Acme – Park Ridge, New Jersey

ACME HAS RETURED TO 

KINDERMACK ROAD

Photos courtesy of Dan Asnis' flickr collection

Location: 199 Kinderkamack Rd, Park Ridge, NJ
Opened as an Acme on October 16, 2015

Finally... the post that got zapped back on
March 22nd has been recreated! 

Acme's original location in this area was just down the street in Montvale. Acme and A&P were competitors here dating back to at least 1964. That's the first year A&P shows up in the historic aerial images. Not sure of its exact opening date. The A&P evolved numerous times over the decades but met it's ultimate demise in October 2015 when Acme took it over! 

Interesting situation here... the Pharmacy is a completely separate store next door and can only be accessed from the front entrance. The two stores are not connected on the inside.

UPDATE 6.12.16: The store IS connected on the inside!  JoshAustin610 left this comment...
The pharmacy's actually the opposite of the way you've described; there's an opening to get into that section from the main store, while the door pictured is only used as a fire exit. I'm guessing it was an independent pharmacy A&P acquired at some point.

One shot of the inside of the Pharmacy. Dan took these pictures back on February 25 so I'm not sure of the state of A&P's Funky Fresh interior décor and layout. The Quality Built remodels are currently being rolled out at a maddening pace.


Heading into the main store...


Acme put in all new lighting in the store prior to reopening. The ceiling was also painted white throughout.










This store has the awful layout that was part of A&P's Funky Fresh remodel. I'm sure on paper it seemed like a cutting edge idea... reconfiguring the store with mini-departments. Problem was shopping in this layout was absolutely awful. This store wasn't broken up with as many mini-departtments as larger stores were.

BEFORE...

Here's a look at the same are of thew store prior to Acme reopening.






The wall décor product shots are done in the shape of A&P's various logos over the years.




I believe Acme replaced all the registers here. They look like the ones Acme has been using in recent years although I'm not sure what A&P was using for these remodels.

A couple of "before" exterior shots...




This photo has been seen on the blog a few times now. It's absolutely brilliant!

AERIAL VIEWS

The aerial view reveals the evolution of the A&P as the awnings from previous models of the store remain visible.


The former Acme just a stone's throw away!

Location: Location: 20 Kinderkamack Road, Montvale, New Jersey

This classic photo appeared on the blog on March 6, 2015 as a mystery store. I had no idea of the location but it was soon revealed in the comments to be the former store in Montvale. Acme closed here back in the 70's when they shut down a bunch of stores in North Jersey with no warning. 

The building has since been expanded and has been divided into smaller stores, including CVS.

2008

2002

1987

1979

1974

1970

1965

1953

HISTORIC AERIALS

2013

2011

2008

2002

1995

1987

1974

1965

1964

1953

Classic Ad for Burlington Acme!

Newspaper Ad Courtesy of John's flickr collection


Photo Courtesy of Trex354

The  photo above shows the loation in the ad after
Acme moved to it's current location on Mount Holly Road.

Check out coverage of both the former and current
Burlington Acmes by clicking here. 

Abandoned Acme! Shrewsbury, New Jersey

Location: 1080 Broad Street, Shrewsbury, NJ

Opening Date: Sometime in the 70's

Closing Date: April 2016

The Shrewsbury Acme is now abandoned and it doesn't look like Acme is in much of a rush to clear it out. The store has been replaced with a former A&P across the street. It would have been nice if the A&P was remodeled as Shrewsbury wound down for Acme to make the replacement more official. Not only has the store not been remodeled, the Tinton Falls store doesn't appear to be run nearly as well as other Acme conversions. I stopped in while I was in the area and was expecting to find the store in top form to win shoppers over to the *new* Acme. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Far too many poorly stocked shelves throughout the store for a Saturday afternoon. I was particularly surprised by the lack of product in the Bakery, as did two other shoppers I noticed who were shopping for a birthday cake. The store did have a decent crowd and plenty of open checkout lanes. Overall, the place just feels like it is not living up to its potential.










They should have added an arrow pointing to the left. You can't see the new Acme from this area and if you go "directly across the street" you wind up at Trader Joes.







For full coverage of the Shrewsbury and Tinton Falls stores, click here.

Abandoned Acme — Chalfont/New Britain, PA

Location: 505 West Butler Avenue Chalfont, PA
Opened October 3, 1997
Closed November 13, 2014

Another round of photos has been sent in of the still abandoned New Britain Acme. An auction of the fixtures was held in May, a year and a half after the stores closed! Some observations from our New Britain correspondent...

I drove past the old new Britain acme a few days ago to find the parking lot to be full of vehicles. there was an auction and selling of fixtures inside a few weeks ago. many u-haul vans parked outside but when I was there yesterday there was nobody to be found. the store is literally empty. there are two fairly large dumpsters in the back. the green one seems to have broken and destroyed fixtures and displays, but I was unable to look into the blue one, but you could tell that it was full of stuff.





















For additional coverage of the New Britain Acme, please click here.

Discussions: 

Have an off-topic comment or question?

Post it here for all to see.

View previous monthly discussions by clicking here.