Acme – Bridgeton, New Jersey

Location: 29 Cornwell Drive, Bridgeton, NJ

Welcome to the southern most, non-shore store in New Jersey. A 90's replacement of the pitched-roof model located at the opposite end of the strip. The facade seen here was often used on former Jamesways that were converted to Acmes in the mid 90's. Some locations that were expanded in the 90's also receieved this exterior look. This building appears to have been built from the ground up. A smaller store had existed here previously but doesn't appear to have been incorporated into the Acme. Satellite images of the roof and rear of the store show no obvious evidence of the former building being expanded into what stands today.


The Bridgeton Acme continues to survive despite increasing competition in the area. A ShopRite, located in a shopping center behind the Acme, has existed there since at least 2002. A Walmart has been open since at least 2006 just north of the Acme. Judging from the satellite images of the parking lot there, business seems rather anemic compared to other Walmarts. Another shopping center sits directly across the street from the Acme which was once home to an Ames and a grocery store. The center has sat empty virtually abandoned for a while as you'll see in photos down below. It is now coming back to life again. Aldi recently moved into a portion of the former supermarket.


90's signage still above the entrances. The "Food•Drug" signage was removed from most locations after the pharmacies were rebranded as Savon.


Ok, what is in these oranges boxes? I have no idea. Cookies? Can't seem to get away from them. We recently saw a similar display at the Burlington store... from the late 90's! Very nice welcome sign.


I visited this store on a Saturday morning last fall. First stop of the day. I have to confess... I was pretty shocked at how empty the shelves were throughout the store. Didn't see anyone working on stocking the she, horrible way to create a satisfying shopping experience. There was hardly a roll of paper towels to be found. Maybe it was just an off day here but with all the competition nearby you'd think they get the shelves stocked.




Another 90's Red/White/Blue store given the very basic version of the Albertsons Marketplace package.



A reminder of the 90' decor for these departments...




The curved aisle markers are a pretty rare site these days. They were used most often in remodels but have recently been ditched for the Premium Fresh and Healthy signage. Stores built with the deluxe Albertsons Marketplace decor had these aisle markers. The Tuckerton store has similar signs to the ones seen here but in the Industrial Circus decor style.












Have to say... I've been seeing Floral departments looking like this in a lot of Acmes these days.

Now for a look at the former pitched-roof store...


The original Acme is located at the opposite end of the strip. Opened in March 1963, possibly as a replacement for this location in town at Commerce and Pearl Streets...


Opened in 1952. Closing date unknown.



Back to the 1963 model...


Disguised along the front by a new facade.


Newer section added on this side during the Acme days.


The addition dates back to at least 1972 as we'll see below. Decent size for those days.


Second floor windows are sealed over. Great paint job hiding the many decades this building has under its belt.




The view from the old to the new(er).


Red oval logos still kicking around on some trailers despite SuperValu's efforts to remove every last one of them.

The aerial tour...

Very similar shopping center right across the street.


Former Jamesway/Ames to the left, unknown former supermarket to the right. The place is nearly deserted in these satellite photos but is currently coming back to life. Big Lots and Tractor Supply now occupy the Ames store. Dollar Tree and Aldi now split the building at the other end.


A look at the tough competition around the Bridgeton Acme.

Through the years...

2006

2002

1995

1972

A look at the store that once stood where the Acme is today. You can see the expansion to the pitched-roof Acme was complete by 1972.

1963

Acme's first year!

1956

The poor home owners probably didn't know what was coming at this point... an Acme soon to be in their backyard.


I've certainly seen deader Acmes that are surrounded by ShopRite, Walmart and other discount grocers.  Bridgeton deserves credit for lasting this long. Perhaps the conditions seen inside on the day of my visit were the exception, not the rule.

Ideal Grape Jelly Ad

Former Acme — Coal Township, PA

Classic photos courtesy of John from WISL1480.com

Vandals did not attack the sign! The destruction you see here was done on purpose. Bi Lo Foods was preparing to mount their sign OVER the old Acme sign. You can see the bar along the top that was installed to hold the new sign. Hard to believe they left the old Acme sign otherwise intact. As you will see below, parts of the Acme sign are still visible after Bi Lo took over. But before we check that out... let's take a look at the Acme sign fully restored...

All fixed!

A little help with Photoshop and the classic fish-eye logo sign... the finest of all grocery store signs ever... is back to its original beauty.


And the Bi Lo is open. Old Acme sign peaking out from behind the new sign. Bi Lo took over this site after its parent company, Penn Traffic, purchased 45 Acme locations in 1995. John tells me very little was done to the interior before Bi Lo opened.

Photo courtesy of JoshAustin610's flickr collection

Josh reports that this store was a replacement for the 50's style store in Shamokin. You can view an image of that store by clicking here. And be sure to check out a photo of the very first Shamokin Acme by clicking here. Thanks to Josh for the tip that these photos were in his collection. He got a sneak peak at this post when it was accidentally published ahead of schedule.


You can see the former Shamokin store, now home to an Ace Hardware, on the left with the 70's replacement store just a bit down Route 61 on the right.


The former Acme/Bi Lo/BRL Grocery Outlet is currently home of a Buy Rite Liquidators. Satelite images for the area are limited. The building sits down a slight hill behind some other buildings along Route 61 and cannot be seen from the street view on google maps.

Coverage of this former Acme will continue. John will be getting some additional pictures of the store to share with us. He is also donating his collection of Acme memorabilia to Acme Style! We'll be checking out those items in the coming months.

News Break:

Beach Haven to reopen around Easter... 
brand new store planned for May 2014!

The Sandpaper.net has an article about the current and future plans for the Beach Haven store. The current store, heavily damaged by Hurricane Sandy, is on track to reopen around the end of March. Come October, this classic store will shut down for good so the property can be cleared for construction of a replacement store. If all goes as planned, the new store should be open in May of 2014. Thanks to Paul for sending in the link to the article! 

The Former Burlington Acme!

Photos courtesy of trex354

Last Friday's post of the current Burlington Acme included satellite images of the town's former Acme, the most recent image showing property with the building long gone. Thanks to trex354, we can go back in time and see the old Acme! Abandoned at the time of the photos, the building was a hodgepodge of additions and upgrades. An expansion to the left side of the store can be clearly seen in the photos. The addition appears to have been done between 1963 and 1971 when comparing the satellite images of those years. The brick on the bottom half matches quite well, but the same cannot be said for the top half. The addition here resembles that of the one done to the old Newtown store, even with a slight bump in height along the newer section. Neither store received the "Super Saver" awning when the cursive letter logo was switched out for the fish-eye sign. Stores in Newton and Sparta did receive an awning upgrade when the fish-eye sign was installed. Burlington's awning went the same way the old store in Lincroft did with this rather odd brown box. 

Unfortunately signs here were removed rather than painted over. Delivery doors and trash shut along the side as there is a lack of space at the back of the building.




Burlington had the same odd door configuration as Woodstown, possibly due to a lack of a vestibule inside.


Not sure if the mini-vestibules were original to the buildings or added later. The appear to be somewhat of an after thought.




As we learned in the comments section in the current Burlington Acme post, the building remained abandoned until it was torn down in 2006. The property is now home to a Super Wawa.