Friday, November 20, 2015

Acme – Hoboken, New Jersey


Location: 614-632 Clinton St, Hoboken, NJ


Acme has arrived in Hoboken! I don't believe the company ever had a store in this town but they do now. This location opened on November 28, 2015.


While we're seeing a lot of stores getting stuck with banners, the Hoboken Acme got the real deal. Not sure why since this store opened later than others that haven't gotten proper signs. Jersey City, which is literally just blocks away, opened 2 weeks earlier and has only a banner. We'll never know how many stores are dealing with local sign ordinances and how much difficultly the sign manufacturer is having keeping up with all of the orders. A before photo is below...


I drove by the day they were putting up the new sign and once again was surprised to see they painted the facade after the sign was installed.




A&P spot lights out... Acme's fluorescent tubes in. They are covered and rather nice looking fixtures although they look like exposed tubes in these pictures. Acme worked a miracle in the Produce department which we will see in a moment.


Wine and Spirits out, health food, seasonal and deals are in. Acme was unable to keep the liquor license here or at any of the A&P's that had Wine and Spirits departments.


I'm puzzled by the ceiling being so uncomfortably low in this area of the store. There must be a second floor above this section of the store.


Acme cleaned up the Produce aisle! I was quite sure they were going to do something with the mess that A&P always had in this aisle. Just look below for the "before" shot...


Sorry but this aisle is way too narrow for all of these displays and baskets and boxes.


So here we have white stickers on the wall art and the black "Acme loves local" on the aisle markers. Notice how huge the artwork is in this store.


One thing that desperately needs to happen is fresh coat of paint for the ceiling tiles.They're all different shades of white and gray throughout the store.




This was the first time I have seen these white stickers in person. Didn't mind them one bit. They seem more out of place in pictures then they do in person.




Frozen Food aisle is clear! I remember this aisle being loaded with displays back when I shopped here in the early 2000's.


I think this store may have had a repaint recently. The colors, particularly the blue above Seafood on the far wall, are not typical to the "fresh" remodels.




Looking down the Dairy aisle toward the Bakery in the front corner.






Another Acme Bakery with a huge selection of products. I've seen much larger stores that aren't carrying the variety that this small store is.


The olive bar was filled with baked goods which seemed strange. The labels were still out for the olives but there were none to be found. Maybe the bar is on the fritz.




There used to be a full service cheese department in this corner.  You can see the leftover signage above. It's been removed to make room for rotisserie chicken and packaged deli meats.


Cashiers waiting for customers at the front of the registers. I do love this about Acme. It's been this way in all the stores I've visited so far.


Hoboken even got an interior sign! Why so many stores are missing this I'll never know. Can't be too hard to manufactor. Staples could do it.





A trailer with two different logos! 

AERIAL VIEWS


A look at the store's proximity to the Hudson River.


Very densely populated area. This used to be Hoboken's only major supermarket until ShopRite built a store a few blocks away in the mid-2000's.




As well as I know Hoboken, I had no idea these stores were so close to each other until I saw this aerial image.


The Acme is gonna love it when it rains. Doesn't take much to flood the area of town where the ShopRite is located. The place was heavily damaged by flood waters from Sandy. Closed for months. Have to say, ShopRite did an outstanding job remodeling the store during that time. It was kind of an awful store from the day it opened. ShopRite seemed clueless as to the clientele they would be serving here but clearly figured things out by the time they needed to remodel.

HISTORIC AERIALS


1987
Expanded sightly on the left side by 1987. Not sure if A&P was here in '87.


1979
I believe this store was a Foodtown in 1979.


1966
Nothing in 1966.



14 comments:

  1. I'm not sure how determined Acme will be when it comes to removing all exterior traces of A&P/Pathmark/SuperFresh when they get around to serious remodels but this is one store that could (and should) stay as it is. The facade is very nice and with the fresh coat of paint and new sign, makes it look like this was an Acme all along. The parking lot seems very small- is that usually a problem, or does the fact that Hoboken is filled with people that don't have cars mean that most customers walk here?

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    Replies
    1. The parking lot used fill up but that was back when the ShopRite wasn't around. I'm not sure about these days. I haven't been a regular shopper here in the last 10 years.

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  2. With the exception of A&P decor, this actually looks like a real ACME, something most stores couldn't pull off, real sign or not.

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  3. I really don't know if Acme really should go bonkers with the remodels once they get around to doing them. At least in first gen Fresh remodels. I like the way those stores look.

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  4. How was Wegmans able to open up more then two supermarkets in New Jersey with liquor departments? I think they all have them. The first stated opening in New Jersey around 1997

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    Replies
    1. I think that each Wegmans liquor store is owned by a different member of the Wegman family.

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    2. What about Trader Joe's how do they do it?

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    3. I thought Trader Joe's wasn't allowed to sell liquor in New Jersey.

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    4. Also I seem to remember Wegmans liquor sections being a totally separate store from the rest, while it looks like these A&P's that had one were within the store? That may make some difference as well?

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    5. Some Wegmans stores have the liquor inside the store; others have it separate.
      Since NJ state law dictates that a corporation can only *own* two liquor stores in the state, every two stores are owned by a different member of the Wegman family. There is no rule that these stores have to be operated under unique names.

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    6. A&P’s liquor stores pre-dated the two liquor store limit and were grandfathered in. From their website, only two NJ TJ’s sell liquor - Westfield and Princeton.

      I think some companies used to get around the restrictions by setting up separate holding companies but NJ may have closed that loophole.

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    7. That's ironic- the TJ's in Westfield was once an A&P.

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  5. Princeton is to closet Trader Joe's to me and Westfield to my Grandmother and are therefor the two Trader Joe's stores I shop at most LOL.

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  6. I bet Staples could make the ACME signs. I have a feeling that Acme ran out of signs because they didnt have enough accounted for each store. Like this store, they probably needed at least 30-50. Meanwhile, Blairstown probably only needed 1-10.

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