ACME'S REMODELING FRENZY!
So this news is a little old but in case you missed it... here goes. Acme announced this summer that it was planning remodels for a bunch of their stores. You may have seen it mentioned in the comments sections that Doylestown has just been fully remodeled. Interesting since that store had the deluxe Premium Fresh and Healthy remodel and wasn't in desperate need of refreshing. Chester Springs is scheduled for a remodel by year's end. Again this is a little shocking since it's one of Acme newest stores in operation today. It will be interesting to see if the remodel there will be similar to Devon since both stores previously had the Alberstons Marketplace decor. Anyone near that location to check it out for us? I will be making a trip there once I know the remodel is complete. Doylestown will also be covered soon with pictures of the remodel AND pictures of the previous decor package.
Additional stores slated for remodeling include:
Clayton, NJ
St. Michaels, MD
Newtown, PA
Pike Creek, Wilmington
Naamans Road, Wilmington
These remodels are on top of 16 that were reportedly done in the past year. I only know of about 5 remodels and they've all been covered on the blog. If anyone knows of the others, please let us know!
I'm wondering if Acme will start a NYC-area marketing blitz in the next few months as they prepare to take over the A&P/Pathmark locations.
ReplyDeleteThe Doylestown remodeling might be because of how competitive that region is.
ReplyDeleteGiant opened a brand new store in 2009, and Weis opened in 2012. Both of those locations are in walking distance to ACME & have brand new/remodeled interiors.
It looks like the Weis just remodeled back in January, debuting a brand new sign package: http://www.buckscountycouriertimes.com/videos/local/video-weis-markets-reopening-doylestown/html_9f07c772-1c45-54f5-b1dd-a3244a428de3.html
DeleteWhen this store took over the Genuardi's in 2012 customers weren't particularly happy about it, so I guess things have turned around.
Speaking of Weis....I have heard a few people at work talking about how much they like Weis in Flanders and Hackettstown. One woman said the Flanders location is more convenient (than ShopRite) and she likes the product selection. (The woman grew up around Wilks-Barre and she can get some Pennsylvania stuff there that she can't get at ShopRite). Evidentially, the Flanders ShopRite is very inconvenient to get to...but that didn't seem to help the A&P that went out of business. Another colleague brought in some South American gourmet chocolate she got there for us to try. i have to admit I haven't been to Weis since my family went to the Poconos and they had those yellow and brown stores....but they must have come a long way!
DeleteNot surprising - I see the same thing up here in NY with ShopRite carrying certain items/brands (since they are HQ in NJ) that our other two chains (Price Chopper, which is based in Schenectady and Hannaford based in ME) do not have.
DeleteAs to Weis, we did have a chain they owned (Albany Public Markets) years ago, but I have been to a couple here & there travelling and (in a way similar to Acme) they have both older stores which would be similar (if not the same stores) as the brown & yellow ones you remember and others that are newer and can obviously offer bigger and better selections.
The ShopRite in Flanders was originally a Weis on their first attempt to enter the area. It failed due to a combination of lack of name recognition and its perceived awkward location. It’s up on a hill right off 206 so while it’s not immediately visible to drivers, it’s easily accessible.
DeleteI think shoppers are more apt to make a slight effort for the known quantity of ShopRite than for the then completely unknown Weis.
Weren't there two Acmes in Doylestown at one time? I remember one along 611 I stopped in back in 1999 which had sort of a "rustic" facade. On a return trip to the area in 2001, it was closed.
ReplyDeleteThat was most likely the one on the south end of town, on the Doylestown/ Warrington border; it closed in early 2001 and was demolished for a Kohl's. The facade looked different because it was a Shoprite when it opened in 1987 until around 1991; Acme relocated from the shopping center next to it once Shoprite closed.
DeleteYes, there was another Acme in Doylestown from the late 1980's? through 2000 or so, From what I understand, this store was a short lived ShopRite that Acme took over. I have vague memories of stopping in this store but I remember it still contained a lot of ShopRite styled Neon department signs, so I guess it never saw much of a remodel. The space, along with a bunch of others on the end of the center are now a Kohl's, A Redner's opened across the road in the mid 90's and pretty much killed its business.
ReplyDeleteGoing back a little more, the Acme was actually on the other end of the current Redner's center (the Redner's end was previously Jamesway). It is currently a Sears Hardware and I believe the whole center was rebuilt from the ground up in in the mid 90's. I'm not sure of the history between the two locations, if it was a relocation or if Acme came back to the area later).
My predictions for stores that will be remodeled. Mount Holly NJ and Browns Mills NJ, and Cape May Court House NJ, all three have the Albertsons Marketplace decor and are looking long in the tooth. Remodeling all three may be cheaper since they can share designs, as all three are fundamentaly the same store, with cape may having alcohol sales, Browns Mills having windows in produce and being a built for the chain store, and Mount Holly having the weird wall.
ReplyDeleteWhen ShopRite closed their store in the Barn Plaza, Acme moved into it from Acme's smaller store in the neighboring Jamesway Plaza (now Doylestown Pointe Plaza). To keep the pharmacy license, Acme had only 10 days to open in the old ShopRite, or loose the pharmacy license. The arrival of Redner's in the Doylestown Pointe Plaza and the opening of a Genuardi's on route 263 in Warwick caused the demise of the Barn Plaza Acme.
ReplyDeleteOxford avenue is finally getting a remodel after 20 years! It should be underway by the fall. Spurred on by the closure of one of two nearby Pathmarks. (The other one is going to Acme)
ReplyDeleteGood for you HulkieMatt. Hey, can you upload those WCBS 2 News clips like you said you were gonna a few months back?
DeleteElkton, MD was redone recently. If I were to guess which others were redone, I would bet on Middlesex, Media/Granite Run Mall, Haddonfield, a handful of others with really old décor, and fixing a couple poorly executed Chalkboard Marketplace/Pf&H conversions (like Newtown).
ReplyDeleteI think Elkton may have been minor. I was in there earlier this year for a vendor reset and nothing much had changed. Haven't been back since to check on it. I serviced this store for a long time, but they always got patchwork remodels. New cases here and there, but never new flooring or signs or paint. I should get back in there to check it out.
DeleteIve heard they wanna remodel the Levittown store as well to make way for an alcohol section. They have mentioned placing that in the produce departmen and expanding the store.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what they're going to do to the Clayton store...I hope they don't cover up the glass front.
ReplyDeleteDoylestown definitely needed it. Bakery sign fell down, and no one was willing to fix it. Lettering was only on one entrance. They surprisingly didn't have the guts to change the checkout lights.
ReplyDeleteThe Doylestown remodel is still in progress.
DeleteChester Springs was same as usual today (today was a no blue light box day. I think someone just forgets to turn them on half the time). For it to be redone by year's end, they should be starting soon. I will try to report weekly once work starts.
ReplyDeleteThanks for checking it out! I thought they would have started by now but it sounds like these remodel schedules are a bit tentative.
DeleteBlurb about the Clifton Acme in an article today on northjersey.com about the 2 closing Clifton NJ Pathmarks... A councilman in Clifton said...
ReplyDelete"The empty Acme space is expected to have a new supermarket tenant soon, according to city officials and real estate sources who said a deal for that vacant store is close to being announced."
No one would comment on who would be the new tenant.
I wonder who will fill the ACME? Anyone? Anyone? Buehler? Buehler?
i think various AcmeStyle readers have already mentioned that they heard rumors of nearly every chain coming to this space (except maybe Whole Foods)... Let's see what's announced... I wouldn't mind an Aldi, since I do miss having a food store in this space. (I have a feeling you also wouldn't mind that!)
ReplyDeleteLOL, how did you guess?
DeleteIs AB committed to operating competing stores that are very close to each other? I ask because it is indicated that the Naaman's Road Acme is going to be remodeled. But a Safeway sits directly across the street.
ReplyDelete