Location: 100 College Square, Newark, DE
Today we return to Newark, Delaware to visit the former Pathmark in College Square. The photos in this post are a mix from two contributors. The embedded flickr photos are courtesy of catnapped while the rest are courtesy of Jacob V. I'll be relying on contributors to finish up coverage of both Delaware and Newark stores. And thanks to these contributors, I have photos of all the remaining stores in each state and will be getting them up on the blog in the coming weeks.
Food to Go is Fresh to Go in the College Square store. I'll tell ya what's not fresh... that pink floor.
New lighting has recently been installed above Produce.
The hanging light tubes survived the Quality Built décor swap but have since been removed. Acme does not care for any hanging lights these days. They yank them out every chance they get. I kinda like them.
BEFORE >>>
Pathmark's late 90's décor, which was still being put into stores in the early 2000's, in the "before" photo. As you know, in the 90's everybody HAD to have checkerboards on the walls. A pretty dreadful décor package with its many shades of Pepto-Bismol.
Sorry but these lights are still cool. The floor, however, has got to go!
Old lighting throughout Produce can be see here.
We haven't seen the state and city info on the walls since the early days of the Quality Built remodels! These elements, along with the logo wall, have not been included in the converted store's décor swaps.
BEFORE >>>
Wonder why Pathmark didn't remodel their Delaware stores in decades. They must have been successful to survive to the very end yet this store was passed over for the chain's last 3 remodels.
I find it strange that Acme put these signs in non-food departments.
Health Food department to the rear of Produce.
BEFORE >>>
The floor along the back turned out to be a very nice match for Acme's Quality Built décor, Not so lucky along the front-end.
New Lancaster Meat signage!
No black and white photos along the back of the store.
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I'll say it again... the floor has got to go.
All new registers stands along the front.
Classic cart!
MORE BEFORE >>>
I'll tell you what I miss about Pathmark... the selection of general merchandise. Acme has wiped it all out. These two photos show how extensive Pathmark's stationary department was. Years ago Pathmark partnered with Staples to run their stationary sections. I don't remember it lasting terribly long but Pathmark continued keep a stellar selection despite the two companies parting ways.
If there's one chain's self-checkouts I had mastered, it was Pathmark. Really miss these old things.
One more Acme to cover in the Newark area. The Acme University Drive, on the Eastern side of Newark which in not shown on the map above, will be coming to the blog soon
For additional coverage of Acme locations in Newark, Delaware, click here.
Would it have killed them to have replaced the floor? It's atrocious- not just the colors, but the condition of the tiles. Does Acme think people don't ever look down?
ReplyDeleteAnd isn't it interesting how, even with a new look, an old Pathmark still looks like a Pathmark?
After all, if they leave the pharmacy as it was (the mostly enclosed box in the corner) it will make it quite obvious that it's a former Pathmark store :)
DeleteFloors are very difficult to replace and many chains never change them. There's a few Kroger stores around here despite their updated décor haven't changed their original flooring, so there's a Kroger with pink and white tile (AppleTree or maybe even Safeway), Krogers with orange and green tiles (part of that turn-of-the-millennium set), Krogers with the "Beverage Boulevard" flooring (which definitely did not open as Kroger), etc.
DeleteI thought the same thing about old Pathmark stores very recently. I was in the PriceRite in Camden and forgot until I was inside that it had been an old Pathmark. The low ceiling above meat and what used to be the deli gave it away.
DeleteAcme did replace the floors in every single remodel they did in the 80's. While it might be hard to do, it is absolutely necessary in some of these Pathmarks and A&Ps.
DeleteLike most things in life there is a budget,and like all chains , a formula for Return on
DeleteInvestment to be met. Floors are expensive, the question would be ,what do we give up in irder to put in a new floor? Perhaps they dont put in new signage, or they dont paint. Usually its the floor that gets left out.
Well, it looks better than it did as a Pathmark, but it still seems so bland. I still don't get why Acme chose this bleh decor package and not the one being rolled out at Safeway/Shaw's/Jewel-Osco that looks a little more livelier.
ReplyDeleteIt's also more expensive.
DeleteActually, the new decor packages at Safeway are different than the Jewel-Osco/Shaw’s package. Within New Albertson's, There is one package for the legacy Safeway stores which can be seen in the former Florida Albertsons (now Safeways). This decor is shared by legacy Safeway siblings Randall’s, Von’s, Ton Thumb, Carr’s etc. The only legacy Albertsons chain to get the more upscale Safeway decor is Star Market. Shaw’s, Jewel-Osco, Albertsons have a cheaper decor package that’s very similar to the Acme one, though Acme’s seems a bit more bland and block-like...especially in a former 70’s/80’s Pathmark like this. In the Jewel and Shaw’s packages, the graphics pop a bit more with bolder color combos, and more textured backgrounds. It has a grittier, more urban feel than the Acme version.
DeleteJust a quick note. Legacy Safeway stores are also (mostly) getting what has been referred to as "Colorful Lifestyle," which debuted at a Star Market a while back. Some Jewel stores (such as Cumberland/Lawrence and Harlem/Foster) have received the LLC package, while most others have received a Jewel-specific package (Clybourn/Fullerton and Howard/McCormick). Still other stores have received store-specific variants of a brown-and-bronze package (Kinzie/Desplaines and Southport) and their newest store (Division/Clark) has a completely different package that appears to be unique to that store.
Delete“Quality Built” (and the current Jewel-Specific package) are derivatives of the package that was installed at a couple of the Dominick’s stores Albertsons bought and converted to Jewel in 2013. That same package appeared at the Devon Acme (albeit with a different font for the “Devon’s Freshest Produce Market”). At some point, both Acme and Jewel diverged from that package, with Acme getting “Quality Built” and Jewel getting their current package, which uses a cream color throughout the store except in Produce which is green.
“Quality Built” reminds me of a toned-down LLC package minus the leaf logo. I like it. While I agree it is bland, LLC can be a bit much. Not to mention LLC has that leaf…
They've clearly replaced all or part of the floors in other conversions so I'm not understanding why it wasn't done here.
ReplyDeleteThe other Pathmark on Kirkwood Highway was also updated to Quality Built but again, same remodel cheapness there.
You have to consuder the ROI, when you renovate a store. The unit on Kirkwood Highway , is a a store that is on the low end of the scale. They are a neighborhood store, that is close to Prices Corner and Pike Creek. They have gained business since Acme moved in,but how much more could do with a massive rebuild is debatable.
DeleteFunny you bring up a Staples partnership, in 2003 Albertsons (and presumably ACME too) had a brief thing with Office Depot-branded departments.
ReplyDeleteThey also partnered with Toys R Us for the toy section. Didn't last long at all.
DeleteGood grief that's an ugly store, both before and after.
ReplyDeleteEven after the remodel, that store still looks tired. Even the outside screams "old."
ReplyDeleteIn regards to the floor, which is hideous, there's a Safeway near me that is being remodeled and they are swapping out the floor tile. Based on the look of the tile, it was laid when the store received Lifestyle 2.0, which can't have been more than ten years ago. Why wouldn't they replace that awful floor in Newark? That pepto pink front-end is bad enough, but the dirty grey tiles in Produce is just gross.
There has been plans to redevelop this shopping center for a few years now. I feel like this may have been a temporary fix, til more substantial renovations may take place. http://www.newarkpostonline.com/news/officials-college-square-upgrades-delayed-but-still-coming/article_a1804cc2-03c1-5f7a-9d03-e8f0f8dd9152.html
ReplyDeleteThat would certainly seem logical, at least for the exterior of the building getting just a rather plain white painting and basic lettering.
DeleteThat seriously dated and ugly decor NEEDED to go, and I do generally like the Quality Built decor, but there's still a sort of "lipstick on a pig" effect here. This store could have really used one of the more full-scale remodels, or at the very least they should replaced the floor tiles.
ReplyDeleteCurrently the shopping Center is mostly empty. But as reported better times are are ahead. This store twenty years ago was ine if the highest volume Pathmarks un the chain. It forced Acme to close a store that they had on main strert in the Newark Shopping Center , as well as anA&P behind the Center.
DeleteWas a member of A&P corporates merchandising crew, but left a few weeks before the company filled for it's second bankruptcy. (God I have more stories to tell in time...)
ReplyDeleteI follow this blog mostly because I like to punish myself.
After moving to DE, this store was one of few that I could recognize as an old Pathmark (let's be frank, I'll recognize most PMs and A&Ps and all their subsidiaries until I die).
I've seen Acme take over NJ stores (Old Bridge was a stomping ground of mine), and seeing what they did here was disgusting.
I can actually tell prices are higher than Shop Rite, and I simply cannot deal with their checkout.
Post 5PM, I shouldn't have to deal with only 3 or 4 checkout lanes; sorry, but that is not acceptable,. I can see the lines in the floor where you took out those kiosks, and making me deal with lines and people who can't figure out what line they should actually be in is a fracking insult.
Spending more time in line per shopping is simply unacceptable. Period.
From what I remember of this store, it does incredibly well due to its' proximity to the University. I think that is one reason why the Kmart has also survived, but the Sears Hardware failed.
ReplyDeleteThe brown tile in produce should have been changed a long time ago. It is extremely noisy. Maybe it's a long term goal depending on the success of the store.
This whole shopping center has fallen on hard times and only a handful of businesses remain. From what I remember they want to cut it in half (it is basically that way now), extend Delaware Avenue through the shopping center to Marrows Road and give the whole place a makeover. There is just so much more compelling retail nearby and more is being added all the time. And public transportation runs to the mall which is good for those without cars.