ACME RETURNS TO
SADDLE BROOK, NEW JERSEY!
Location: 75 Mayhill, Saddle Brook, New Jersey
Opening Date: October 18, 2015
Opening Date: October 18, 2015
After a 40 year absence, Acme has returned to Saddle Brook by taking over this former A&P fresh. This store is just a stone's throw from Acme's original location which we will take a look at down below. Back in the 60's and 70's, Acme and A&P were located right across the street from each other. I believe Acme closed in 1975 when the company closed several stores in Bergen County. A&P remained in it's original location until the mid to late 90's when it moved to this replacement store.
An abandoned Home Depot sits to the left side of the Acme. You can see it's a rather unusual design for the chain. This is due to the store opening as a Villager's Hardware store, a short-lived Home Depot concept. The store was eventually rebranded as a Home Depot but wound up closing altogether in 2008.
A nice big ACME sign fresh coat of paint along the front has this store looking like it's brand-new!
Inside we have A&P's fresh remodel version 2, which is looks fantastic. New lighting in Produce, of course.
This place is begging for a Starbucks. A spacious seating area is to the left of the café counter.
Grab and go area.
The department signs here are big and beautiful.
Free-standing cheese department across from the Deli.
Looking toward the front from the Bakery.
Huge selection in the Bakery!
Heading to the front of Produce...
Floral to the right of the entrance with the Pharmacy up next...
Acme removed A&P's spot lights that illuminated the department signs. They did replace them with fluorescent tubes which you can see above the Pharmacy and Customer Service signs. A&P's original flooring starts up at the edge of Produce.
The fresh remodels originally had a display in this area with "natural" and higher end beauty products. The displays were eventually removed but the "Nature Beauty" signage remained.
The Health and Beauty sign backs up to the sign in Produce.
First time I've seen this 3-sided signs hanging from the cieling.
Here you can clearly see the new lights above the department signage.
ACME sign along the front-end!
Very impressed with how bright and clean this store was.
Dairy runs along the back of the store and only half-way down the last aisle.
Peanut Butter and Jelly department!
Coffee and Tea department in the front corner.
Former self-checkout area.
Acme added a couple of new registers at this end. The rest are all left-over from A&P.
I was here a few weeks ago to take these photos and the A&P checkout lights were still in place. They may have since been replaced with Acme's "Quality Built" lights which are currently being put into stores.
We'll jump over to the original Acme which is now the Saddle Brook Post Office.
Location: 360 Market St, Saddle Brook, NJ
Opening Date: Jul 20, 1969
Closed in 1975
No Acme clues remain along the front.
Second floor along the back of the store with the compressor lifting beam still sticking out of the wall...
AERIAL VIEWS
Location: 419 Market Street, Saddle Brook, NJ
THE REPLACEMENT A&P...
A&P fresh with the abandoned Home Depot.
HISTORIC IMAGES
2010
2002
1995
1995
The original A&P up at the top with the Acme along the bottom just to the left of "1995".
1987
1979
Acme was gone by 1979. The front awning had been removed by this time. You can see it still intact in the photo below.
1970
1966
The replacement A&P opened circa 2001. The abandoned Home Depot had opened as Villagers in 2000 before being converted to Home Depot in 2003.
ReplyDeleteI remember a Villager's in Garwood NJ- I lived over in Westfield and we'd occasionally visit, even after the Home Depot conversion- I actually stopped by over the summer, and there are still a lot of Villager remnants outside and inside.
ReplyDeleteHi AcmeStyle!
ReplyDeleteNot only is this a fantastic store, this is a fantastic post. Your photos are among the best you've ever taken, with great, detail oriented descriptions. I feel as if I've actually visited this store from this post.
In short: thanks for the fantastic post!
Thanks AbercrombieMike!
DeleteIt opened in 1997 or 1998. I lived in NJ at the time and I remember working this store's grand opening as a vendor.
ReplyDeleteIs the train still running above the soda section? It was there when the store opened. But that section could have been relocated when the store was remodeled.
There is no train above the soda section. At that time, wasn't both locations opened? I could remember going to the one on Market Street when I was around 3-5 yrs old (bet 1999 and 2001).
DeleteThis is a hell of a nice store and I was glad to see Acme picked it up. They're still trying to get something to go in that old Villagers/mini Home Depot, but nobody seems interested.
ReplyDeleteI remember the old A&P only because it was across from a walkup Dairy Queen that I still go to whenever I'm in the area. I never actually went inside it.
Fun fact, while we're talking about takeovers of bankrupt stores by other companies...the Dollar General that is there now was originally supposed to be a Drug Fair and the sign was up and everything. However, I wanna say Drug Fair's bankruptcy fell around the time it was scheduled to open and DG snapped it up with several others.
Great looking store. Fresh version 2 is my favorite A&P/Pathmark decor package of the last 20+ years, and also the one that made the most seamless transition to Acme. I probably shouldn't get my hopes up, but I'd prefer if Acme didn't remodel these particular stores anytime too soon.
ReplyDelete