ACME Circular Bag!

Just a quickie for today... found this on my front porch yesterday, stuffed with circulars. Haven't seen an Acme branded circular bag in a while now. They were a pretty constant thing back when Acme returned to North Jersey. Nice to see some advertising from the company. The TV commercials have long been gone, as too all the billboards that were all over the place. And especially nice to see Acme going harder with their lower prices, which have in fact improved over the past few months. Now if they would just address their disastrous front-ends! I started typing a recent experience that I had at the West New York store but stopped. I'm as exhausted from complaining about the lines as I have been from waiting in them!!! 

FIRST OF THE
A&P ACQUIRED STORES
TO CLOSE

Location: 295 Ferry St, Newark, NJ

This location will close by the end of June. Photos and analysis of the situation can be found on styertowne's flickr collection. Additional photos can be viewed on supermarket fan's flickr collection. Thanks to supermarket fan for sending in the news! 

Qualtiy Built in Tuckerton!

Photos courtesy of Dan Asnis 

Location: 425 Route 9, Tuckerton, New Jersey

The Tuckerton Acme was remodeled over the winter of last year with the grand reopening being held on April 22, 2016. The above graphic gave a preview of the planned improvements. When I announced the remodel on the blog, I doubted the décor would be getting changed out during the remodel. This store has undergone previous "remodels", and even an expansion, while always retaining the same décor. Last summer it became evident that the Jersey Shore stores were on the fast-track for Quality Built.


The super-deluxe Industrial Circus décor, along with the lighting, was completely trashed to make way for the Quality Built décor. Interesting to see the remodeled section in the photo above looking more like the "before" with it's old school florescent lighting and minimal décor. The "less is more" approach is becoming a major trend. Giant/Carlisle recently rolled out a new décor package and if it was anymore minimal there would simply be nothing on the walls! 

BEFORE >>>

I've actually always thought the "grand aisle" in Tuckerton was among the nicest I'd ever seen. Of course I've always been a big fan of the Industrial Circus décor and I know a lot people are not.

The Bakery has been reconfigured with seating added to the front of the store.

BEFORE >>>

Too bad they didn't use the same lighting they put into the converted stores. It at least has a little more visual interest than plain ol' fluorescent tubes.




No changes to the tile behind the Deli of the flooring.

BEFORE >>>

I believe the Pharmacy was reconfigured. I don't have a "before" picture but I don't think the department was rounded like it is now.


Customer Service was most definitely reconfigured. No signage for it on the wall, however. Seems strange since there is some room there. Just a sign hanging from the ceiling.

BEFORE >>>

Thanks to Dan for our first look at Quality Built in Tuckerton!

Classic Marsh Supermarket!

Video courtesy of BrownJulius

After hearing of the impending demise of Marsh Supermaketes, I headed over to Youtube to see if there were any interesting videos of their stores and I totally hit the jackpot! BrownJulius shot this excellent video of the classic Greenwood Indiana Marsh Supermarket which had been hardly touched since the 70's. It looks like the 80's got its revenge on the wall above the lunch and meat departments, however.  The 70's areas of the store, right down the the floor, have similar elements to the Acmes of the 70's. Then again, most supermarkets during that era had very similar décor style. Thinking outside the box wasn't as trendy back in those days. Below is the write BrownJulius has for his video...

Published on Dec 2, 2015
Having spent a great deal of time in Muncie's Marsh Supermarket as a wee child in the late 70s, I was delighted to find one that looked pretty much exactly the same still standing in Greenwood in 1999. I had my trusty Sony Digital 8 with me, but the battery was near dead. Shot a tragically small amount of footage, fully intending to come back. When I did a few months later- too late! Gone forever.

And keep an eye out at the very end for a quick look at the same clock Acme had in their stores in the 70's and 80's! I caught it the first time I watched the video but forgot to mention it. Thanks to Thomas for writing in and pointing that out!

Bonus Memorabilia!

Came across this while digging through some things I've had in storage for many many years. This bag dates back to the late 90's, an era when Giant of PA was the greatest supermarket in the world! The whole "Walter is picking our produce" campaign was an undeniable dud. Billboards went up all over the place announcing the arrival of Walter with no further details in an attempt to build suspense. It was eventually revealed that "he" was now selecting and approving the produce for Giant. I could have cared less. Never did notice a difference or improvement in Giant's already excellent produce. The whole campaign was absolutely ridiculous and, in my opinion, one of Giant's only missteps in the 90's.

Food Bazaar – North Bergen, New Jersey

Location: 1425 Kennedy Blvd, North Bergen, NJ

Opened as an A&P in the 90's and converted to a Food Basics in the mid-2000's, becoming one of the most successful in the chain. The store was remodeled and reconfigured each and every time A&P tweaked the Food Basics concept. This location was one of the few to survive all the way through A&P's final day. Food Bazaar opened last November after completing an extensive transformation of the interior. I'm not familiar at all with Food Bazaar. This is the first of their stores I have ever stepped into and I have to say, I was pretty impressed! It is light years better than the A&P or Food Basics that had come before. 

BEFORE >>>

Heading in for a completely different experience than Food Basics offered...

BEFORE >>>

The A&P was essentially gutted for the conversion to Food Basics.


Food Bazaar spared no expenses on the décor and I love every bit of it.


The produce department is far superior to the nearby ShopRite.




Large seafood department just beyond produce.


Huge juice selection.


Produce in front, seafood in the middle with the meat department in the rear corner.








Dairy remains along the back wall but it is now set up as a two-sided aisle with more cases running down the left side...

BEFORE >>>

A pass-through to grocery just before the start of the dairy aisle.


Have you ever seen a store with "Grocery" getting it's own signage?


Back in dairy looking towards the meat department.


The product mix is interesting here. Basics, ethnic and higher-end items througout. They were missing some items I buy on a regular basis but had plenty of other options I'm not used to seeing.

BEFORE >>>

The bakery and deli return to the same exact spot from the A&P days.


Interesting deli counter... is it self-service or full-service? Actually it's both but I was a little confused at first.




Liquor department just beyond the bakery.


Aisle along the back of the store.


Warehouse type shelving for grocery. The store does not have a pharmacy and little to no selection of health and beauty.


Fiora paper products! I got hooked on this line when Acme returned to my area. The brand had a huge push during Acme's SuperValu's days but has since been discontinued. I suspect it was done away with to make more room for Safeway's products. Many national brands were cleared off of Acme's selves when Safeway's brands took over.








Giant barrel above the liquor department!


Great front-end! Huge fans above the registers. Old-timey register lights which can clearly be seen from any direction. And... EIGHT registers open when the store wasn't even terribly busy!

BEFORE >>>

BEFORE >>>