Former Secaucus Acme Exposed!

Location: Location: 1300 Paterson Plank Road, Secaucus, NJ

The shopping center that included the Secaucus Acme is in the process of getting a much needed facelift. The tired green awning has been completely removed, exposing the original Acme brick building! A classic picture of the Acme is down below... 

Classic Acme photos courtesy of smiley1999

The Secaucus Acme circa 2004. For additional coverage of the Secaucus store, please click here.

Blast from the past! Secaucus, New Jersey

Classic Acme photos courtesy of smiley1999

Location: 1300 Paterson Plank Road, Secaucus NJ

The picture above dates back to the late 50's/early 60's. The photo was sent in by smiley1999 along with some other classic photos which will be featured in future posts. The Secaucus store was covered on the blog back in October 2009 in an extensive 3 part series chronically it's demise. A recap of the Secaucus saga can be found at the bottom of this post. Directly below is a picture from the original post which was taken in the store's final days in 2004. 

Although the store appears to have been enlarged over the years (looks wider in the 2004 shot than in the old black and white shot), I am quite certain it was not. The awning that was added since it's early days gives the illusion that the store had been expanded. The Acme building and it's relation to neighboring stores can be seen more clearly in the satellite images below.

The image above are the stores to the right of the Acme. You can see a portion of the strip in the photo below as well circa 2004. 

The Secaucus Acme is currently a CVS as shown above. A very nice farner's market has moved into the store to the left satisfying some of the grocery services that left this part of town when the Acme closed.

Now for a quick recap of the Secaucus Acme's demise... this was one of those rare occasions where the Acme wasn't interested in giving up. In fact, in the early 2000's Acme wanted to expanded and extensively remodel the Secaucus location which had been virtually untouched since it's 80's remodel. At that time it's only competition was a Stop and Shop (formally Edwards) across Route 3. The Walmart and Sam's Club had yet to come to town. 

Acme submitted plans to the landlord which included an expansion into the neighboring stores. The landlord balked at Acme's plans and their intention of evicting other tenants. Acme followed up by submitting new plans which called for the renovations of their current building only. The landlord refused to consider the new plans and informed Acme that their lease would not be renewed.

Quite an unfortunate end to what could have been the beginning of a very successful chapter in the story of the Secaucus Acme. In the years since the Acme left, many other tenants have left as well, at some points leaving nearly half the center unoccupied. A reshuffling of tenants to make room for the Acme expansion would not have been impossible. It also would have been an opportunity for the landlord to fix up the shopping center which to this day is still in sad shape. The Stop and Shop has since closed as well, apparently unwilling to compete with Walmart. The Acme would have been the one supermarket that the town of Secaucus could access without going out on to Route 3.

Secaucus Acme: Sign

The Former Acme in Secaucus NJ, Part 1 of 3

The Acme in Secauscus New Jersey closed on September 30, 2004. I was able to make a couple trips there while the store was in it's final days. These pictures were taken for my own collection long before this blog was ever dreamed up.

Here's the giant Acme sign on the corner of Flanagan Way and Humboldt Street on a crystal clear day...



The back side long gone...





The sign on a cloudy day with a better perspective on how huge the sign was...







The new tenant should come as no surprise...

Secaucus Acme: Final Days

The Former Acme in Secaucus NJ, Part 2 of 3

These are the final days of the Acme in Secaucus New Jersey back in September 2004...


The red oval logo survived til the very end. May have been replaced at some point. It's rare to see these signs in such good shape 15 or more years after they replaced the old fish-eye logo.


"This Store Will Close Permanently on Sept. 30"... due to the landlord refusing to renew the lease. Details to come in Part 3.


Some interior shots showing the 80's decor... a favorite here at Acme Style. Re-stocking has ceased at this point. Notice the aisle signs have been replaced with the 90's styled look. This store is the only Acme that I know of that did not receive the "Convenience Store" decor package of the 90's. I know of no other Acme that was still sporting the 80's remodel look all the way til 2005. If you know of any others please write in! Acme had big plans for this store which may be why they skipped the minor decor changes of the 90's.


Like most 80's remodels the full service Seafood department that was added in has since been removed and replaced with a self-service frozen food case.


In the final years the Bakery didn't offer much in the way of "in-store" baked goods.


A full look at the front of the store. The section starting with the Liquor store is set back from the front of the Acme. The parking lot was quite small.



Interior night-time shots of the Final Days...

Secaucus Acme: Abandoned

The Former Acme in Secaucus NJ, Part 3 of 3

And now for Part 3—the abandoned Acme of Secaucus NJ. The 80's remodel in all it's glory...


















Now for the interesting twist to the story... Acme did not wish to leave this location. In fact, they were planning an expansion and massive remodel. Plans for the improvements were submitted to the landlord who balked at Acme's desire to evict other tenants for their expansion. Acme revised the plans to only include renovations to the space they were already occupying. The landlord refused to even look at the plans and informed Acme that their lease would not be renewed.

Shortly thereafter, it was announced that CVS would be moving into the space. It's not clear when CVS entered the picture and if their interest influenced the landlord to kick Acme out. CVS wound up getting a whole lot more than it bargained for with this location. For starters... the building was essentially sinking as it was not constructed to withstand the swampy conditions in Secaucus. The floor of the Acme was always on the lumpy side. Your shopping cart would even roll away from you in parts of the store. You can see, in some of the pictures above, wooden blocks underneath the support polls throughout the store which may have been used to accomodate the sinking floor. The blocks don't appear to be under the support polls to the rear of the store.

And as if a sinking store isn't enough of a problem, the building was soon found to have asbestos. It was quickly sealed with plastic and the asbestos was removed. Articles at the time implied that CVS was getting stuck with much of the costs for this unexpected work. Not sure if that's true, but if nothing else, CVS's opening was greatly delayed.

Today, many of the stores in the shopping center sit empty. The CVS is a big draw as well as the Bagel Buffet. A farmer's market type store moved in right next to CVS and appears to be hugely successful. The only other supermarket in Secausus has closed as well. The Stop and Shop in the Mill Creek Mall, which was once and Edwards, closed down claiming the couldn't weather the disruptions from the conversion of the mall into a "Big Box" retail center. It's sad to think how Acme could have gone on to thrive in Secaucus if only given
the chance.


The Acme was the large section that stands further out than the rest of the stores. The backroom area extended into the section the upper left had corner of the building–the section with the lighter roof. A store occupied the front half of this area–the section with the darker roof. The Acme may have had an entrance and exit on both sides of the front of the store. Notice the very limited parking lot.


Here you can see the lack of loading docks at the back of the store.