Acme store closing:
CLASSIC ACME,
ST. MICHAELS, MD
Location: 114 S Talbot St, St Michaels, MD
CLASSIC ACME,
ST. MICHAELS, MD
Location: 114 S Talbot St, St Michaels, MD
Devastating news here... the classic St. Michaels store will close on October 8, 2017.
FORMER PATHMARK,
BERGENFIELD, NJ
BERGENFIELD, NJ
Locaiton: 80 New Bridge Rd, Bergenfield, NJ
Another a acquired store goes bust! Bergenfield will close on November 7, 2017.
Thanks to D Groton and Supermarket Fan for the news!
Thanks to D Groton and Supermarket Fan for the news!
Why is St. Michaels closing? What about Bergenfield NJ? No business? Jeeze even the A&P kept stores open longer than this is they were slow!
ReplyDeleteI can find only one article online about St. Michaels so far and the content is locked to non-subscribers.
DeleteNoreally when a company takes on this many new stores at once, a lot of closures should be expected. Not to jinx it, but in two years they have only axed two of them, so they are actually doing pretty good on this front.
ReplyDeleteAlso possible that, since they were willing to buy a fairly large number of former A&P locations (compared to others bidding) that they might have gotten the sellers to throw in cheap a few spots that were not as great but they thought could still be OK.
DeleteThen run them for a year or two and if they turn out not so good, close and sell or lease to someone else and still at least break even, having not paid much for them to start with.
I'm wondering if this is the one of the reasons they're not in any rush to remodel some of them (figuring they might end up unloading them down the road so why bother)
DeleteSt Michaels probably just doesn't do the business it needs to be successful. It's smack dab in the middle of a tourist town, but there is a much larger Acme in Easton, along with a fairly new Harris Teeter. The old 60's era Safeway is also closing in Easton, so likely just a store consolidation.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.stardem.com/news/local_news/article_b1e270d0-f9c0-5ae2-b085-f1ff2fec297c.html
ReplyDeleteThe article is locked to non-subscribers
DeleteArticle on the Bergenfield store: http://www.northjersey.com/story/money/2017/09/12/acme-closing-bergenfield-supermarket/659263001/
ReplyDeleteApparently, by reopening so quicklt after the Pathmark closing, they never got a chance to remodel and show customers that they were different. Essentially the same store with a different sign.
"...and kept running them as they were"
DeleteNo they didn't. They got rid of the self-checkouts and never have enough manned registers open. It's a chromic problem in store after store after store. Bergenfield was actually a very nice former Pathmark. Acme unfortunately has more issues than a fresh coat of paint on the walls will fix.
Is St Mikes the last store to have the cursive sign?
ReplyDeleteHaddonfield still uses a version of the cursive sign but it doesn't light up like St. Michaels. Hopefully Acme saves the sign!
DeleteThe lease on the St Michaels store was up and apparently it hasn't been profitable for a number of years.
ReplyDeleteBergenfield has lost boat loads of money since it opened. They couldn't get the product assortment right for the clientele and they chased away the non Jewish customers.
Product assortment has been a huge issue in these converted stores. We haven't discussed that much on the blog. If you look at yelp reviews for these stores, you can find as many complaints about the selection as the lack of open registers. Acme has even slashed selection since they opened these stores by eliminating national brands all over the store in favor of Safeway's brand.
DeleteThat is the biggest issue, in my opinion. Patthmark was always my go-to store, even under A&P, when there was a variety of something I couldn't find anywhere else. These days, if ShopRite doesn't carry it, my next stop is Walmart.
DeleteThat's a pretty sad commentary, if you ask me.
Acme is wiping out variety in the full resets they are doing. I've seen it happen in all the stores in my area. Cleaning products and laundry are being hit particularly hard. Acme is now carrying about 1/3 the selection of dish soap that both Pathmark and A&P had. Tons of clearance tags all over the stores too as more and more items are booted from shelves. I don't get it.
DeleteCape May NJ still has a cursive sign but it is not illuminated.
ReplyDeleteAcme did not even try with these stores if you ask me. They had the chance to come in and really make a splash, be something different.....they should have, like Stop&Shop closed for a week and renovated these stores which they have done in some cases anyway. They also shot themselves in the foot with their initial HIGH prices. Guaranteed someone like ShopRite will come into to a store like this and make a success of it.
"They also shot themselves in the foot with their initial HIGH prices."
DeleteYou're right about that. And then the insane price increases in late 2016 only chased away more customers.
"like Stop&Shop closed for a week and renovated these stores"
But looking back on Stop&Shop take over of Grand Union stores, they did NOT renovate those locations before reopening and were able to make them successful.
St Michaels gas a few problems that kept it from being profitable. The town has a very small off season population.The union insists on full department manager staffing year round. The saving graces of this store was that it had a liquor department, which was profitable. In past years they would eliminate the Deli Managers position in the off season and send that person and itgers to winter in the Easton Store and make the Meat Manager to run both departments. A long time store manager at this location would sell straight trucks of bottled water directly to the marina in town , plus other items This helped sales and profitability, with this labor free transaction. He moved in two years ago to Harris Teeter. This did not help their cause. Finally,There us an independent dent market to blocks up to this store that has a service meat case and a great Delli and a large independent Gauls on the outskirts of town.
ReplyDeleteJust like Clifton...
ReplyDeleteHello Acme Style! In albertsons news the Jewel-Osco ad this week was advertising Jewel band milk, eggs, and bread returning to store shelves. Apparently lucerne did not resonate well with jewel shoppers. I'm curious of this will expand to the other albertsons stores.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the good news! I'll have a post up about this tomorrow.
DeleteI found this story on the closing of the St. Michaels store. http://www.wboc.com/story/36370171/st-michaels-acme-closing-worries-community
ReplyDelete