Acme – Maple Shade, New Jersey

Location: 300 South Lenola Road, Maple Shade, NJ

Today we're one more store closer to the finish line in New Jersey with the Kingsway Plaze Acme in Maple Shade. We have been to Maple Shade in the past to see the classic location on Main Street which miracously remains in business today. You can visit coverage of that extraodinary store by clicking here. This newer location was built sometime in the 70's and was expanded in the late 90's. It has many striking similarities to last Friday's store, Philly's 10th and Reed Acme, minus a recent remodel.


Over the years of doing the blog, I've received several doom and gloom reports about this store. I was pleasantly surprised to find the store one of the busiest Acmes I visited on this particular road trip. Perhaps the low prices/getting better campaigns have helped improve business here. There is a nearby ShopRite in Mount Laurel, which is just on the other side of the Moorestown Mall. Judgine from the historic aerials, it has existed there since at least 1995. The same historic aerials show this Acme being very busy through the years.




Maple Shade was originally built in the 1970's as a 33M model. Just like 10th and Reed, it was expanded into a neighboring CVS in the late 90's and given the Chalkboard Market remodel. The "Grand Aisle" here is laid out a little different than 10th and Reed but the overall layouts of the stores are quite similar. When I was preparing the pictures for this post, I was able to confirm the changes that were made at 10th and Reed which I had wondered about. The Pharmacy there was moved to where Customer Service had been, leaving the front corner available for the paper goods department as well as all the classic Acme logos. Customer Service returned to the spot where it had been previous to the Chalkboard Market remodel. Maple Shade seems perfect for the same remodel. Most of the cases have recently been updated here. Just need to get this decor down and put a new one up!


Lots of chalkboards remain, although some have been erased.


I'm guessing a Starbucks was located here after the last remodel. Now this area is looking more like an Aldi than an Acme.


The order of the departments is switched along this wall compared to most stores with the late 90's/early 2000's Grand Aisles. The Deli is usually behind the Bakery. Here the Deli is up front.


While the store hasn't been remodeled lately, nice new cases have been installed in several departments.




I don't often see such an extensive display of decorated cakes in an Acme. Pretty impressive display here.




Produce cases remain from the last remodel. Notice the floor in the area of the store. It has the same tile as the grocery aisles instead of what was usually used for the perimeter of the store. You can have at the tile most often used in the former Rockaway store by clicking here.




A Fisherman's Net in FULL operation! Wow, you don't find these around much anymore. Looks like new cases here too. With that huge selection of seafood, not to mention all of those cakes, I'd say this store does very decent business. The minute these fresh foods start to go, you know the store isn't doing very well.


Premium Fresh & Healthy v3 aisle markers! The wavy category markers which were used in all the versions of the PF&H stores have not been installed here. Dairy and Frozen do have the black oval category markers.




American Stores did bring the "Lancaster Brand" signage back in full force in the late 90's. This was their very last decor package before Alberstsons took over.


Like 10th and Reed, the center store did not get the suspended light fixtures. You can see them in the abandoned Bordentown store by clicking here.


Looking along the back of the store.


This chalkboard has seen better days.








New cases in Dairy!


Some funky wall patchwork down at this end of the aisle. You can see a little more of it below...


This sign made me laugh. Recommends what?


The Pharmacy in the front corner with Customer Service to the right...






A look across the front end. No lattice or hood lamps above the checkouts.




Time to check out of this store!

Aerial Views...

The former CVS along the left side with a lower roof now completely disguised from the front and side...

Historic Aerials...

2007

2002

1995

1995 is the only year we get to see the store in its original state. The CVS next door has the darker roof.  Notice too that the air conditioners were relocated on the roof. Probably happened when the Acme expanded into the CVS.

1970

Next available shot if 1970 with no sign of the Kingsway Plaza.


Leaving the Lenola Road Acme behind and taking a look at the classic store on Main Street below...


For a tour of this Maple Shade Acme, click here.

Classic Acme! Mapleshade NJ

Welcome to the Mapleshade Acme! Located at 41 West Main Street right in the center of town. One of the smallest and oldest Acmes still in operation today. Also one of the only street-front stores still in existence. It's a must-see for the serious Acme fan.

Bill Haines, who has been leaving some extremely informative comments here on the blog, sent in some interesting facts about the Mapleshade store:

• Opening day - October 7, 1953

• It was a replacement for the old 1940's Acme just down the street. (We will get a better look at the former store down below)

• The tower seen here was part of the original 1953 building but has been shortened over the years. It looked similar to the one at the Wildwood store which can be seen here.

• A small addition was added sometime in the late 50's to mid 60's. The newer section is just beyond the tower to the corner. We'll see clearer evidence of the expansion inside.

The newer section of the building now serves as the front-end of the store. Aisles run parallel to Main Street. Entrance and exits are along Main Street and back by the rear parking lot. All these years later, the exterior still has the 1950's feel to it. One of most unaltered exteriors of any Acme still around today.

Did someone put that plant up by the tower or did something just start growing there?

The Good Spirits Liquor store used to be the good ol' Acme! The old Acme sign structure is still intact on top of the store. Interesting to see how the "tower" sign evolved from the old store to the new store. This image is from Google Maps. 

UPDATE 10.16.10: This is NOT the old Acme!  Details to come.

Acme's parking lot is to the rear of the building. A one-way alley runs along side/front of the store. 

Cars seen here are actually parked at the gas station next door. 

The rear entrance and exit sends you down a ramp inside...

Produce cases line the wall on the right.

And here we are inside! A very attractive and well maintained store. The Industrial Circus Decor looking very nice here. I believe someone wrote in and said this store previously had the Checkerboard Arch decor. The last remodel looks to have been quite significant with all new cases, flooring and registers. This store does not have a Bakery despite the ample selection of baked goods here in the front.

The entrance ramp shown earlier is behind the produce cases.

The small Meat Department runs along the wall of aisle 1. This store may not have a fully functioning meat room. 

This truly is the Corner Deli. The first few aisles are shorter to make room for the Deli. The store has 11 aisles although all are relatively short. 

Dairy runs along the back wall.

Aisle 11! Main Street just outside the windows. Frozen Food is in aisle 10.

The old bread delivery room... straight ahead there... now serving as hi-tech computer storage. I find these bread rooms absolutely fascinating. Some 50's and 60's Acmes didn't have them... bread went right into the Produce delivery room... while others had dedicated highly secured brick rooms just for the daily deliveries of bread. You can see the divide between old and new up on the ceiling.

Customer Service is mostly blocked in with display cases.

Now looking across the store from Customer Service over to Produce and Cheese. The separation of the old and the new section is marked by the support columns.

The new section has drop ceiling tiles with the old does not. The "new" section is not all the new. According to the historical aerial images down below, it was added on sometime between 1956 and 1967.

If I remember correctly, this store has 4 registers. It wasn't very busy the couple of times I have been here although that's certainly not a true indication of the amount of business it does. It must have been doing pretty well as of the early 2000's to get such a significant remodel. Most other Acmes of this size were put out of their misery around that time after years of neglect by American Stores.

The bread drop off door to the right of the entrance and exit. (Apologies for all the ugly power lines. I haven't had time to photoshop them out of the pictures.) And now around to the back...

Interesting paint job to give the back of the store some life. Break room and bathrooms up on the second floor there. If you look closely at the door above the dumpsters, you can see the beam that sticks out of the roof for lifting compressors to the second floor.  

The street sign for the entrance along Lippincott Ave.

The parking lot along the back of all of the stores was redone recently. Acme shoppers tend to use the lot on the right. The parking spots were angled back in the day which you can see in the old aerial shots below.

Probably around the time the Industrial Circus remodel happened.

The new section to the left has been added on as of 1967.


The original building. Parking was available along the side of the store before the addition was put on, turing the side into the front.

Go see this Acme. Who knows how much longer it will be around. I wouldn't be surprised if CVS has already expressed interest in the building.