Acme – Wilmington, Delaware

Photos courtesy of Will aka B-More Retail on flickr

Location: 1901 Concord Pike, Wilmington, DE 

This is one of those Acmes that I have been dying to get up on the blog for years. Thanks to Will, the wait is over. The Fairfax Acme arrives at Acme Style today!

The evolution of this store is absolutely fascinating. I can't say for sure what happened and when. Even in its earliest days, it doesn't look like a typical 50's Acme from the aerial views. As I researched this store years ago, I was convinced that it didn't start out as an Acme. Turns out it did. The store opened on November 3, 1954 and as we'll see in the historic aerials, there was no building on this property in 1953. This is one of Acme's oldest operating stores. I believe it is beat only by Maple Shade and Narbeth.

A few additions have been done over the years but none have added a significant amount of space to the building. The interior undoubtedly reconfigured many times over to maximize the effectiveness of the store's limited space. This location was remodeled under SuperValu with the Premium Fresh and Healthy 2.0 package. Below is a picture of how the store looked in the early 2000's prior to the most recent remodel...


Starbucks was added during the previous remodel but has since been removed. Judging from the exterior here, I would guess the store had the Chalkboard Market interior. Notice the facade was built up higher during the last remodel and the "ACME" letters got a little bigger...


A few of these exterior photos were taken from Google Maps.


The store was expanded on this side at some point. The historic aerials are pretty limited to it's hard to pinpoint when various changes were made to the store.


The layout here remains intact from the very last round of remodels done by American Stores in the late 90's. The Bakery and Deli were moved to the right side of the store with Produce getting moved directly across the new service departments to create the "Grand Aisle".


PF&H flooring was installed in this portion of the store.


A nice view of "ACME" branded water on the left in a store where very few products say ACME on them. I've heard there are rumors floating around that the ACME brand will be returning to stores. Time will tell.


This store along with the Trolley Square location are the only small stores that I'm aware of that were remodeled by SuperValu. Generally they only bothered investing int the large, high-volumel locations.


Not sure about the tile in the rest of the store. It looks rather new and doesn't have the pattern that is often seen in the Chalkboard Market stores. With that remodel happening in the late 90's, the floors were often left in place for the PF&H remodel.


The store tops out at 9 aisles. Not bad considering the space that the Grand Aisle takes up. You can definitely see in these pictures that the aisles are pretty tight.


A look around back. Break room and bathroom on the first floor. Looks the the compressor room is just above on the second floor.


The delivery bays are an extension of the addition put on the left side of the store. Thankfully SuperValu did not strip the red oval logo off of every trailer. Just most of them.

AERIAL VIEWS

Aerial views show the store before the most recent remodel. You can see the addition to the left side, although the space that was added is not quiet as wide as the new roof would seem to indicate. I believe the store originally ended were the raised roof along the back ends.


Notice how the roofline along the side and rear is lower than the center of the store. Such an odd sight for a 50's Acme. Perhaps the lower roof sections were additions to the store. The two story section along the back does appear to have been an expansion to the original building.

HISTORIC IMAGES

2008

2002

The store has been its current size since at least 1992.

1992

Perhaps the addition happened during the 80's remodel.

1965

12 years after the store opened. Not sure if this is how the building started out or if there were already some additions made by this point. Could the entire permitter of the store be an addition?

1953

Nothing in 1953. 

Closing out with one more view from Google Maps. Thanks to Will for brining us one of Acme's oldest and most interesting stores!

Former Acme – Folsom, Pennsylvania

Location: 1937 MacDade Blvd, Folsom, PA

Today we're headed less than a mile down the road from the Holmes Acme, featured on the blog last Friday,  to visit the former Folsom Acme. The two stores coexisted until 1999 when this store was closed in favor of a replacement store at the Ridley Shopping Center, about 2 miles further down MacDade Boulevard.


Opening day here was August 15, 1958. After closing in 1999, the store remained abandoned for a short time until CVS took over. While there aren't any signs of the building having been an Acme from the inside, there are plenty of clues on the exterior.


Like a typical CVS conversion, there's not much to see inside...




No clues along the front either. The rest of the building, however, is riddled with Acme scars.


Produce receiving doors just around the corner...






Acme had a large roof over the delivery dock at the back corner. We'll see in the satellite images that it remained until CVS took over.


Second floor compressor room was where the roof is raised slightly.

The ol' break room and bathroom windows now sealed over.


There may have been some additional doors here at this corner. That would be rather unusual but it does look like there are some scars there. The Acme had a small addition to this side which we will see in the historic images. CVS removed it.

AERIAL VIEWS

HISTORIC IMAGES

2008

2002

1999

Looks as though this photo was taken after the Acme had closed. You can see the small addition to the right side of the store. So small it almost seems pointless. Can't imagine why they didn't expand further with all the room available. The place could have been nearly doubled in size. Another massive parking lot for a 50's store, although we will see below that this place did draw some impressive crowds.

1992

1971

1970

1965

One of the first times we've seen a giant parking lot like this get some use! This is the first year that we see the addition on the left side.

1958

Possibly still under construction. The parking lot is looking a little rough.

1953

The Premier Folsom store is coming to the blog in the next few weeks. All signs are it is one of Acme's top performing stores. 

Former Acme – Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Photos courtesy of John from WISL1480.com

Location: 1649 Lincoln Highway East, Lancaster, PA

A former Lancaster Acme has finally made its way to the blog! I have been wanting to get former stores in Lancaster, Reading and Allentown posted for years now but have yet to make it out that way. Thanks to John for getting the ball rolling for us. He has also photographed a former pitched-roof store in Lancaster which will going up on the blog soon. Several other exist there as well and will be covered sometime in the future.

This location opened December 19, 1956 just 4 months after a nearly identical store opened across town on Columbia Avenue. I'm not sure when the Lancaster Acme stores closed but I was told many years ago that the plug was pulled on them  due to a union dispute. Not sure how accurate that information is. I do know Acme maintained some offices in Lancaster well into the 90's. Of course, Lanaster Brand Meats is still going strong today!

I came across this building many, many years ago and at first glance wondered if it was a former Acme. Wasn't so much the building that gave it away as the tall sign structure out at the street. Still I wasn't entirely sure... until I stepped inside. Truly couldn't believe it at the time but there was still some Acme decor left on the walls! Subsequent tenants had simply painted over some of it rather than removing the decor. Very little has been done to alter the interior of the section now occupied by Dollar General. At the time of my visit, Blockbuster was located in the space that is now home to the Majik Rent-To-Own store. 

The restaurant on this end was a later addition. Looks as though it was added after Acme left. The Produce delivery doors would have been located near the soda machine.


The elevated walkway and exit door probably came after Acme left as well. 50's stores didn't usually have a side door like this.

And in we go...


Hoping I have the orientation correct of the interior photos. It has been a long time since I've been in this place but I still have a pretty good memory of it. This shot is along the former Produce wall looking up towards the front of the store. Standard issue Acme air vents along the ceiling are clearly seen.


Still along the same wall here but we have moved closer to the front. The Produce wall removed on the left exposing the former back room space. Some 50's Acmes had this done to create an alcove for the Produce Department. Quiet sure this happened after Acme left as they would have refined this area more than has been.


Dollar General, or possibly and earlier tenant, built an office there in the front. What's next to the office is a very interesting find...


Check this out... that small cedar block walled room in the front is the former Produce and bread delivery room! We've never had such a great look at one in a 50's flat-roofed store where it was located on the Produce end of the store. These rooms were locked off to the rest of the store at night so deliveries could be made after hours.


Looking out into the store from the former Produce back room.


I believe we're along the back of the store looking into more back room space. The tile up on the wall possibly left over from the Meat Department. The low ceiling due to the second floor above.


Here's where it gets crazy! Still along the back wall we now see the decorative panels used in the 70's Colonial decor package. These shapes were often just painted on the walls for remodels as you can see in the Somers Point store by clicking here.


A few more here in-between the air intake vents.


Looking toward the front of the store. The Majik store is on the other side of this wall.



Back outside for some additional exterior views from Google Maps...


A new street sign added in recent years, replacing the Acme's steel tower sign which stood at the right-hand corner of the parking lot. It is still visible on the images from Bing Maps, included below.


Acme's sign was located approximately where the temporary "For Lease" sign stands in this photo.




Can't make out where the second floor break room and bathroom windows were. There is a chance they were around the corner on the right side of the building.

AERIAL VIEWS

Former Acme sign along the street! Zoomed in right below...


Might have been cut down to size as this one is pretty short compared to others of that era.








Weis Market is right down the street. This location has been expanded several times.

HISTORIC IMAGES

1992

Jumping back to 1992 for the historic aerials. Nothing has really changed since then.

1992

Here you can see the Weis prior to it's 90's expansion.

1969

The good ol' angled parking spots in 1969. Notice the restaurant on the right side had not been added yet.

1969

The Weis slightly smaller than seen in the 1992 view.

1951

Thanks to John for getting these pictures for us! I've been wanting to get this Lancaster Acme up on the blog since the day I started the blog!