Location: 751 S Salisbury Blvd, Salisbury, MD
Acme snapped up this store when Giant was forced to sell it due to the merger of Ahold and Delhaize. Giant's loss is Acme's gain! This is a very high-volume store and will mark Acme's triumphant return to Salisbury after a 16 year absence.
Acme is taking more time converting this location than it did with the former A&P and Pathmark stores. Seven days should allow enough time for a décor swap, at the very least. Our Acme Style contributor will be getting more pictures for us once the store opens.
Streetview from Google maps. Head just a bit further down the road and you see the store with the old Giant sign...
Limited satellite imagery for this area. Must be an early morning picutre too with the parking lot being so empty.
I guess they weren't in a buying mood back in 2011, or they could have had the Superfresh store in town that was closed then (as they have with the many other A&P brands that they bought last year).
ReplyDeleteWell, they've only been buying profitable A&P properties, not the ones that went belly up over the years.
DeleteAlthough at that time I don't know if the specific store was unprofitable?
DeleteI thought that was just A&P closing a whole area (all of the MD Superfresh stores, save for some odd reason the one across the bay in Ocean City)?
Probably more that in 2011 Acme was more likely to close stores than to buy (or open) new ones.
Is is a given that just because Giant had success with this store that Acme will? Generally does a high volume store that say A&P or in this case Giant has continue to be high volume when another operator comes in?
ReplyDeleteBTW Acme in Patterson NY opened today!
It's not a given but it's a pretty good bet. Better than if the took over a low volume store. Acme will benefit from this being a well established location.
DeleteGenerally, high volume stores follow high volume stores, unless it's a particularly bad operator, and even then, it can coast on that for a while. Minyard Sun Fresh Market in Dallas, a new brand created after the FTC ordered divestment of some Tom Thumb and Albertsons stores in Dallas-Fort Worth, enjoyed a lot of business when it took over the well-performing Albertsons store in Uptown, even though MSFM was a pretty poor operator overall. ACME will likely do great.
DeleteWhat kind of sales constitute a high volume store for a large grocer like Acme, Giant, Shop Rite, etc? The one million dollars a week figure seems to be a common number mentioned in many forums.
Deletehttp://www.saveourgiant.com
ReplyDeleteThey're petitioning the wrong entity. They need to take their complaint to the FTC.
DeleteP.S.: The Giant does $1 million a week.
What are they upset about? They make it sound as if there will no longer be a grocery store, which is not the case.
DeleteThey have to sell the store. There is no other option unless they were to sell all the Food Lions. Even though this is a high sales store, Ahold Delhaize is content with selling it and maintaining and building up their Food Lion stores in the area. Might have something to do with Giant being union versus Food Lion not being union.
DeleteGiant's prices are generally pretty high. I think people will be pleased with the new Acme as long as they still focus on what the Giant does well. People don't like change.
Isn't this the location that had a separate pharmacy/hba store nearby? I always thought that was odd.
DeleteThe separate pharmacy closed in 2008 when the Giant store on the south side of town closed as well. People are angry this store is being sold because it is the only Giant in a 30 mile radius and there are 4 other Food Lions in the same city.
DeleteThis Giant store has been here for about five decades according to this link: http://www.delaware1059.com/story/26717-giant-is-out-in-salisbury-acme-is-in
ReplyDeleteACME has some big (or, some would say, giant) shoes to fill.
It seems like when the news first broke of the store closing, no one mentioned the possibility of another chain taking over. Everyone just panicked like they were never going to see food again.
DeleteAt one point Giant had two supermarkets and one free standing pharmacy open. The pharmacy was in the old Montgomery Ward store across the street from the current location. A second grocery store on North Salisbury Blvd next to Walmart was opened several years ago and did not do the business to remain open. Super Fresh took over the store and closed a few years later. The store is now sub divided into several stores.
ReplyDeleteThat would be "Super G Deep Discount Drug", a 1991 concept detailed in this article.
DeleteThe Giant on the south side opened in a old Superfresh store then closed and was left vacant until Hobby Lobby moved in
DeleteThe week-long conversion process is probably not going to significantly alter the décor. The conversions of Paul's to Albertsons earlier this year mostly altered the aisle signs (and for the McCall store, not even that) and did not accommodate a full décor re-do. I imagine that in this case, the extra time might be used for Ahold Delhaize to clear out (some of) their inventory out (after all, it's not like they're going out of business or anything) before ACME comes in. This means that there will not be any Giant-branded foodstuffs in the clearance departments but likely extremely recognizable as a former Giant with everything intact but the name.
ReplyDeleteStop&Shop is union and Hannaford is not. Stop&Shop's regular prices are high and Hannoford's are much lower on a consistent basis.
ReplyDeleteOnly two Hannaford stores closed in the Hudson Valley......LaGrangeville, and Carmel NY
LaGrangeville has a new ShopRite and a small outdated Stop&Shop close by. I am assuming S&S did a higher volume than Hannaford. In Carmel, Stop&Shop has plans to build a new store less than 5 miles away in Mahopac and that's why Hannford became Tops.
My guess is S&S/Giant would want to dump as many union stores as possible to increase profitiblity.
Giant is a better performer for Ahold than S&S. Hannaford is a better performer than Food Lion for Delhaize.
This should be an interesting merger. I guess all stores will get that boring purple generic decor and "fruit bowl" no name store brand logo. Your thoughts.
Kind of hard to say what they might do.
DeleteUnlike many mergers (at least the Hannaford and S&S portions) have so little overlap (that small area in the Hudson Valley and a small area closer to Boston are the only ones in a territory stretching from ME to NJ) so they might just leave all the rest of the stores alone (or possibly convert a few in those couple areas to create a more defined "line").
Also kind of hard to guess on store brands, since you have one company (Ahold) that has been making everything the same, while the other (Delhaize) did that for a while then recently has gone back to items having their own store name on them. Probably depends on who has the bigger "pull" in the combined company.
After Salisbury closes, the next closest Giant-Landover stores will be in Easton MD; Millsboro DE; and Millville DE; all of which are roughly an hour from Salisbury.
DeleteI used to live in Maryland for 6 years. Although Giant seems only like the generic Maryland equivalent of Stop & Shop to us, it has in fact a long history in the state. There were quite a few vintage locations near my house there with unique features. It means something that Acme will be taking over a beloved Giant location. Let's see what happens.
ReplyDeleteBeing from this area this is a huge deal. This is the only Giant in a 30 mile radius and has the best selection of food and fresh produce. People are very upset because there are four Food Lions in Salisbury alone and are much smaller and dirtier than this store. Other people are bitter because Acme pulled the plug on Salisbury years ago and forced a lot of people out of work when those locations weren't sold to anyone else. Acme will still do well here. Anything is better than shopping at Food Lion.
ReplyDeleteAcme did their homework on this store. I am sure they are well aware of what the strengths of the Giant are - fresh being a big one (versus Food Lion and Walmart's versions of fresh) and they will continue to do well what the store is already doing well at. $1 million is nothing to scoff at, and Acme would be smart to keep as many of the employees in place as possible. Even if the name on the front changes, people like to see familiar faces.
DeleteToday's Acme is not the same Acme when they left Salisbury back then and I hope people who are bitter about that are willing to give them another chance. Acme somehow survived the first Albertson's merger and the Supervalu merger, and now are in a better position now that they are part of New Albertson's and Safeway. I wish them all the best of luck on this new store.
They have sales similar to foodlion only at foodlion you can buy one item at half the price of buy one get one free. They are trying to lure people in by an ok sale only to jack the prices back up. Watch and see
ReplyDeleteHas anyone been in this new Acme?
ReplyDeleteA typical Giant/Martin's carries many organic and fresh options, unlike the Food Lions I've been in. So I too would've been unhappy with losing a Giant.