Former Acme – 3rd and Oregon, Philadelphia

Location: 320 West Oregon Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 

The Acme opened here on June 17, 1964 as a pitched-roof store. The original building has been completely disguised by a newer facade and expansion which most likely happened in the 70's. The "Super Saver" awning remains intact after all these years. This store was most likely switched over to the Super Saver banner although I don't have confirmation on that. The awning isn't always a guarantee the switch happened. Acme used this same treatment on locations that never became Super Savers and it eventually became standard issue on new stores in the 70's through early 80's.


We can jump back in time to see what that store looked like after the 80's remodel...


The former Acme on Route 309 in Wilkes-Barre was an expanded pitched-roof store as well. You can even see the exact same while panels that were used on the brick facade (one is peeking into the shot on the left side).


Princeton Junction is another store that went through a nearly identical transformation. This store has been covered extensively on the blog.

Update:
How about jumping all the way back to 1964 for a look at this store...


I completely forgot this picture was on the blog. Thanks to "@" for pointing it out!


The columns along the front were upgraded at some point. I would guess this happened after Acme left.






Not sure if this door was an emergency exit or used for the bakery.


Scars left from the cart corral gates...




The left side of the store is divided into some small restaurants...


Turn the corner and you can see the pitched-roof building on this side...


A drop ceiling has been added inside and is much lower for this half of the store than in the newer section.


Jumping over to the other side as we head around back, we see an emergency exit now sealed over.


Clear view of the pitched-roof building from the back! I didn't venture around the back of the property for a better shot. If it was abandoned, I would have been all over it.



And now for a look inside...


There isn't much to see here. The place was pretty well stripped of all Acme clues. I was really hoping the interior had some remnants of Acme similar to the store over on Adams Avenue.  Josh Austin reported on his flickr collection that a furniture store moved in after the Acme left in the early 2000's.


This shot is from the back looking up to the check out area. The lower ceiling to the left is where the pitched building begins.


Looking along the back toward the original building. Nice floors.


And here, we're in the pitched section looking over to the newer section.


The dairy aisle would have run along this wall. And check this out... could those hood lights in the upper-right corner of the photo be left-over from Acme's Max Pak department? That is where they would have been in the Acme and I don't see them in any other areas of the store. Wish I had noticed them while I was there so I could have investigated more closely. You can see what these lights looked like in an old picture of the Willingboro store by clicking here.


Parking lot sign still intact!

Aerial Views

The Acme sat next door to a shopping center that had a Kmart and Pathmark. The Kmart has closed but the Pathmark remains, for now.


The sales floor was easily doubled with the addition. Must have been a fascinating transformation to watch.




Wow, kind of a mess back there.




A close-up of the Pathmark. This place has some outdated decor inside. Wish I knew that when I was in the area. It never got the "Path to Savings" remodel. I happend to stumble across some pictures on foursquare which you can view by clicking here. Be sure to check out the bakery. Painfully generic and lifeless.


The 3rd Street store in the upper left corner with the 19th Street store on the right. The new store opened in around August 2003. You can visit that location by clicking here.

Historical Images

2010

I included the Pathmark in the views but we won't see an evolution of the store over the years. It does appear to have a small addition to the left side.

2008

The building looks unoccupied from this vantage point from 2008 back to 2002.

2006

2002

1999

Acme still opened in 1999.

1995

1992

1970

In 1970 we see the pitched-roof building with no shopping center next door. Unfortunately no images are available during the 70's or 80's to better pinpoint the expansion or the arrival of Pathmark. 

1967

Such a long drive from the main road!

1965

About a year old in this shot.

1957

Today's Store Post Is Postponed

Last night while I was putting the final touches on today's post, I was in the process of undoing some text I had written. I would up hitting command-z one too many times which wound up deleting everything. Blogger's auto-save kicked in and the whole post was lost for good. I hope to get the post recreated today to go up tomorrow morning.

 

News Break: 

FTC Approves Albertsons/Safeway Merger

The approval was finally announced yesterday. The deal will be done in just a few days. Time will tell what changes will be coming to Acme in the coming months and years. I'm guessing one eventual casualty will be the "Essential Everyday" brand. Hoping for more investment in stores. While improvements are currently being made at numerous locations, much needed full-scale remodels are few and far between. You can read more about the FTC approval at Progressive Grocer by clicking here.

Media Acme "Grand Reopening"?

Turns out it wasn't so grand. The store was not completely remodeled. Apparently the biggest change was the removal of the first grocery aisle to expand the Produce department. Other areas were rearranged but the store kept the Industrial Circus decor. You can see a few pictures on Delaware County New Network by clicking here. More details of the changes to the store can be found on Delaware County Daily Times by clicking here. Too bad they didn't spring for the "Quality Built" decor for this store. Media can be seen on the blog by clicking here. 

Chestertown Acme to Reopen in February! 

Acme reported on its Facebook page that the expanded and remodeled Chestertown, MD store is scheduled to reopen next month. A customer had left a message on their page complaining about the lack of heat in the store. Apparently there was none whatsoever. The customer felt particularly bad for the employees. Acme assured them the store will be completed very soon. I hope to get down there in the Spring to cover the store for the blog. 

Former Rockaway Acme

to become Nordstrom Rack 

In case you missed the numerous comments left on the blog, the abandoned Acme in Rockaway will become a Nordstrom Rack in the Fall. You can read about it on MarketWatch.com by clicking here. I continue to be surprised that neither Whole Foods or Trader Joe's are interested in opening in the shopping center. Trader Joe's has been eyeing a location in Randolph but that has apparently fallen through. Whole Foods is planning a store in Parsippany but the zoning issues may keep the store from being built.

Acme Sued For "Fresh Baked" Claim

And they're not alone. Whole Foods and Wegmans have been named in the lawsuit as well. The issue is "fresh baked" apparently leads customers to believe that the bakerd goods are made from scratch at the store when in fact they're delivered frozen and rebaked. I can't imagine many people believe that bakery products are made from scratch in these stores. It's not like you see bakery employees covered in flour from head to tow like you do at a real bakery. Looks like it will be up to a court to decide. You can read more about the lawsuit at bizjournals.com by clicking here.

Classic Acme Notepad!

Courtesy of John from WISL1480.com

The Ocean City Acme...

Is Getting Better!

 Location: 3428 Simpson Avenue, Ocean City, NJ

The Ocean City Acme is currently undergoing what appears to be a major remodel. The portion of the store that houses all of the service departments is completely blocked off from customers. The store is now back to operating in the original pitched-roof building only, with no service departments available. As you can see here, the produce cases have been moved into the grocery aisles.


The section that is now blocked off was added back in the early 2000's. At the time, the store was given the Albertsons Marketplace package. Since then it has been given Premium Fresh & Healthy upgrades throughout, including the dreaded leaf on the walls. The interior became a mix of the two packages as you can see in the original post by clicking here. As far as Acmes go, this one is nicely updated and doesn't seem to be in need of a remodel as much as some other stores. This is a widely successful store during the summer months and Acme obviously sees a big opportunity to increase sales by improving the store. Looks like the rumors from a few years ago of this store closing to make way for a Wawa were completely bogus.






Lots of storage containers in the parking lot. Big things are happening at the Ocean City store! Acme Style will be visiting full coverage of the remodel. Thanks to our roving Acme Style contributor for getting us these pictures!