Step Inside the Former Pittston Acme!

Courtesy of John from WISL1480.com

Location: 401 Kennedy Blvd, Pittston, PA

We're heading back to one of the very first stores covered on the blog. This time we will be taking a look at the fascinating interior. While the store has been converted to several different banners over the years, the place is still ALL Acme inside and out.

The classic photos that are kicking off the post are from the Wyoming Valley Blog which is,  unfortunately, no longer on the internet. The person running the blog was kind enough to allow me to access to all the great photos he had taken over the years. It was just the thing Acme Style needed to get off to a great start! For coverage of all of the former Wyoming Valley Acmes, please click here.

Above you see the Pittston store with the Acme/Super Saver sign. The awning is disguising the pitched-roof just behind it. You may also notice the banner on the left side of the store displaying Acme's 100th Anniversary logo, which was launched in 1991. Pretty crazy to see a store where the Super Saver sign lasted until the 90's. This was, by no means, a neglected location. The store received the 80's Remodel but for some reason did not get the red oval logo sign. Instead, the Super Saver sign would finally come down for the Checkerboard Arch decor of the early 90's, when the new block-letter logo went up.

And in giant 3D letters to boot! Just a few years later, this Acme would sold off to Penn Traffic along with 44 other North Eastern Pennsylvania stores. 

This location would become Penn Traffic's Insalaco's banner...

Not sure how long Insilco's lasted by but by January 2006, the store had become Bruno's.

Bruno's with a fresh coat of paint here. Notice the panels covering the old windows now painted in red and green. 

Bruno's closes in 2008.

Quinn's took over next, continuing on with the Shur Save branding. Not shur what the difference is between Shur Save and Shur Fine. I'm more familiar with the latter.


Quinn's has really brightened the place up with a new paint job!

The window covers are now blue and green.


Interesting situation here. The produce delivery door is now located on the dairy aisle side of the store. From all indications of the interior, Acme gave this place a major overhaul, completely flipping the layout.


An addition was made to the left side of the building which looks to have happened when the store was given the Super Saver awning. A bank once occupied this front space with Acme expanding into the rest. The addition allowed for the store's standard 50's/60's layout to be converted to the 33M format which remains today. Pittston must have been a good money maker for Acme. It certainly had plenty of remodels and upgrades here over the years.

Let's head inside and check it out!


Time to check off another item on my wish list! Well, not entirely but at this point we'll never come across a pitched-rood store that still has the Checkerboard Arch decor intact. This is as close as we're gonna get. While the checkerboards are gone here, the arches remain giving us a very good idea of what the store looked like back in the early 90's. The ceiling tiles may or may not be original to the store. Some pitched-roof models where built with them rather than leaving the ceiling exposed. They may have been added here later as both the tiles and lighting look relatively new.


This interior shots is a screen grab from a news report I found online. I couldn't help but to include it so we would have more views of the interior. A little hard to see all the details here but the original dairy side of the store is now the produce aisle. I believe the entrance is on the other side of Customer Service. A drop ceiling has been added over the front-end of the store, which is something we have never seen before on the blog. Again, all of these changes most likely happened when the store was converted to a Super Saver. In more recent years, the tile has been replaced in this section of the store.


Looking across the back of the store we see the good ol' 80's Remodel floor! Deli all the way in the far corner but originally would have been in this corner.


The red Meat Department tiles extend all the way over to Dairy.


These cases remain from the 80's Remodel. The blue Dairy tiles kick in at the creamer section.


A great view of the arches along the wall. Not sure about the chick coming out of the egg. That's not whatcha want to see at breakfast. Below is a picture from the Middlesex store which gives you an idea of what this wall looked like back in the Acme days.




In-store Bakery undoubtedly installed during the 80's Remodel. The tiles here are looking more red than the dark gold color they should have been. This image is a screen grab from the news video.


We have never seen a pitched-roof store on the blog with a drop ceiling across the front-end! I am assuming this was added years after the store had opened. I've certainly not seen anything like it in a pitched-roof store before.



A look around back on this snowy day...

AERIAL VIEWS

You can clearly see the addition made to the left side of the store.

HISTORIC IMAGES

2008

1999

1992

1969

Unfortunately no historic images available between 1969 and 1992. 

Thanks to John for the long awaited tour of the Pittston Acme!