Acme – West New York, New Jersey

Former A&P Fresh
Opened: October 9, 2015

Location: 55 Riverwalk Place, West New York, NJ  

A&P Fresh opened here in the mid 2000's on the first floor of the Riverwalk Place Apartments. A liquor store and a Starbucks are located in the same building right around the corner. Other shops and restaurants are scattered throughout the complex. This beautiful, brand-new Acme opened on October 9th, 2015. (My phone insists on making the ACME sign look orange when it's lit up.)


The circular stand includes directories for customers (see below) to take with them into the store. Acme retained the layout of the store for the most part. I have been shopping here pretty frequently since the store opened. Very few changes have happened since Acme opened. The store was already in excellent condition and Acme took the whole place up a notch. The produce department has improved tremendously. A&P couldn't seem to keep it fresh.




Quick turn to the left, just inside the entrance. The Café is right around the corner and Produce is to the right...


Yes, the Produce is fresh! So far, anyway. Floral is to the right. We'll head through Produce and make a left...


This used to be A&P salad dressing, crackers and gourmet foods area. Acme moved the salad dressing to the grocery aisles and turned this into the health food department. The shelves lining the left wall are the gluten-free products. Acme also removed A&P's shelves which ran the other direction. Such an improvement as shoppers can move through this area more easily. Acme did NOT remove the spot lights here as they are doing in other A&P and Pathmark locations. This store is a little brighter overall than some others. The natural light through the windows really helps too. I wouldn't be surprised if new lighting was installed at some point.




Acme is restoring some of the fresh food options A&P gave up on. The hot foods bar is being stocked again but only with a few selections.


All of the scales in the service departments have a bright ACME logo on the screen. Looks pretty sharp in person.


The Salad Bar is back! In recent years A&P stocked this with bottled drinks.


The entrance there at the front. The Café just offers self-serve coffee...


I had a cup and it was pretty good! They're probably not going to sell much with a Starbucks in the same building.


This is a shot from the "Future Acme Markets" post that show the registers in the back of the store. I didn't get an updated shot of the area now that Acme has taken over. Nothing has changed other than both registers being open! Never once did I see A&P have both registers open and the line could get long. The doors lead out to the parking garage.


Acme stickers placed right over A&P fresh! You'd never know it!


The cases are stocked beautifully in the Meat Department...






These photos were taken very early in the morning so there weren't many shoppers around.


While this store lacks a bit of variety due to its size, the place is immaculate and very convenient.


Safeway brands are being rolled out to Acme. More in some categories than others. There's still a bottle of SupreValu's Chill soda hanging on for dear life. If I never see that logo again, it will be too soon. Awful. The design of Safeway's soda packaging is light years better. Doesn't even look like a store brand!


Here we have Safeway's Snack Artist brand.. and a lot of it.


This is an issue in many places in the store. Same thing is happening at the Edgewater store. You have both Safeway and SuperValu brands mixed together in the same category. I'm assuming Pantry Essentials is a low-end Safeway brand. Can't wait until I never see an Essential Everyday product on Acme's shelves! Safeway's packaging isn't so painfully generic.


The Lucerne brand is showing up in Dairy. All of Acme's milk now has this label.


Dairy cases with doors along this side of the aisle.


End case filled with clearance items! Acme is apparently not carrying any of these items. The Edgewater store still has tons of items on clearance, up and down all of the aisles.


The Pharmacy in the front corner.


A look across the front-end with a huge display of Ivin's Famous Spiced Wafers! One of the things I am loving about the 2 new Acmes in this area is the lack of clutter throughout the store. Hopefully they don't start junking up these places with tons of displays every where you turn.


Thank YOU Acme for coming to West New York! Just downloaded My Mixx to my phone yesterday and clipped a bunch of coupons for my next visit.


They pealed the "Express Yourself" letters off of the self-checkout signs and replaced them with tiny little numbers. I don't think you can even see them in these photos. I haven't missed the self-checkouts here. They always have enough registers open so there isn't much of a wait to check-out.

The Pharmacy end of the store...


Manhattan off in the distance.


This was sad to see... the A&P graveyard. Carts. Shelving. Broken down displays. All outta here.


Some of the signs around the building...


Looks like a fire damage above the "A".


The shopping center's sign out on River Road. ACME at the top of the list right where it should be!


Acme is off to an incredible start in West New York. The store can only get more successful as apartment building continue to go up in this area.

Future Acme Markets!

For the first post after Acme Style's summer break, we'll be taking a look at several of the A&P and Pathmarks that will be converted to Acme in the coming months. The focus is on the stores that line the Hudson River starting in Jersey City and heading north to Fort Lee. All are a stone's throw from the river and about half have great views of New York City right from the parking lot. This will be a whole new area for Acme. Each location currently does very good business even with all the troubles A&P has had over the past few years. We'll start with the most southern location in Jersey City on 18th street...

JERSEY CITY A&P 



Location: 125 18th St, Jersey City, NJ

Check out One World Trade tower off in the distance! This store is just a few blocks from the river. It started out as a Waldbaum's in the late 80's and was later converted to an A&P. It retained its original interior until the fresh remodel in the mid 2000's. This area has been exploding with residential towers since the early 2000's. Not sure why A&P  took as long as they did to remodel the place since the store was clearly not living up to its potential. There is a large, extremely unpleasant, ShopRite just a few blocks away at the Newport Mall. Once the extensive remodel was complete here, business exploded! The store was jam packed on the weekends to the point where they had to bring in additional portable registers. Things have died down since then but it is still are very successful store. You can find plenty of reviews on yelp where people say they prefer shopping here over the ShopRite even though A&P's prices are higher.

The store has the second version of the "fresh" remodel.

I think it's safe to say one of the first things Acme is going to do in these fresh stores is replace the lighting. The permitter of this store is particularly dark. 

Frozen Foods were relocated from the center of the store to the left side during the remodel. 

Acme is also acquiring the Stadium Plaza Pathmark which is on the western side of Jersey City. It's not a terribly unique location and also not one that's easy to travel to from where I live so it it not featured in this post. 

HOBOKEN A&P

Location: 614 Clinton St, Hoboken, NJ

The Hoboken A&P is one of the smallest of all the locations in this area. Prior to ShopRite coming to Hoboken, this place used to be pretty high volume. Tons of shoppers are within easy walking distance. 

Liquor department to the left of the entrance. As you'll see, this place is pretty cramped. 

I wonder if Acme will eventually remove and aisle to expand Produce. When this place is busy the Produce aisle is a nightmare. Seafood is back in the corner on the left. 

First version of the "fresh" remodel. 

Corner Bakery is up in the front of the store with the Deli to the right. 

WEEHAWKEN PATHMARK

Location: 4100 Park Ave, Weehawken, NJ

These exterior pictures were taken back in August 2012 when the store was having it's grand reopening. The interior shots are a mix of then and now. Even with the extensive remodel, this place never seemed to recover from the merger with A&P. Its days of being high-volume are well in the past.


Just inside the entrance here with stores along the left and the Pathmark entrance on the right. This store is open 24/7.


Pathmark's latest decor package. Bright, white and clean throughout! Acme will have a easy time converting this store although it will be interesting to see if they ultimately keep Pathmark's layout.






Every single case here is brand spanking new.


The Deli is in the far back corner.








I used to shop in the store back in the early 2000's. This front-end would be packed with customers. Nearly every register open with lines. Never see more than 3 registers open these days.

WEST NEW YORK A&P

Location: 55 Riverwalk Pl, West New York, NJ

A very unique A&P soon to be a very unique Acme! This one is located on the first floor of a residential building right on the river. Very nice store although I don't think it has reached its potential by a long shot.


Built with the second version of the "fresh" remodel. 

A&P has removed many of the fresh offerings that started out here. Salad bar is kaput and the hot foods bar is now just piles of fried foods.


Cafés days are probably numbered. Not sure what Acme has against offering coffee these days.




Two registers at the rear of the store by the exit that leads to the parking garage.










You can see the river and the city from the side of the store.

If you ever find yourself at this store, don't miss out on the views! 

EDGEWATER PATHMARK



Location: 481 River Rd, Edgewater, NJ

This is a huge Patmark with the "Go Fresh, Go Local" remodel. Target is right across the parking lot and stole a ton of business from this place when they did their PFresh remodel. Since A&P took over Pathmark, they have reset this store about once a year ever since. As a pretty frequent shopper here, I have found it to be maddening! Looking very forward to Acme taking over this location. The store does very big business on Sundays when the Target is closed. 

A double wide deal aisle was created just in the last year. As you can see, it's a huge draw. The latest reset happened here when the Bank of American branch closed opening up some space in the front of the store. 

The former bread alcove was expanded and switched over to soda when the bank closed. 

The Bistro was a flop. After the remodel they would have a live cook here doing demonstrations. Lasted a few months and then it was shut down. 

FORT LEE A&P

Location: 2160 Lemoine Ave, Fort Lee, NJ

A huge A&P fresh located in Fort Lee just blocks from the George Washington Bridge. I've only been to this store a few times and it seems to do excellent business. Has a Starbucks too! 

Looks like the Bakery lost its signage along the way. 

Very nice liquor and wind department. This is just a plain ol' aisle but there are very nice wine displays to the left. 

The original flooring remains in most of the store. 

Heading west of the Hudson River to check out some other interesting locations that I have photographed over the years...

DENVILLE A&P

Location: 125 West, Main St Denville, NJ

An expanded centennial store was torn down and replaced back in 2004 with A&P's very first "fresh" store. Some of the interior pictures here have been seen on the blog before. I covered the various "fresh" remodels on the Little Silver post which you can visit by clicking here.

NEW PROVIDENCE A&P

Location: 1260 Springfield Ave, New Providence, NJ

Well... well... well.. what do we have here? The A&P fresh that was built right on the spot where the New Providence Acme was located. Acme gets to return to a virtually brand-new store that they didn't have to bother building themselves!

This store has the 4th version of the "fresh" remodel which essentially reverted to the 1rst version due largely to the skyrocketing costs of the "fresh" remodels.


Acme will be able to update the decor in snap!








Judging from my one visit here, this is a very busy store!



And a look at the Acme that once stood here...




You can check out additional coverage of this store by clicking here.

Check out what I said back in 2010...


They sure are!


Some of the satellite views show the Acme still standing with work starting on the new A&P. You can see how they A&P expanded out of Acme's original footprint...



And a quick jump across town to see the old A&P which has been abandoned since the replacement store opened...

Location: 592 Central Ave, New Providence, NJ

This store had a basic version of the first "fresh" remodel but the exterior signage was never updated.

And soon, no more A&P for New Providence but welcome back Acme!