Edgewater and West New York are both opening at 7:00 on Friday, October 9! I just happened to pass by this evening and saw that the exterior signage was changed on both stores. A flurry of activity inside as the stores are getting ready to be better. They're handing out these flyers at the door. The Edgewater store is turning people away in droves as that location is normally pretty busy.
Location: 481 River Rd, Edgewater, NJ
The signs are both dark red but showing up a little washed out in these photos. A lot of "wet paint" signs outside. AND... they have the two-tiered shopping carts for smaller orders! Love those things.
Spot lights removed from Produce. Looks like there's a guy up on a ladder putting in new lighting!
Countdown sign right outside.
Location: 55 Riverwalk Pl, West New York, NJ
The Acme sign looking great on the West New York store! None of the signs here were lit. The aisles markers are getting stickers that say "ACME ♥ Local" placed over the A&P logo. (Stuck the heart in there the best I could)
West New York was closed for 3 days beginning on the 5th. Could the date be any smaller? Apparently these are the only two stores in this area being converted at this time. The Weehawken Pathmark is still open but the store has been cleared out of all displays and bags are only available on the few registers that are open.
From the pictures taken and from Google Street View, the Pharmacy sign is brand new. Wonder why they would choose to change that as well...
ReplyDeleteYes, the Pharmacy sign is brand new. Why wouldn't they?
DeleteI was under the impression that they would make the conversions as realistically cheap as possible, which I imagine wouldn't involve replacing existing "Pharmacy" signs. As for color matching, I think they can alter that without altering the design...I know I've seen Albertsons-style Food & Drug signs done in red to match Market Basket's new ownership. (Texas, not DeMoulas)
DeleteWhat do you mean by "realistically" cheap?
DeleteIt's not so much about being cheap, it's about being fast. Full remodels will come later when everything settles down.
DeleteAs I stated in another thread, I heard Montclair is opening soon as well.
ReplyDeleteAnd I suppose I was right about the conversions just being along the lines of Stop & Shop doing so to Grand Union.
Even less... Stop & Shop updated Grand Union's department signage. Acme is not doing that other than covering over A&P's logos if they appear on any signage.
DeleteNot in all cases. The Grand Union they took over in Clifton never updated anything. The store may have been S&S on the outside, but inside was still GU. The only differences were the aisle markers and the registers, along with a few minor additions like a wall clock.
DeleteI think people might be expecting too much right now. Think about it, Acme is buying 70+ stores. They are almost doubling their store count. They have to do something with these stores, and do it NOW because they won't be able to operate them under the old brands. There is no way the company can execute extensive remodels, or anything close to that. I'm sure there is a hierarchy of stores needing remodels and they will get done in the future, after the holiday season. Why would Acme close any stores right now with the busiest season of the year fast approaching? And let's face it- some stores being acquired are in good shape. The Montclair store reopening tomorrow is a beautiful store and doesn't need anything done to it. In coming months I would expect a more permanent solution to the store's interior signage but little else because to remodel the store solely for the purpose of getting rid of the A&P decor would be a waste of money.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree. I've said since day one that there would be minimal changes to the stores but people continue to disagree, some saying the stores would close for weeks! I wasn't surprised that Acme is doing less than Stop & Shop did with Grand Union, just mentioning the exact situation that's playing out. I was just in the West New York store and its very nice! Clean and very streamlined. The produce and service meat departments have never looked better at the place! And the salad bar is back!!
DeleteProbably in most cases these A&P stores are better than the Grand Union ones were, as many of these seem to be some of their most recently remodeled stores where there were a bunch of the Grand Unions (not sure about those in NJ, but certainly up here in NY) that were stores that were 30, 40 or so years old and some had had only minimal updating in those many years.
ReplyDeleteI don't know why people were expecting miracles. Isn't it enough that the company bought 70-something stores? I would much rather see the company spend money wisely (where necessary), and maybe they'll instead bid on a few other stores as A&P tries to unload them. I imagine the new acquisitions will become part of the company and its cap ex budget, meaning they'll get remodeled as needed and based on condition and volume/profitability.
ReplyDeleteWhen you think about it, the amount of work taking place in each store in less than three days is monumental, especially when you consider that there will have to be more than a dozen conversions per week:
ReplyDelete- replacing of exterior signage
- replacing of register/computer systems and testing to ensure they work
- general cleaning and touch up work (where needed)
- removal of A&P-branded items
- restock of entire store including all perishables
- replacement of all shelf labels
That's insane. Stop & Shop is taking five days with each of their acquisitions (although it sounds like they are doing things like installing new cases in some stores).
http://supermarketnews.com/ap-bankruptcy-2015/stop-shop-begin-ap-conversions
Is is just me or is anyone else bothered by the ungrammatical sign, i.e., ACME Markets IS coming?
ReplyDeleteShould be either ACME is coming or ACME Markets are coming.
I believe it's that way because they're using "ACME Markets" as the name of the store, so it's singular - like how "Whole Foods is coming" would be correct even though typically it would not be.
DeleteWhile I'm happy that West New York is a better store under ACME, the pharmacy sign leaves much to be desired, and it doesn't even look like they changed the hanging sign.
ReplyDeleteI wanna know more about the changes. So the Salad Bar is back...is the Deli now Dietz & Watson entirely? Is the Café still active, or did that go dark?
Café is very active. Didn't notice the brands in the Deli.
DeleteAcme is bringing in volunteers from their current stores under their store and sssitant managers teams. They are remodeling St MIchaels and are in the process of seting DIstrict Manager and specialest teams for the new stores. This is a msssive undertaking. ALSO it takes months to order in advance refrigeration cases, You just dont go to Home Depo and pick up.
ReplyDeleteOr hundreds of registers for that matter.
DeleteDo they actually need to replace those? Assuming they work fine, one would think they could be re-programmed to whatever system the new store is using since they are basically a computer system?
DeleteThey do need to put in all new registers. The West New York store has gorgeous flat screens for each register. Easily the nicest I've ever seen at a register.
DeleteWow! The new stores are openin' quick!
ReplyDeleteWhat are they doing about the stores with leaky roofs? Slap some replacement ceiling tiles up as needed?
ReplyDeleteThe new converted Acme in Edgewater gets a warm reception from the public.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.northjersey.com/news/first-a-p-owned-store-in-bergen-county-to-convert-to-acme-opens-in-edgewater-1.1429467
The place is busier than I've seen it in years!
Delete