News Break: 
GOOD NEWS FOR ALBERTSONS! 

Same store sales are up company wide but of course there is no word on how Acme is fairing these days.You can read all of the details at ProgressiveGrocer.com. The article also includes some interesting plans for the company's merger with Rite Aid.

PLATED COMING TO STORES

SLOWLY BUT SURELY

Guess they're taking their time to get it right but it seems like the rollout could not be going more slowly. Meanwhile competing chains already have meal kits available... ShopRite began offering them last month. Albertsons currently offers their Plated meal kits in only a handful of stores with a larger rollout happening by year's end. Still, the company is saying only "select" stores will be carrying them in the coming months. You can read more about Albertsons plans at SupermarketNews.com.

 SHOPRITE DITCHES OWN BRAND

FOR TOP CARE?

I was shocked to see this brand change at ShopRite. The company is ditching its own brand of health and beauty aid products for the Top Care brand which is already available at other Northeast chains like Foodtown, Weis, Tops, Wegmans and Price Chopper. This marks the absolute end of private labels HABA in New Jersey supermarkets with Acme having Signature Care and Shop and Shop carrying CareOne. I find it to be strange move as the ShopRite brand is among the strongest in supermarket world. Why would they want to carry an in-house brand that's available others chains in their market?

THIS JUST IN >>>

WHOLE FOODS TO TAKEOVER 

FORMER WAYNE A&P

The exterior of the building has been extensively renovated since A&P closed. Wayne Natural Food Markets was supposed to take over the space last year but wound up defaulting on their lease. Now word has come that Whole Foods is set to take over the space. You can read more about it on northjersey.com

Collegeville Acme now a KImberton Foods!

Photos courtesy of KimbertonWholeFoods.com

Location: 222 Main Street, Collecgville PA

The long abandoned Collegeville Acme has finally returned to life as a Kimberton Whole Foods store. The photos above from the company's website show some great views of the renovated space. This is Kimberton's largest store to date. You can read more details about the store by clicking here.


The photo above is from Acme Style's coverage of the abandoned Collegeville store which you can visit here. The left side of the Acme is apparently still empty and in need of a tenant.

Thanks to "Michael from PA" for sending in the news!

Signature brands get simplified...

PART 3

BRIGHT GREEN OUT

OPEN NATURE IN >>>

Time for another update on the evolution of Albertsons'/former Safeway brands. (A new store post will be coming this Friday.) Part 3 reveals the demise of Bright Green, which I figured was coming when the Open Nature brand was extended to non-food products. So far, glass cleaner and toilet paper were to only two items I could find in household. Most Bright Green items are currently on sale to help move the old packaging off shelves.


Albertsons is planning to introduce 240 new Open Nature products this year. You can read more about the growing private label at progressivegrocer.com.

More evidence that the Signature Home branding is on its way out as well. Food storage bags are currently being changed over to Signature Select.

The Signature Cafe logo has been updated to resemble a tag on the package similar to the Signature Select logo.

Bread is now trading Signature Kitchens for the new Signature Select branding.


Signature Select ice cream is slowly being switched over to all new packaging. This is one product line that might not be changing for the better. The swirling candy and nut pieces on the older containers is definitely eye catching! The new design bowers heavily rom Breyers by going with black packaging.


Great new packaging for pasta! Albertsons has even gone a step further by having their pasta certified non-GMO.


And finally... Seltzer water officially looses the refreshe branding! Have to say, adding fruit images to the label will certainly help with choosing the correct variety. I have often grabbed the lime flavor thinking it was plain. While I like the abstract design of the "before" bottles, it's not very practical for a fast moving shopper.

Exterior renovations underway at...

LITTLE SILVER AND FAIR HAVEN! 

Location: 507 Prospect Ave, Little Silver, NJ

Quick post today showing some changes happening to the Little Silver and Fair Haven stores. So far, changes are happening just to the exterior of the Little Silver store. The landlord is renovating the whole strip mall with the Acme coincidently taking on a similar look to other upgrade Jersey Shore stores. For a rendering of the finished project, please click here. Could an interior remodel be far behind? Probably not. I think one would have been started by now to assure its completion for the summer season. 

"Before" photo courtesy of dougbalt

Location: 576 River Rd, Fair Haven, NJ

The strip mall where the Fair Haven store is located is being renovated as well. The work has not yet extended to the Acme. Our contributor will keep an eye on the situation to see what develops.

HALF OF A MILLION NOW SERVED
AT ACME STYLE!

Discussions: 

Have an off-topic comment or question?

Post it here for all to see.

View previous monthly discussions by clicking here.

Acme – Easton, Maryland

Location: 210 West Marlboro Avenue, Easton, MD

Today we're visiting the Easton Acme and I gotta say, this is one of the strangest exteriors I've seen yet! (The photo above is a little dark but the image from Googles maps below shows a little more details, particularly the odd color scheme.) Looks like the store has seen a ghost! Even more so if you compare it to the "before" photos down below...

BEFORE >>>

These photos are from 2013 when the exterior had a little more color. THIS a great looking Acme! Not sure why the landlord decided to whitewash the joint. Made Acme's poor sign virtually disappear!


The exterior was updated during the Premium Fresh & Healthy era which explains the white logo and red awnings over the windows. The store also received the updated aisle and category markers.


The green topped cart corrals have since been replaced with the newer white and red versions.


This post has a big mix of photos from several contributors who I will list at the end.


The Easton Acme opened back in the 70's mostly definitely as a 33M model. An expansion, possibly as early as 1995, was done to the right side of the store essentially adding on the whole Grand Aisle we're seeing here. This store had one of the most deluxe Grand Aisles of any Acmes probably due to the fact that it was built from the ground up rather than being remodeled from existing space. Back in the early 2000's when I would hopelessly google Acme photos, a picture of this very Grand Aisle would always pop up at the top of the search results. Took years for me to figure out exactly which store it was.


While the décor here is the Albertsons Marketplace package, it's a version that wasn't used in many stores. The Granite Run and Warminster stores were among the few other Acmes to have décor similar to Easton. Granite Run now has Quality Built and Warminster is closed.


New lighting has been put into this section of the store. I believe the change happened back in 2015 prior to the store holding a grand reopening.


A couple of older photos which show the original lighting...












Older picture here with a gaggle of geese ready to crap in your cart.












The hanging lattice structure above the checkouts was removed. You can see a "before" photo below.

BACK TO THE EARLY 2000s

The original lighting can be seen in these photos.




Register lights that were actually designed to match the décor! These exact lights have never been seen on the blog before. A shame Acme yanked them out and replaced them with the horrible generic lights which swept through the whole chain.

THE FORMER EASTON ACMES >>>

Location: 815 Dover Road, Easton, MD

The former Colonial Cottage Acme on Dover Road. I have no dates for the opening of closing of this store and historic aerials date back only to 1981. I would imagine this store closed when the West Marlboro store opened. 

Location: 134 N Washington St, Easton, MD

The original Easton Acme on Washington Street. Now a Goodwill Store. For some interior photos, click here. 

Sometimes google street views are so good, there's no need to visit the former stores in person!

HISTORIC AERIALS

2010

2005

1995

Hard to really tell here but construction on the addition may be happening above.

1981

Thanks to Jacob V, Ben from Delaware and Dwayne Groton for the photos!