CLOSED: ACME — Weehawken, NJ

Location: 4100 Park Avenue, Weehawken, NJ

The Weehawken ACME closed in February 2020, five years after taking over from the former Pathmark. Had it hung on just a little longer, it would have seen its volume go through the roof during lockdown but of course, no one at the time knew what was coming. This ACME location never became a wild success but did do pretty steady business. The final blow for the store came when Whole Foods opened a location in Weehawken, not far from here, in the summer of 2019. As it has turned out, the Weehawken Whole Foods is not only the absolute worst location in the entire chain, it is possibly one of the worst-managed grocery stores on the planet. A full post will be coming soon which will contain years of photos documenting the horrendous conditions of the store, which continue to this very day. 

Back in the day, this was an insanely high-volume Pathmark. On the weekends, every register would be open and the store would be packed with shoppers. Over the years, business decreased as more competition moved into the area and as Parhmark slowly lost its way as a company. 

This store received a massive floor-to-ceiling remodel back in 2011-2012. Literally everything was replaced. A massive grand-reopening celebration was held in March 2012 with billboards and signs all throughout the area announcing the improvements. Shoppers did not return and business never came close to what the store was doing in the 2000's. Course by that point Pathmark was really A&P and no one was interested. 

ACME made very few changes to the store other than one-too-many resets, driving locals mad. 

For a time, ACME made a concerted effort to attract ethnic shoppers to the store by issuing a stand-alone circular each week focused on the ethnic products carried here. There was a big push for the tres leche cake in the bakery department. 

A big problem for ACME was that it was caught between two worlds, right on the border of Union City and the more affluent Weehawken. I believe the Weehawken crowd helped keep the store going but largely gave up when Whole Foods opened. 

Views of the store completely abandoned>>>

LIDL would eventually take over roughly 2/3 of the space, yet it actually leased the entire building. Shortly thereafter, they subleased to Planet Fitness, which now operates in the rear 1/3 of the building. 

LIDL has become wildly successful here. After a very rough start, the store is now managed quite well. 

For additional coverage of the Weehawken ACME, please click here.

CLOSING: Edgewater, New Jersey

ACME LOSES LEASE
TO SHOPRITE?

Location: 481 River Road, Edgewater, NJ

The ACME in Edgewater, New Jersey, notified its 115 employees on Friday May 15th that they would be laid off and the store would be closing by August 15th. Many of the articles online did not site a specific reason while others did mention the store had lost its lease. Shortly thereafter, comments online were stating that ShopRite was able to obtain the lease, giving ACME the shaft. Currently there is no official confirmation of ShopRite's involvement although it does seem plausible. I have wondered for years if ShopRite would build a store in Edgewater as land is continually stripped of former industrial plants. Alas, ShopRite may have found its spot at ACME's expense. Unfortunately for us locals, if this store becomes a ShopRite it will be operated by Inserra, which I personally find to be the worst ShopRite operator in all the land. Many of their stores operate with reduced and totally eliminated services. Pharmacies all closed, hot foods gone, bakeries operating at reduced capacity, deli cases abandoned with walls of Dorito displays in front of them. It's all very strange to me as ShopRite as a whole is wildly successful. 

I wonder if Inserra would even do much to upgrade the stores prior to taking over. As great as this ACME is, the store is showing its age in many areas. For some reason ACME has not done the level of remodeling here as they've done in so many other locations including Fort Lee, Hoboken, and the two Jersey City stores. So as we wait word on the fate of this store, let's revisit some its quirks.  

The spot left by Pathmark's Bella Cafe (seen below) has been a struggle for ACME to utilize. The last significant remodel saw this case added as an extension of the produce department. For years this case had fresh and fruit and vegetables but recenlty all was switched out for bottled drinks. The space behind this case has been a dead zone. It does get transformed into a booming floral shop for Mother's Day weekend.  

Pathmark's flooring remains throughout most noticeably in the produce department. While nearly every ACME out there had received hardwood flooring. Edgewater continues to go without.

The last remodel also saw the removal of Pathmark's long abandoned "Live Bistro". (Photo down below) ACME added in an Asian food service counter which I was guessing would not go the distance and it has not. Around the right corner, ACME added cases for grab and go foods. Nice idea but the cases were placed too far into the concourse and has often made the self-checkout area a congested, confusing mess. 

ACME also shortened the first few asiles to allow for the addition of a mini seasonal asile that ran along the newly opened space. That shelving was all recently removed, hence the abundance of Hot Wheel displays. This tile patchwork was shown on the blog previously and still remains a mystery. Was it so difficult to get white tile? 

Seasonal shelving gone. 

The updated red signage has finally made it into all stores, at least that I've seen. The swap from the previous black signs with a handwritten type font seemed to drag on for years. 

If there's one thing ACME loves, its water! This aisle has been reconfigured so many times I couldn't begin to count. Just recently reset yet again, switching categories all around. 

I was told during the last significant remodel, that Pathmark's old milk cases would finally get replaced with refrigerators with doors. As you can see in the further off case, racks are filled with product and then rolled into place. Apparently the cost of the upgrade was out of the budget so the old cases remain to this day. 

Adding doors to the dairy cases is yet another popular ACME upgrade which never happened here. From the looks of it these cases cannot be retrofitted with doors. A look at the old Pathmark decor is shown below. 

So a few years back, ACME went on a rampage installing additional "card only" self checkouts in their stores. They were super helpful in reducing wait times but in the past year or two they have been taken out of commision in all ACME's I shop in. Here at the Edgewater store I've been told they didn't have enough staff to monitor the checkouts, yet they have recently been reopened and I never see more than one attendant overseeing all nine self-checkouts. 

VHS drop box remains on the outside of the store! Will it hold on as a new tenant takes over?

Back in 2015!

Will ShopRtie take over? It has also been reported, in all of one article online, that Sprout's Famers Market is coming to this very shopping center in 2027. At the time of the article, there were no vacancies here for the store to move into and it's highly doubtful Sprout's has the capital to swipe ACME's lease out from under them. I would gladly take a Sprouts over ShopRite but I doubt that will be the case. 

Acme – College Square, Newark, Delaware

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.

BEFORE >>>

BEFORE >>>

BEFORE >>>

BEFORE >>>

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.