Location: 136 Lake St, Midland Park, NJ
Covered walkway similar to the one at the Woodcliff Lake store. Even more helpful here as this is a second parking lot behind where I'm standing.
The columns along the front were a common element for A&Ps built in the 90's. Nothing else about the exterior design was. Several of the windows along the front allow natural light to flow into the store...
The stunningly beautiful Midland Park A&P was built sometime in the mid to late 90's. The store replaced a smaller location on Goodwin Avenue. The exterior design was "one and done" for A&P which is unfortunate considering how unique it is. The store was remodeled to an A&P fresh in the 2000's with the second version of the "fresh" décor. Acme opened here on October 14, 2015.
Covered walkway similar to the one at the Woodcliff Lake store. Even more helpful here as this is a second parking lot behind where I'm standing.
The columns along the front were a common element for A&Ps built in the 90's. Nothing else about the exterior design was. Several of the windows along the front allow natural light to flow into the store...
I would image Acme isn't in a big hurry to update the décor here as A&P left the store in pristine condition. It's one of the nicest "fresh" remodels I've seen.
Pharmacy is to the left of the entrance and faces the café which you can see by clicking here. (I didn't get a picture of it!)
All new lighting in Produce thanks to Acme! The store is absolutely beautiful inside and out. After being to a bunch of Acmes on this road trip that had very few customers, I was really hoping to see some good crowds at this location. There wasn't.
The Cheese Shop sign is the one element brought over from the first round of the "fresh" remodels. Funny how A&P decided that the Cheese Shop needed a title while all the other food department merely have product murals.
Liquor and Wine is now a huge organic and health food department. For a photo of the previous department and article on the loss of the liquor license, please click here.
In my opinion, the second version of A&P's fresh remodels is among the nicest décor packages ever to be seen in a supermarket. A&P executed it flawlessly for their Midland Park store!
Huge Bakery!
Mix and match freezers.
Dramatic Frozen Food alcove!
The Pharmacy and Customer Service departments here are in opposite spots compared to most of A&P's layouts for their 90's stores.
Crickets along the front-end on a Saturday afternoon. These photos were take a while ago. Hope Acme's "New Lower Prices" campaign is helping to increase business. The prices overall have improved significantly.
Location: 80 Godwin Avenue, Midland Park, NJ
The former A&P is now a Sears Hardware. The store was expanded after A&P left.
AERIAL VIEWS
The original Midland Park A&P.
Two parking lots! Looks like they were necessary in A&P's early days at this location. Not so much anymore.
The unique exterior design is carried through all four sides of the building.
HISTORIC IMAGES
2002
The front parking lot nearly filled to capacity in 2002. This image was taken prior to the fresh remodel. Does anyone know what the previous décor package was?
1995
1987
The original A&P stayed relatively small to the bitter end. Further expansion would have killed off far too much parking.
1979
Some nice detail here! You can see the updated 70's awning after the store was stripped of it's Centennial elements.
1966
Nice looking store. Do you think it will survive after Shop Rite in Wyckoff opens? Stop and Shop there wont!
ReplyDeleteNot much survives when ShopRite or Wegmans comes to town (which is why S&S has spent years fighting the construction of that ShopRite). A shame. This is a beautiful store and is in the kind of area where Acme usually excels- the high prices don't matter as much to the wealthy residents, and I feel the Acme brand still means something to people in this part of the state. The company should be solidifying its product to cater to this demographic instead of being stuck in some weird space with weak selection and middle-of-the-road prices that work for no one.
DeleteThe crowds here are fairly okay nowadays, but definitely not as crowded as most ShopRite's are, but I think that's why most of the people who shop here(myself included) shop here. It's a well maintained store with nice employees and you don't have to push through swarms of people to get what you need. And a lot of people chose to stop shopping here after they lost the liquor license. ACME doesn't advertise their Natural and Organic foods sections enough, there's a King's literally right behind this store, that does fairly good business and a WholeFoods not to far away so natural foods should have been a success.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree about the crowded conditions at most SRs. I actually purposely drive 2 towns over to shop at a different SR than the one in my town bkz of crowds. Likewise why I shop at the smaller S/S in my town vs a much larger S/S nearby!
DeleteThe mismatched freezer cases are common, and many stores built before about 2000 have them nowadays. The reason was they were built as double-wide aisles with upright cases with doors on either side and coffin cases in the middle, like in your picture of Saddle Brook here: https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_J5xAvDhXb8/Vs9sIIMBM2I/AAAAAAAAgcM/XYccTr4koL8/s1600/acme_style_saddle_brook_inside_33.jpg
ReplyDeleteStores later replaced the coffin cases with upright cases to increase efficiency and selection, but did not need to replace the two outer rows.