Location: 9507 Coastal Hwy, Ocean City, MD
Photos and information on the Ocean City Maryland store sent in by Marv...
This store is attached to what was once known as Ocean Plaza Mall in Ocean City MD on 94th street. The mall is closed to the public and is currently vacant. Acme and Roses are the lone tenants in this shopping center along with a BB&T bank and a local seafood/sushi restaurant.
Superfresh had an iron clad lease on this property. No renovations of the mall or any of the plaza were permitted as long as Superfresh was in this plaza. Since Acme assumed this location options have opened up for redevelopment. The bank which was Susquehanna at the time could not build an normal A frame roof when the replacement bank was built back in 2010. Superfresh's rights to the plaza dictated that a flat roof building had to be built.
Acme is supposedly going to construct a new store on this dormant plaza in the future. It is unknown where or when this may occur. The interior of the mall is in good shape still and could easily be renovated for a new store. I peeked through the once former mall entrance inside Roses today. Rumors are floating around that if the Mall isn't converted to a new store a replacement will be built in the front of this one and the old store will be demolished and condos will be constructed here.
Roses is beginning to renovate the exterior of their store so some activity may be happening soon.
Acme however has spent little money on this location. They have done some minor painting and installed the quality built check out lights. Superfresh's graphics and aisle markers are still in use. A few new Express registers were installed where self checkout once was. The store while clean is showing its age really bad. A replacement is desperately needed.
The Superfresh was my go-to grocery store when I would vacation in Ocean City. I can still vividly remember a trip I took to the store after a late night at Seacrets. I was picking up some junk food and waiting in line at the checkout. Started feeling really sick and was praying I would make it out of the store before anything happened. I was in a full sweat heading for the exit. Luckily I made just far enough out into the parking lot to toss my breakfast with a bit of privacy. Ahhh... the good ol' days. Pretty sure that was the last time I was at the Ocean City Superfresh.
Image above is from Google street view. I was hoping to catch the store as a SuperFresh but Google has been back through the area since the conversion. Superfresh is still intact in the aerial photos below.
AERIAL VIEWS
Thanks to Marv for bringing us the Ocean City Acme!
The plans for this store include tearing it down and building condos on top the store.
ReplyDeleteThis location looks really rough. I've never been to OC but I imagine this location is pretty successful despite the lack of floor space. a real update to the interior and its proximity to the beach.
ReplyDeleteNo doubt a new Acme would entice other businesses to open in the mall section. Though they might end up eliminating the mall layout and run the stores all the way to the back. They did that in a mall that I grew up near. It was anchored by a Kmart and a Giant Landover store. The Giant left for new digs down the street (and is closed now. I think was supposed to be an Hmart or the Hmart was already in there and closed up. After Giant left another ethnic store operated there for a while).
They ripped the front off the mall and tore out the 3 screen movie theater (a large multiplex opened near the new Giant). There are now a number of businesses in the former mall section that run all the way to the back. The former Giant is now a Michaels.
There is not many grocery store options at OC. SuperFresh at one point had three locations, one several streets north and another on the mainland next to the outlets. This mall honestly needs to be torn down and something else, like apartments built in it's place. I was last inside this mall in the early 2000s when it was still open, and it was mostly t-shirt novelty shops. The Roses is stuck in another era, likely with the original decor the store opened with. This center is ripe for a great redevelopment opportunity with a new grocery store component. The sooner this happens, the better.
ReplyDeleteI believe the other Superfresh was in the Gold Coast Mall (115th St.)?
DeleteWhat I don't remember is if the Roses was always in the current place or if that was at the other site (Gold Coast) back then - would have been before they went through some reorganization years ago (around 1995)?
Yes Superfresh was at Gold Coast as well. It closed in the first round of A&Ps bankruptcy.
ReplyDeleteRoses has always been at 94th street. They were never at Gold Coast. The store is a very dated inside but it clean and well stocked and always has a good amount of foot traffic. A paint job inside and newew lighting would do wonders for this store.
The mall is being torn down as I write this. The local NBC station (WRDE.com in DE) did a piece on the property. "No official plans for the property after the demolition."
ReplyDeleteWith decent weather, it'll be gone soon.