme has decided not to renew them.
I'm kinda confused, why does Acme take more modern stores in their main Philly suburb market, like these 2 stores, and close them but refuse to shut down the "stuck out in left field" stores in northern & central NJ doing almost no business (Shrewsbury, NJ) why keep that dump open... it just makes no sense!
ReplyDeleteI imagine those old NJ locations are probably a lot cheaper to keep open than an underperforming location in a modern strip mall. Leases could also be up and the real estate developer might want to go after a different anchor.
DeleteWhat kind of decor does those 2 Acmes have.
DeleteThey both Have a sparse version of Albertsons Marketplace. Exton is probably closing due to its close proximity to Chester Springs, which is a lot newer and nicer.
Deletethey chose not to renew the leases for the 2 stores.
DeleteWhat is upsetting is the fact that a company president came to the Exton store in late December and told the employees that all was well. They were told that sales were good and upgrades were going to be made to the store. Two weeks later they're told the store was closing in mid-February. Typical deceitful and corrupt corporate scum that will get a bonus when the store closes.
DeleteActually Exton and West Chester really aren't Philly suburbs at all. According to the census bureau they are Philly suburbs, but consider this: these two towns are both in Chester County which doesn't border Philadelphia County (though Delaware County, Montgomery County, and Bucks County all do). Acme never had a huge presence in Chester County the way they once did in Philly, or in most of the other three suburban counties. The vibe of West Chester and Exton is very different from the vibe of most of Greater Philly. West Chester and Exton are more like Baltimore than they are Philly, and could also be considered suburbs of either Lancaster PA or Reading PA.
DeleteHi, The reason both these stores closed is simple. Verry little volume, West Chester is a huge store doing only 150 per week. Its a shame this store was a good store for about 25 years. It should be doing at least 350 to break even.. Exton , this was always a good store but Wegmans and Giant simply done it in. Both stores were expanded over the years and are simply to big to be profitable. You simply cannot get the turn in the Grocery department at that volume to make money. Small stores on the other hand are cheaper to run , require less investment in stock and man hours, thus can be profitable. In the past Acme tried to rent out portions of the store to banks, fast foods joints and cleaners to cut down on floor space in troubled stores. Union s were not to happy with this idea. The good news is that they also announced that five stores would get large renovations and the business has grown over all. Gerry
ReplyDeleteExton was a replacement store that opened in 1997 that replaced an older store near by
DeleteUntil Acme/Albertsons/Cerberus get some "ACME" people from the 80's and early 90's helping with pricing strategies, these two stores are nothing compared to what the future holds. Anyone that wants to win in this area must not compete, the must beat the competition.
ReplyDeleteAny fool knows what happens with dominos when you give one a light shove, well that is what has been happening to Acme ever since 1999. Get wise and compete on a local, store by store level and take back your empire. While you can.
What's ironic is that the current Exton Acme is a former Hechinger that was built in 1964, which was replaced by a much larger Hechinger down the street in Downingtown in 1995 (but Hechinger went out of business anyway in 2000) which in 2003 became a Wegmans, and of course Wegmans had at least something to do with this Acme's demise. Acme used to have a store in Exton that opened around the same time as the Hechinger and was demolished for a post office after it moved. This store sat behind Exton Square Mall, specifically behind Sears and directly across from a Giant, which also happens to be across from a former A&P that was later a Genuardi's, then a Michaels, and now is a Produce Junction.
ReplyDeleteThat would explain ACME's now-defunct garden center. Across the parking lot, there is a Kohl's that was originally a Clover. Was the whole center built in '64?
DeleteThe Clover chain didn't exist until 1971, but it's possible this Clover was something else earlier. A few but not many Clover stores started as another tenant such as Woolco or Grant City. Also, Drug Emporium was in this center for a long time, and that chain started in 1977 (but didn't start to hit Greater Philly until about 1987). It's possible the Drug Emporium was a Food Fair/Pantry Pride or maybe a Penn Fruit with a flat roof, or just maybe an early Pathmark, perhaps one that was originally a ShopRite. Many Drug Emporium stores were once supermarkets. TJ Maxx and Marshalls both were once in this shopping center, which is really strange because the two were once direct competitors and since they merged rarely overlap directly. Marshalls moved first to join a new HomeGoods, at the site of a former Clemens down the street which sat empty for a long time (and had closed a while before the Clemens chain was dissolved), and TJ Maxx moved later to a former Kids R Us/Office Depot site in the Giant shopping center across from the original Acme site.
DeleteSome other things interesting about Exton are that it had a "House of Fabrics" store later bought by Jo-Ann Fabrics (who have since moved to a larger site in Downingtown). House of Fabrics had a store in downtown San Francisco that can be clearly seen in the movie American Graffiti from 1973, which took place in 1962. Thus the House of Fabrics name brings back a lot of nostalgia for me, but more for the 70's when the movie was made than when the story took place!
Also, there was another Clemens in Exton that ended up as a Giant, and has a Wine & Spirits store attached to it that once was a Rite Aid. Perhaps because of this bonus feature, Giant didn't move to the much bigger and more modern former Genuardi's across the street when they had the chance, yet Giant now has their name on a street sign which once displayed the name of Genuardi's but not Clemens, even though Clemens was there first. This street sign is on Pottstown Pike/US 100 which both the Clemens/Giant and Genuardi's are convenient to but not visible from at all.
Also, I don't know about the Hechinger garden center connection, but the former A&P in West Chester was later a Frank's Nursery, then a Halloween store, and the outdoor garden center was used temporarily as an Acme garden center by the Acme behind the former A&P (this is the West Chester Acme that is staying open). Surprisingly the Eckerd (which is still open as Rite Aid) next to this Acme didn't move to the former A&P site after Frank's closed, as it would seem they usually would have done because this Eckerd/Rite Aid has no possibility of ever adding a drive-thru pharmacy. Instead the Frank's was demolished for a small office building called Turner Square.
I checked HistoricAerials.com; there's a map for 1968, and there's nothing at either Exton Square or Whiteland Towne Center's spaces but farmland. The only info I've ever seen about Whiteland is that it opened in 1989 with Clover, Drug Emporium, and Hechinger (later Acme in the late 90s).
DeleteGeno-
DeleteThe Rt. 100 Giant/ Genuardi's sign did not bear the Clemen's logo because it was erected in 2009- 3 years after Clemen's quit.
Josh-
Exton Square opened in the early '70s
Hi, The Acme in Westown is only 5 miles north of the route 1 and 202 intersection that Wegmans just announced that they were building a new store. They will not be the only store and they all will no allt be Acmes in the Chads Ford, North Wilmington area that will go.. A couple of Giants a Super Fresh and a Super G as well mas a Shop Rite are all in the blast area.
ReplyDeleteGiant almost never bails out of an area because of competition (and not because of Wegmans either). Of any of those I'd expect Superfresh might be threatened and not sure what'll become of that Acme on route 1 near Home Depot and Target.
DeleteThis is news to me. I haven't read anything about it, and it's not listed on the Wegmans site.
DeleteI honestly had no idea that they would consider this market large enough to support a store.
It will be much better than having to go to Bel Air (Abingdon) MD or Great Valley (Malvern) PA.
Don't forget there is also a fairly new Whole Foods just south of this location as well - it opened in the former Genuardi's location in Glen Eagle shopping center in Chadds Ford.
It will definitely affect the surrounding stores - the Giant (Carlisle) further up in in Dilworthtown, the Acme further east in Chadds Ford (a fairly new store as well), the ShopRite further south in North Wilmington (by the Concord Mall), the Giant (Landover) south of the ShopRite (also on 202). I think the Acme in Fairfax (even further down 202) will be ok because of AstraZeneca across the street and the local community behind the store. Plus, it's a small location.
Also let's not forget the Trader Joe's by the Brandywine Town Center, as well as the Target there and the Target in Chadds Ford by the Acme. And a Fresh Market in that area as well (which occupies a former Zagara's, which was a Genuardi's chain that Safeway shut down. The original people tried to reopen them and make a go, but failed. I really liked the store).
There is also a Safeway in North Wilmington at Foulk and Naamans, and the Acme which is right across the street. No doubt they will be affected to some degree as well as the others.
I guess we'll see. I really like Wegmans, I'd love to see one come in.
All of the stores I mentioned are in good shape, fresh looking interiors, etc.
I think the Super Fresh in Branmar Plaza is far enough away from the rumored Wegmans that it will not be affected. Plus,it has a a lot of support with a lot of storefronts in the same shopping center and the other across the street.
Likewise with the Super Fresh and Food Lion in Claymont. Far enough away as well. But that Super Fresh is really, really dated. I was there during the grand opening, and I went back about six months ago. It hasn't aged well. The Food Lion actually occupies the former Super Fresh location, which was a dollar store in between.
Here's some official confirmation:
ReplyDeletehttp://supermarketnews.com/retail-amp-financial/acme-closing-2-locations
I hate it when Acme stores close. The new owners should have renewed the leases for the 2 stores.
ReplyDelete26 stores closing companywide, according to Supermarket News.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Geno the shopping center the the ACME is now in was only built in 1989, after they tore down the drive in. Hech, Clover, The Wall, I. Goldberg, and Jack's Cameras were some of the original tennants.
ReplyDeleteJack's Cameras is actually still there today.
Delete--*Hi, It was in the News Journal about two weeks ago in the business section, about the New Wegmans. The Super Center In Kennet Square hasn!t helped, things. Gerry
ReplyDelete