Today's store post got zapped!

Well folks, so much for today's post. I was putting the finishing touches on it last night and while I was attempting to add one last picture, blogger zapped all of the content. It was too late to try to recreate it so I'm moving on to Friday's post. The content for today's featured store will be recreated in the next week or two.

Acme store closing:
The following stores will be closing on or before April 28, 2016.
Each store's lease is coming to an end and
Acme has decided not to renew.

 Bridgeton, NJ

29 Cornwell Drive, Bridgeton, NJ

The Bridgeton Acme has some tough competition including ShopRite, Walmart and Aldi all located nearby. You can view full coverage of the Bridgeton store by clicking here.

Shrewsbury, NJ



1080 Broad Street, Shrewsbury, NJ

The closing of Shrewsbury is somewhat of a non-event. This day was coming the minute Acme acquired the A&P Fresh across the street. It will be sad to see this classic location go but shoppers in the area now have a beautiful and much larger Acme to shop at. Below is an aerial image showing the proximity of the two stores. The new Acme will be coming to the blog this Friday. For full coverage of the Shrewsbury store, please click here. 

Oxford, PA

Photos courtesy of Gary A.

Location: 2176 Baltimore Pike, Oxford, PA

Another classic location closing is the Oxford store. While it's sad to see this one go too, it has remained open years longer than expected. This place has been rumored for closing since practically since the day Acme Style started. For full coverage of this store, please click here.

While Acme is about to lose 3 stores off its total count, it is soon gaining 2 new stores in Patterson, New York and Boonton, New Jersey.

Programming Note:

Apologies for no posts for over a week now. Too many projects going on at my day job to squeeze in any time for the blog. Posting will resume on Tuesday.

Econo Buy French Cut Green Beans!

Courtesy of John from WISL1480.com

Superfresh – Newark, Delaware

Photo courtesy of Will aka B-More Retail on flickr

Location: 407 New London Road, Newark, Delaware

An ancient SuperFresh/formmer A&P in Newark, Delaware, that Acme had bid on. The bid was withdrawn for reasons unknown. It has been speculated that the store may have been near the end of its lease and Acme could not secure a guarantee that it would be renewed. As you'll see, the store hasn't been updated since its last remodel in the 80's. 

The décor here is similar to what we saw at the Maplewood A&P.  

It is possible Acme withdrew its bid when they realized how much work was needed to get upgrade the store. 

The original Super*Fresh logo remained about the front-end until the bitter end. 

AERIAL VIEWS

You can see and expansion made to the left side of the origianl A&P. 

I was a huge fan of these green awnings when they were rolled out in the 80's. A&P's were branded with "SAV-A-CENTER" in big white letters. They actually won me over as a shopper with their nicely remodeled stores. Many of A&P's 80's remodels turned out nicer than Acme's.

HISTORIC IMAGES

2007

1992

1970

First siting was in 1968 but this is the first clear view that was available. 

Thanks to Will for the photos of this classic SuperFresh! 

New Lighting in Avondale!

Location: 851 Gap Newport Pike, Avondale, PA 

Photos courtesy of catnapped

Catnapped visited Avondale last week and sent in word of the lighting changes made in the store. Many of the changes are similar to what was done at the Lincroft store, including the lights you are seeing in the photo above. Avondale also had the drum lights in frozen removed but if you take a close look, you can see there are still some hanging in the vestibule. Catnapped also pointed out that the self-checkouts are still in place here.

A look at the store's original lighting is below...

For additional coverage of the Avondale Acme, click here (and scroll down past the Kennet Square photos). 

Remodeled Lawrenceville!

Location: 2497 Brunswick Avenue/Route 1, Lawrenceville, NJ

When we last saw the Lawrenceville store on the blog back in September 2014, the self-checkouts were being removed and rearranging had been underway in some departments. This was around the same time news broke that Acme had signed a new long-term lease here. The news was accompained by word that the landlord was going to make a huge investment into the shopping center. There's absolutely no sign of that ever happening. In fact, the center seems to have more vacancies than ever with the Acme the only store drawing any significant business. As mentioned in previous posts, there is intense competition on Route 1 including Wegmans, ShopRite, Whole Foods and Trader Joes all within close proximity to each other. The Acme happens to be just far enough south to enjoy a comfortable distance from the competitors. This is a surprisingly busy store especially considering its relatively small size. 

Ever since my visit in 2014, I've been planning to check back in to see if a remodel was in fact underway. Turns out it was! Sort of. This is one of those situations that I would call a refresh more that a remodel. Not a whole lot has changed beside the décor. That said, the store does look really good....


The Premium Fresh & Healthy version 3.0 décor has replaced the Chalkboard Market signage and color scheme.

BEFORE...

The coffin cake case was replaced with upright refrigerators for the Bakery with enough room remaining for some additional cases for Produce. The Bakery sign here used to hang over the service counter but was moutned to this wall in recent years. Too bad they didn't give this perfectly good sign to the Lincroft store to replace their wacky Bakery sign.


The product images and fresh messages that normally accompany the department signs were not included here. Perhaps they were cut since they would be a bit overkill with all the new "Acme loves local" signage.

BEFORE...

BEFORE...

BEFORE...

The service departments would look a million times better if the back walls were tiled. Particularly with Seafood, it seems like we're looking into the back room.


The frozen food cases were updated years ago.


All of the former green sections of the ceiling have been painted white...

BEFORE...

No department signage in the back section of Dairy, just a stunted aisle sign.

BEFORE...

As mentioned in the last visit to Lawrenceville, the last aisle has been removed to give some much needed breathing room for Dairy. The grocery selection must have taken a pretty big hit since this wasn't a very large store to begin with.






The front-end didn't get much love during the remodel. The old register lights are still in place with some just about to fall over. The self-checkouts were located in this spot.