Another Milltown Update!

Location: 300 Ryders Lane, Milltown, NJ

Time for another Milltown update! It's getting a little overkill with this store around here but there's two reasons for that. Now with Clifton gone, this is the only Acme I pass by on a somewhat regular basis. Secondly, the store's refresh is moving at such a snail's pace it's pretty easy documenting every little change they're making. Work on the store began back in February and they are still ongoing. Pretty sure the new Beach Haven store was built in less time! Seriously, the work that is being done here could have been wrapped up in a matter of weeks. Four months later and the changes keep coming.

So what's the latest change? The most absurdly placed cheese case in the history of supermarkets is GONE...


I was pretty critical of the cheese case in the original Milltown post back in 2013. The long windy case greeted shoppers as they walked in the entrance forcing traffic to head for the Deli on the left or over to the coffee café on the right. Walking straight into Produce was not an option. Now with both the long cheese case and café removed, shoppers can head straight into the store.


I'll be sure to check back in the few weeks to see how well the new tiles match to the old!


Brand-new drink case just inside the entrance. Not a huge variety just yet. This area used to be used for unrefrigerated soft drinks by the case.


All signs of the Video department are now gone. And the self-checkouts are history too. A new express lane has been installed here but was not being used when I was here. There were plenty of other registers opened and Acme has implemented a new front-end procedure which I have seen in action in several stores. Cashiers who do not have customers in their line stand out in front of their lane waiting for shoppers to come by. This is the 4th Acme I've seen in the past few weeks were this was taking place.


Also gone now are the lights above the former Reading Center. Their mounts have been left behind which you can see lining the top of the brown trim. Here's a picture of what the wall used to look like...



I'll be checking back in a few weeks to see what other projects are underway. Hopefully one of my upcoming visits will find the refresh officially done!

Milltown Update!

Location: 300 Ryders Lane, Milltown NJ

Despite previous reports on the blog, the Milltown Acme is NOT getting remodeled. Improvements are underway and signage in desperate need of updating is getting tended to. The changes are happening at a snail's pace so it's not easy to see the overall plan at the moment.


New lighting in Produce. Huge improvement especially in the back corner which used to be pretty dark. As mentioned previously, the layout of the Produce Department has been simplified.


"Snack Center" and "Beverage Boulevard" signage has been removed. Those signs were used in lieu aisle markers so currently there is no indication to the aisle's contents.


"Reading Center" is finally gone! Magazines and books were moved from this location years ago. Can't image what the delay has been for such a simple fix.


Soda bottles and chips bowl props have been removed...


My thought is Acme removed the signs and props from this area to reduce the focus on junk foods. especially for shoppers entering at the Produce side. The rotating "Meal Center" sign just inside the entrance was also removed but all other hanging signs remain.


I'm assuming new aisle markers will be going up throughout the store but who knows. I think full remodels move along faster than the minor changes that are happening in Milltown.


The former café seating area now home to construction equipment.


Video signage has been removed and he former home of the TV monitors has been covered over. Café seating has been moved into this area and there is also a mega-coffee-dispensing-contraption set up in there. I'll get some better pictures when the area is complete. Self checkouts remain untouched. I would think at this point they might be staying but time will tell. More Milltown updates to come.

For previous coverage of Milltown, please click here.

BREAKING NEWS >>>

REMODEL UNDERWAY
AT MILLTOWN

Location: 300 Ryders Lane, Milltown NJ

A few weeks ago word came in to the January Discussions post that some changes were underway at the Milltown store. I stopped in about two weeks ago to have a look around. While some minor rearranging had happened in the Produce Department, not much else was going on. The Bucks County Coffee Café had been removed but I'm not sure if that was part of the current changes or if it has been gone for a while. You can see where it used to be located right below...




Above is a photo of the café as it was when Acme Style covered the store back in 2013.


Losing the Café does open up the front of the store significantly. It's a rather odd layout here when you first walk in the front door. You are immediately blocked by the long cheese case which forces you to either walk past the Deli all the way to the left or head straight for the Café which was on the right. Now with the Café being removed, there aren't as many obstacles greeting shoppers.


The produce tables all used to be at weird angles creating a very strange flow throughout the department. They now have been straightened and all run parallel to the front of the store.


A refrigerated case has been removed.


Some leftover displays and bins were gathered to the rear of Produce. And that's all I saw. More informations has come in to the February Discussions....

Hey guys, if you want to see the Milltown Acme, now is the time. Unfortunately, they are remodeling it. They are slowly taking down the large decorations in the store. Also, they have taken down the low black lights over produce and replaced all of the lights in the store. I will miss the old décor but it has been almost 15 years since it opened. The humongous cooler filled with bottles of coke has been taken down, they removed the sprinkler from the bottom of the giant bowl of chips, and they have taken down about half of the aisle markers. You should definitely go before the rest is gone. They probably work overnight because there is a scissorlift that is being kept in the former seating area from Starbucks. They have made some significant changes to the produce section and bakery.


Say it ain't so... the giant bucket of soda is gone!


I wonder how much of a remodel will be happening here. The store is in need of some updating and streamlining. It is signage overkill in this place. Just take a look at the original post by clicking here to see for yourself. On my recent visit the "Acme Reading Center" signage was STILL up even though that department had been relocated years ago. That area is now used of for the 10 for $10 sales. And below you'll see the Video Department which has been long gone as well but the signage still remains...


The self-checkouts were still here on my last visit. I imagine they will be getting removed soon. One other interesting thing that I noticed was the store was the busiest I have ever seen it! I've been stopping here from time to time over the years and never saw many people in the place. When I was here two weeks ago you could actually call the place BUSY! I was never too sure about the store's success. It lost its Pharmacy the same time Clifton did. Now Clifton is closing, although word from a couple of sources is that an obscene increase in rent is what doomed that store. Milltown looks to be going strong. I will be stopping in over the next few weeks and will keep you updated on the changes.

Acme — Milltown, New Jersey

Location: 300 Ryders Lane, Milltown NJ

The Milltown Acme was referred to as the company's latest prototype on opening day in March 2001. According to an article on Highbeem.com, the company described it as "the most modern and unique food and drug superstore in Middlesex County" with such amenities as a Sushi Bar, Starbucks and Krispy Kreme donuts. All these years later... the Starbucks is gone, no more Krispy Kreme and the Savon Pharmacy has been eliminated. Joining these defunct departments are the Video Department and the Reading Center, yet their signage remains.

The Pharmacy here was closed back in 2010 at the same time as Clifton's. In the post covering the Pharmacies, I wondered if both stores were in danger of shutting down but after several rounds of closings, both stores remain open. The Clifton store faced tough competition from several nearby including a new Trader Joes. The replacement store there opened after Milltown but has aged terribly. I was pretty horrified the last time I was there but that was back in the SuperValu days. Things may be improving now as they are at many locations.

I've alway found Milltown to be immaculate and well stocked for the frequent visits I've made in recent years. One thing that seems to be missing from this store… shoppers. Hate to say it but it's a ghost town every time I'm here which is usually on weeknights. Maybe the crowds show up on the weekends. The store does show signs of doing a good business with it's fresh food offerings. The Bakery is always stocked to the ceiling and has a huge variety of goods. One of the first things to go in a lower volume store is always the selection in the bakery. The closing of the Pharmacy certainly wasn't a good sign though.


The darker colored section next to the Acme sign is where the Savon sign used to be. "FOOD" over this entrance is deceiving as this side is mostly non-food merchandise. The entrances and exits here are are a convoluted mess. It's especially confusing where to exit once you've checked out. I always find myself heading back to the entrance areas which is not how you exit. I much prefer the American Stores buildings from the 90's where the entrances and exits share large, distinctive vestibules on either side of the building. Interestingly, the Yardville store opened after Milltown but has an American Stores exterior. The two stores share the same decor package which we will take a look at now...


The decor package here is what I referred to as the "Acme Theme Park" package. I put that name to it back when I was developing the decor directory here on the blog. Turns out the company referred to the package as the "Grocery Palace". Whatever you call it… it couldn't have been cheap with all the props and the highly customized signage. Pictures from Milltown were used for the directory but the store has never had a full post on the blog.

The layout of this side of the store is awful. The cheese case completely blocks shoppers from making a straight shot into the store. You have to either make a sharp left to the Deli or a right to walk around the cheese case to head into Produce.


The Meal Center sign was rotating the night I took these pictures. I'm pretty sure I have never seen it spin in previous visits.


A Kosher Deli is located just beyond the regular Deli with plenty of obstacles in the way. The flow through this section of the store is challenging. It seems the theory of this layout is "if the customer crashes into it, they'll buy it!" It's the complete anthisies of the "Premium Fresh and Healthy format that came just a few years later. You can have a look below at the Limerick store which was more streamlined...


This shot was taken when the store was preparing to close so it's is pretty empty of merchandise. You can see how the self-serve cases all run parallel to the full-service departments rather than being angled every which way like they are in Milltown. Signage was also drastically minimalized for this decor package.


No clear shot back to the Bakery.


This back corner is sort of tucked out of the way. The Delis along this wall in the front half of the store create an alcove here in the back.


The bottled juice cases run along the left wall back in the alcove.

So now we'll jump back to the entrance, making a right at the shopper-blocking cheese case...


Along the front wall is the "Acme Reading Center" were reading is no longer done. This area has been changed to the deals department. I would think removing the signage would be an easy fix.


The former Starbucks is now Bucks County Coffee. Not sure why they don't just elimate it to improve flow in the front of the store. I've never seen anyone working the counter.


A look across the front-end just around the coffee stand. Produce is just to the left. We'll now head to the first few highly- themed grocery aisles...


This section of the store is pretty wild. Crazy props, big colorful signs and special flooring. With each aisle highly customized, significant store resets are virtually impossible here.


If you look closely, you can see a water sparkler sticking out of the bottom to the bowl!










All these themes yet no Wild Harvest aisle and now Shop Around the World department.


I do love how they designed this Bakery to feel old fashioned. The tin tiles along the back walls are particularly a nice touch. The Milltown Bakery is about as deluxe as any other Acme out there.


The Albertsons Quality seal can be seen all over this store.


So I may have been a little harsh with my comments at the begging of this tour but things improve dramatically in the grocery aisles. The rest of the store is nicely organized.


The packaged meats department is in its own alcove in the back.




Packaged Deli and Dariy are merged into one department just beyond the fresh meat counters. Dairy runs along the back as well as the last aisle of the store.


A look at some more of the extensively themed aisles…












It can get a little sign-overload in this store.












A big old barn full of milk! Not sure how many other stores got this treatment. Yardville did not get a barn. You can take a look at their milk signage by clicking here.




The former pharmacy covered over with shelving. They could have done this same treatment with the signage over the Reading Center… at the same time.


Video Department is now a hollow shell. Random merchandise now fills the area. TV monitors removed from above the department.


Fun graphics remain on the floor!




The Acme and the strip of stores next to it are part of the Ryders Crossing Shopping Center which includes a Target and Home Depot. The Acme and its neighboring stores are located in a different, more secluded section than the main shopping center. We'll have a better look at that down below.


The store here at the end is currently vacant.




New Jersey Turnpike directly behind the shopping center. An Acme sign faces out to the Turnpike but there's no obvious route from the Turnpike to this store.


Another Acme sign on the left corner. This one faces the southbound traffic on Ryders Lane.




The Acme seems to be in the back of the shopping center. It's completely out of view for people heading to Target and Home Depot. I wonder how much of an impact Target's recently expanded grocery selection has had on the Acme. The Target always seems to be busy.

2007

2002

1995

This building was removed to make way for the Acme.


While the Milltown Acme may no longer be "the most modern and unique food and drug superstore" around, it still remains are very nice store. Hopefully the changes Albertsons has made with pricing in recent months will help draw more customers to this grocery palace.