Former Acme/A&P, Lodi NJ

Location: 4 Memorial Drive, Lodi NJ

The Super A&P Food Market in Lodi New Jersey closed in October 2010 along with 24 other A&P and Pathmark stores. Many of these closings were due to A&P and Pathmark stores overlapping in the same areas which became an issue back in 2007 when A&P purchased the troubled Pathmark chain. While this store was indeed located near a Pathmark, it's closure was due more to a brand new ShopRite opening just blocks away.  

Prior to being an A&P, this grocery store began it's life as a newly constructed Acme opening back in 1980. It joined Rockaway, which also opened that same year, as being the newest Acmes in North Jersey. Lodi's relatively short life came to an end in May of 1998, the very same day they pulled the plug on the beloved Succasunna store. The next brand new North Jersey Acme would arrive in 2002 in Randolph. That store was a planned Grand Union which Acme snapped up when GU went under. Acme could have acquired more Grand Unions, helping it to reestablish itself in North Jersey but that didn't happen. Instead, Acme has chosen to continue to wind down it's operations in this region. Both A&P and Acme have been unable to successfully compete with ShopRite. 

As an Acme, this store would have looked nearly identical to the Berlin location. Both Lodi and Berlin were paired up with Kmart. You can click here to see a picture. The layout of the store and shopping center is flipped in Berlin. 

The windows here were most likely added by A&P. Acmes generally didn't have windows in this section. Floral would have been behind the wall with Produce lining the right wall. 

Some scars left from Acme's entrance and exit. You can even see the outline of the old magic carpets. Again, this entrance and exit would have been set up similarly to the Berlin store. 

Kmart down yonder.

New exit added by A&P.

The emergency exit might be in the same exact spot as the Acme's, although it would appear that some of these windows were added after Acme left. See the Berlin store for a comparison. 

Scars left from Acme's cart corral gates. You can see what they looked like at the old Clementon store. Standard issue for many Acmes in the 70's.

The Acme ended right along with the awning. The addition clearly visible with it's lighter color...

Good thing they don't seal over the windows of abandoned Acmes! I was able to get a peak inside. All I could see was the A&P back and white tiled floor. No chance of getting any interior shots here. The windows are sealed tight!

The old Acme parking lot sign still standing switched out with the A&P sign...

Around to the back. The newer section seen here. 

The unloading bays remain from the Acme days...

This section received an addition to the rear along with the expansion of the store. 

The Kmart with it's updated signage. The interior remains mostly unchanged from it's Big Kmart days. 

Surprisingly closed for the Easter holiday. Isn't Kmart open on Thanksgiving and Christmas?

A few pictures of the A&P when it was still in business...

Peeps o' plenty! These interior shots were taken just before Easter back in 2010. Ironically, all of the abandoned photos above were taken on Easter Sunday of this year. 

The interior here was A&P's look in the early to mid 90's. Had some similarities to Acme with it's white walls and checkerboard patterns. I've always been a big fan of these service department signs. Well, they were cool looking back in the 90's anyway. The A&P gutted the Acme interior and started from scratch. There were no Acme clues left inside. A&P even built a second floor managers office in the front of the store. Hey, why didn't the Acme add on and remodel? 

The Bakery was located back in the far left corner. Assortment limited at this point as business declined. A portion of the Bakery now displaying bottled water. 

Odd department sign structure. From a graphic design standpoint, it's a font nightmare. Hurts my eyes just looking at that thing. Kinda small too considering the dairy aisle runs the whole side of the store. 

Image courtesy of Mike W

Some employees got a little creative with a Halloween decoration and the empty Deli case. Things winding down here last October. (Getting a lot of holidays covered in this post)

And now for the aerials...

"Big Kmart" signs still up in this image.

Hold on to your P's and Q's... it's coming!

I didn't go in. Might be nice. Who knows. ShopRite is the most uninteresting grocery store chain around. I'll never understand their appeal. I rarely leave one satisfied with my shopping experience. 

I will say this store has a very attractive exterior. Especially along the street...

Too bad the new Bryn Mawr Acme isn't going to look a bit more like this store.

A&P bracing for impact. The new ShopRite still under construction. 

The image above shows the nearby Pathmark and Stop & Shop along Route 17. The two stores back up to each other with the Pathmark facing Route 17 and clearly visible from Route 80. The Stop & Shop is a former Grand Union and has been expanded and significantly renovated over the years. The Pathmark was remodeled a few years ago with the exceptionally nice (for Pathmark standards) "Go Fresh. Go Local." interior. You can have a look here at the Edgewater store. (Scroll down below the closed Randolph Pathmark)

2008

The addition to the left side clearly visible from the air. Still a decent amount of cars in the parking log considering that the ShopRite had opened by this time.

2002

1995

Does anyone know why the Acme's days were numbered at this point? A&P clearly saw the location as a viable opportunity. 

1987

The good ol' days. Lodi was remodeled in the 80's and most likely closed with it's 80's interior. 

1979

Another Acme Coming Soon!

1970

A lot of buildings cleared out of the way to make from new shopping in Lodi.

Jane Parker has left the building. Maybe Acme should move back in! Oh forget it. If there are two chains who can't figure out how to compete with ShopRite... it's Acme and A&P. 

Blogger is a bust!

Apologies for no post this Friday! Blogger services have been down since Thursday evening. They were just restored moments ago but problems persist. A majority of today's post, which has been done for days now, has been deleted by Blogger. I will be recreating it today and hope to have it posted by this evening.

Check Acme Fast!

Bye Bye Bryn Mawr...

Sunny day photos provided by Greg Prichard

Location: 601 West LancasterAve, Bryn Mawr PA

The Bryn Mawr Acme opened August 11, 1956 and is scheduled to close on May 12 with demolition to begin shortly thereafter. Unlike many store closing on this blog, this one has a happy ending! A brand new "flagship" Acme will rise from the rubble of the old store. Construction is to occur over a 10 month period with the opening date set for next March... barring any delays. (And there have been numerous delays in recent years as all the details for the new store were worked out between all the various parties involved.) 

The overcast photos were taken during my visit this past February. Thanks to Greg's pictures we have a few images of the of the store on a much nicer day. Greg is a contributing member of the Radnor Historical Society. You can check out his "History of Acme Markets In Wayne" by clicking here. 

The tower seen here will not be spared. It will come down with the rest of the store. The one bit of disappointing news is that the exterior of the new store will be as generic as they come and will have little architectural interest. It's unfortunate that a more unique design was not created to fit in with the other buildings in town. The "flagship" description that Acme has attached to the project must refer to the interior only. Even with the new store increasing in size by 10,000 square feet, the Bryn Mawr Acme will remain among the smallest stores in the chain. 

Heading around the corner to the "front" of the store...

Customer Service is now located in this brick section that extends out to the sidewalk. Most likely an addition that was done with the 90's remodel. Front windows and entrance just beyond this section...

Another one of Greg's photos above. Put's the winter sky in my photos to shame! The pyramid added over the entrance during the early 90's. A small addition was also done to the right side which now houses the Deli and Bakery prep areas.

Acme is ready for it's close up! The Bryn Mawr store had a quick cameo in the movie The Sixth Sense. This scene takes place at approximately the one hour mark. Mom and haunted son leave the Acme looking very weighed down by the odd goings on in their lives. Mom decides to lighten the mood and starts pushing the cart faster and faster. They arrive at the their car all smiles with their tension broken for just a few seconds. And scene.  

In we go to see an alternative version of the Industrial Circus decor...

The Industrial Circus decor was revamped with a slightly classier look at some point. The bold, block letters replaced with cursive. Corrugated steal on department signs and aisle markers replaced with copper. Yellow checkerboard pattern on the walls above service departments replaced with all green tiles. You see other minor differences throughout the store. A similar version of this decor can also be found in the King of Prussia store. 

Can you spot the missing decor items above?

Strange signage here. The "Meat &" is virtually lost hanging so far above "Seafood".

The red columns have a wood-grain finish here. (Hard to see in this blurry photo). Notice too that slatted wood in place of corrugated steel in the previous version of this decor package. 

A kinder and gentler approach to the department signage from the old version of this decor package.

Above is an example of the more commonly seen department sign style for this decor package.

Dairy is the 7th aisle. I can't remember how many aisles there were exactly. All depends on whether they consider the first grocery aisle as aisle 1 or 2. 

Floorplan above is far from 100% accurate but it does give you an idea of how the store is laid out. The Deli and Bakery are located in a small addition to the store. The counters line up along the original exterior wall. Customer Service is also located in a small addition made to the front of the store. 

Dairy runs along this wall. The new building will extend past this alley and out to the street.

Looks as though this side alley will remain intact with the new building ending at about the same spot as the old. This may be the only side that will not be extended beyond it's current location. 

The Jaguar dealership next door. Acme will not be expanding the foot print of the store onto this property, rather a portion of the land will be utilized for delivery trucks to turn and back into the delivery bays on the new store. Remaining space will be used for additional customer parking. 

Acme has been eyeing an expansion onto to the Jaguar property since 1985. I'm not sure how long ago it closed but I believe it has been several years.

Update 5.14.11: The Acme has closed and the Jaguar has been flattened. For additional information and pictures of the leveled car dealership over at BrynMawr-Galwyne Patch, please click here. 

Up for some aerials...

The Deli and Bakery addition clearly seen here.

2002

1971

1967

1958

1950

Out with the old and in with the new...

Check out renderings of the new Acme here.

(Click on the aerial rendering to switch to the exterior rendering) 

To anyone who lives near this store, if there is any chance you can snap some photos as the old store comes down and the new one goes up I would greatly appreciate it! I will post any photos that come in to keep us all in the loop as the new "flagship" Acme takes shape. See you at the Grand Opening!

News Break:

Acme to layoff 900 employees

The news was reported on several webstites this past week. Thanks to all for sending in the links. The layoffs are set to occur on May 7th. Acme President Dan Sanders was quoted as saying, "Unfortunately, we have more associates than we need to serve our current level of sales, and we must take immediate action to change our business." Interesting, the articles report that Acme is still number  1 in the Philly market with an 18% share. ShopRite is never included in these reports due to it being a cooperative based company. Kinda ridiculous. Regardless of it's business model it's still a regular ol' grocery store competing with other grocery stores. 

Philly.com

Dailylocal.com

Bizjournals.com

R.I.P. ACME Brand

The day has come... SuperValu has announced it will be eliminating Acme brand. Well, what's left of it anyway. Rumors of this plan have been floating around for a while now and SuperValu made it official yesterday. All store brands within each banner will be retired in favor of the company's new "Essential Everyday" branded products. This will allow the company huge savings from not having to produce banner specific packaging and marketing strategies. It is quite possible that it could lead to further erosion of store loyalty among customers. If SuperValu is smart they'll follow Publix's lead of creating high quality products in stylish packaging that compete with the brand pricing of Walmart's Great Value brand. Publix has one of the most successful private label brands in the country. A Google image search revealed no previews for the product line. I'll post links as they become available. You can read more about the news at bizjournals.com.

A&P to sell 25 Super Fresh stores

As mentioned in the comments below, news about A&P selling off some Super Fresh stores hit about 2 weeks ago. A&P is looking to complete the sale within the next 2 months. There has been no word on potential buyers. You can read more about it at supermarketnews.com.