Former Acme – Edgewood, Maryland

Photo above courtesy of Will from B-More Retail on flickr

Location: 2216 Hanson Rd, Edgewood, MD
Opened October 6, 1965
Closed due to fire June 11, 1966
Reopened June 11, 1966
Final closing date unknown

Not a lot of clues remain along the front but around back the store is still all Acme....

Acme's parking lot sign is now sign-less.


Food Lion is located on the right side of the shopping center.

1982

1970

1966

The parking lot was built for a larger shopping center which didn't materialize until years later.

Former Acme – Reading, Pennsylvania

Photos courtesy of Stephen G

Location: 600 Greenwhich Street, Reading. PA

Opening date: March 30, 1969

Closed in the early 90's 

Could have sworn this store was on the blog. Pictures came in a long time ago and I'm sure prepped the post but its no where to be found. Good thing Stephen sent in another round! This is one of the very few, fully intact, pitched-roof Acmes I had ever been while it was STILL an Acme! Came across this place back in the early 90's on a road trip to the outlets in Reading. The interior still had the 70's décor on the walls. The store wasn't in the best of shape so I figured its days were numbered. I made a point to stop in every time I was in Reading. Then one day, I came down the hill and saw the Acme was gone. Another store had taken over. Can't remember if it was C-Town at that time or not but it was a sad day nonetheless.






Acme's lava-lamp tiles are undoubted still under those pictures of fruits and vegetables.

AERIAL VIEWS

HISTORIC IMAGES

2008

1992

Thanks to Stephen for sending in the pictures! 

Former Acme – Dundalk, Maryland

Photos courtesy of Will

Location: 2929 Sollers Point Road, Dundalk, MD

Heading all the way down to Dundalk, Maryland for our Former Acme Pick of the Day! It's been a while since we've had a Pick of the Day. These posts generally feature former Acmes that I know very little about and have never been to. The posts are usually made up of photos sent in by a contributor. It's a great way for us to get a look at stores that are far outside the areas I can travel too.

Opening date of the Dundalk store us unknown, as is the closing date. The historic aerials have it arriving after 1966 and before 1971. While it's not obvious from the first few photos here, the store is a pitched-roof model. It is unusual to see the "Super Saver" awning since the store did not receive a significant expansion.


The building is now home to American Kenpo Karate. The appears to be a remnant of a previous logo at the top portion of the sign.


You can see the Super Saver awning was extended from one side to the other to completely disguise the pitched-roof.


The delivery bays in the back have been covered over with siding. This area looks to have been a small addition to the left side of the store.


Around back we can clearly see this was a pitched-roof store.

AERIAL VIEWS

The house owners along the back must have been thrilled when Acme built the store. The area was open land before the Acme arrived.








The right side may have had a small addition to the back corner as well. Notice there is no access from the back of building. Unfortunately there are not enough historical images available to pinpoint the evolution of the building.


While I was doing the screen grabs of the aerial views, I did a little exploring of the area and discovered a former Penn Fruit nearby. Haven't been able to pin down an exact address for it.


The Penn Fruit was all the way to the left.




You can see a ground view of the store on flickr. I am just now noticing that this is the same Will who contributed the photos for today's post!

HISTORIC IMAGES

1964

Penn Fruit arrived prior to the Acme.

1966

1971

The only year available with a view of the Acme in business. And check out the crowd!

Dundalk had another Acme on Commerce Street. I don't have the exact address but since Commerce Street is only one block long. I think this building is the only one that could have been an Acme. This location opened in February 1952 and may have closed when the pitched-roof model opened about a mile away.

Former Acme – Martinsburg, WV

Photos courtesy of Michael H. of Fairfax, VA

Location: 329 Monroe Street, Martinsburg, WV

We're kicking off the new year with one of the best repurposing of a picthed-roof Acme yet! Extreme Family Fitness opened here in 2012 after moving from another spot in the shopping center. According to the satellite images,  the building had been abandoned for some time before the gym took over the space. Acme opened here in September 1965. Michaels tells me that discussions on Groceteria.com put the store's closing in 1990.

The gym's website advertises the size of the facility at  60,000 square feet. They must have taken over some neighboring stores to reach that square footage. Michael wasn't able to get pictures of the inside due to the mirrored windows but I went ahead and grabbed some photos of the website to include below. It is a very impressive facility. At $15 dollars a month, it is an extreme value as well.


The owners of Extreme Family Fitness spared no expense fixing the exterior. Even the back of the store looks great!

ExtremeFamilyFitness.net

The interior pictures below are from the gym's website…






The Produce back room is now is now used for group training. You can see more many more pictures on the website although it's not as obvious where some of the other sections of the gym are located in the former Acme.




Current satellite images show the building abandoned, possibly with the windows covered over.


The frame of the Acme sign is still intact.

2003

Only one historic image showing the shopping center is available. The next available image is from 1947 and shows no buildings on the site.


Working out in a former pitched-roof Acme? Sign me up!

Be sure to check out Michael's retail photo collection over on flickr by clicking here.