Photos courtesy of Michael H. of Fairfax, VA
Location: 329 Monroe Street, Martinsburg, WV
We're kicking off the new year with one of the best repurposing of a picthed-roof Acme yet! Extreme Family Fitness opened here in 2012 after moving from another spot in the shopping center. According to the satellite images, the building had been abandoned for some time before the gym took over the space. Acme opened here in September 1965. Michaels tells me that discussions on Groceteria.com put the store's closing in 1990.
The gym's website advertises the size of the facility at 60,000 square feet. They must have taken over some neighboring stores to reach that square footage. Michael wasn't able to get pictures of the inside due to the mirrored windows but I went ahead and grabbed some photos of the website to include below. It is a very impressive facility. At $15 dollars a month, it is an extreme value as well.
The owners of Extreme Family Fitness spared no expense fixing the exterior. Even the back of the store looks great!
The interior pictures below are from the gym's website…
The Produce back room is now is now used for group training. You can see more many more pictures on the website although it's not as obvious where some of the other sections of the gym are located in the former Acme.
Current satellite images show the building abandoned, possibly with the windows covered over.
The frame of the Acme sign is still intact.
2003
Only one historic image showing the shopping center is available. The next available image is from 1947 and shows no buildings on the site.
Working out in a former pitched-roof Acme? Sign me up!
Be sure to check out Michael's retail photo collection over on flickr by clicking here.
Where would those discussions concerning this store be on Groceteria? Because I posted years ago (and haven't posted on that site since) a question about when this particular Acme opened/closed and my post never received a response to this day. Not mad at anyone about it or anything but I really would like to know how I missed that discussion... I have been reading Groceteria for years but have never posted in a long time.
ReplyDeleteMichael did provide a link to the thread with the info…
Deletehttp://www.groceteria.com/board/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=2917&p=15333
Thanks but where did you find out this store opened in September 1965? I believe your source but inquiring minds want to know.
DeleteI have several lists and directories of Acmes that have opening and closing dates included.
DeleteHere's an article that discusses the shopping center that the former Acme is located:
Deletehttp://articles.herald-mail.com/2000-02-09/news/25119402_1_popular-shopping-center-route-furniture-shop
I ran across this former Acme completely by accident. It was one of those days I decided to take the "old route", in this case Route 11. And as I rounded the corner you couldn't miss the Acme. I had no idea that Acme ever had stores in West Virginia until I saw this one.
And thanks to Acme Style for plugging my Flickr page! :)
You're welcome Michael! Going forward, I'll include the link in all the posts you supply pictures for. Thank you for getting so many interesting former Acmes photographed for our enjoyment!
DeleteI remember the stores in western Maryland and West Virginia, at the end they were not supplied by Acme warehouse but by PA Smalls and carried the Red & White brand as their private label
ReplyDeleteWasn't the Acme in Langhorne, PA now a Planet Fitness?
ReplyDeleteIt is! I forgot about that one. Very cool interior but the exterior is altered significantly and the windows are now covered over.
DeleteCould the big square store seen in aerial views of the opposite wing of the center from the Acme/fitness center be a former 70's Acme that may have coexisted with the 1965 Acme? There were a few shopping centers that Acme had two stores in at the same time, such as Merchants Square in Wilmington DE (which is in a rough area and was also mostly abandoned until recently). But Merchants Square opened in the early 50's with two very small Acme stores. After looking in Google Maps I found out it now is a "Big Bucks Bingo" establishment.
ReplyDeleteI know Acme had a 50's store only about three blocks from a 1969/1970 Super Saver in Ridley PA. Eventually the 50's store closed right after Albertsons bought Acme, and built a new Acme down the street the other way from the 50's store. The 50's Acme now is a CVS, and surprisingly the store that was once Super Saver is still open, despite being close to the bigger more modern Acme from 1995 in Clifton Heights. Also surprisingly, a Pathmark that was built in 1967 as a ShopRite but converted to Pathmark in 1968 when the chain began is still open very close to the much larger 2000 Acme in Ridley, and a Home Depot is all that separates the two stores. Also a 1962 Acme in nearby Woodlyn was replaced by an Acme at a former Penn Fruit site, which eventually was also swallowed by the 2000 Acme in Ridley. And a Kmart is all that really separates the 70's Pathmark in Brookhaven (next door to Woodlyn) from a small 80's Giant that has tried to relocate but has been blocked from doing so, though a quiet street is between the Pathmark/Kmart and Giant, and the Giant is downhill from the Kmart.
It's easy to picture the Big Bucks Bingo as an Acme if you look at this former Acme: http://www.flickr.com/photos/62355920@N00/36125571
And then look at this former Acme: http://www.flickr.com/photos/62355920@N00/6054737855/
OR this former Acme: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rsher/2632400654/
There is also a former Acme that became a gym in Manalapan NJ ...
ReplyDeleteSkip's Honda in Keyser WV is a former Acme (the Honda shop was closed in 2011 and the bikes and parts auctioned off).
ReplyDeleteI found a few links to some photos. One is a somewhat good exterior - you can clearly see the old fisheye hole.
Obviously, most of the pictures from these posts focus on the bikes and not the building.
http://www.cyclebytes.com/forums/index.php?topic=1420.0
http://forums.cycleworld.com/showthread.php?s=45e75501cdb5f2d6d79004f2b2b9d557&t=252197&page=2
Here's a picture of the store before the Extreme Family Fitness opened. Hard to tell if the windows are covered up: https://www.google.com/maps/@39.4838735,-77.9478102,3a,75y,310.71h,73.03t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1srqNmYPN7O-2segb-mzu7Lg!2e0!7i3328!8i1664!6m1!1e1
ReplyDelete