Former Jersey Shore Acme, Point Pleasant NJ

Thanks to some outdated aerial photos, we can see what the Point Pleasant Acme used to look like. The building has been since converted into a Walgreens. I grabbed these pictures off the web a while ago in case the aerial photographs were updated.

Great place for a Blockbuster! Actually the Blockbuster building was there long before the Acme was built. Judging from very old aerial shots, which we will take a look at down below, it appears the front of the store originally faced Richmond Ave. Hmmmm...

The only bit of history I know about this store is that it closed in September 2003. Crazy busy in the summer and dead all winter. I have seen pictures of the store in it's final years but do not have permission to post them at this time. Hopefully someday. I can tell you that the exterior signage was very unique. The front sign was a white panel with red 3D letters mounted to it. But here's the thing... they were not the new block logo letters... they were the letters from the red oval & fish-eye logo signs! Read about more unusual signage below...

So here's the side that faces Richmond Ave. The front of the store is to the left. More odd signage here... the old fish-eye logo sign with the colored blocks was still mounted to the corner of the store. The white section you see there coming around the corner extended further. The fish-eye sign was mounted to it and it appears the whole thing was just ripped off the building.

In addition to that sign... there were white panels mounted along the side of the store. If you look closely you can see the scars. I'm assuming they spelled out Acme. I count 5 scars here and am not sure what the 5th one could have been.... perhaps "Markets". Hopefully someone out there remembers.

Very strange section sticking out of the side here. This section makes more sense if this side was the original back of the store.

Notice how the roof on the left side of the store is darker than the rest? Our aerial shot below will suggest that there may have been an addition put on the store sometime between 1963 and 1972. Perhaps this store didn't start out as an Acme.

Point Pleasant pictures courtesy of Rob Ascough

Walgreens moved in years after the Acme left. The side of the building facing Richmond Ave is now the now the front of Walgreens.

The front of the former Acme.

Can't quite figure out what happened here. It appears that Walgreens tore down part of the section that was sticking out of the side of the Acme. You can still see some outlines of old Acme doors.

Almost looks like Walgreens took that section sticking out of the Acme and moved it down to the corner of the building.

The one available aerial shot of the Walgreens. Much of the parking lot has been returned to nature.

Check out this 1963 aerial shot! (Click on it to see it larger) The building was smaller when it first started out... there's more parking lot space between the street and the building. It's also pretty clear in this image that the front of the store faced Richmond Ave. But was it an Acme then?

The 1972 view shows a completely reconfigured and expanded building.

About 5 blocks in from the Atlantic Ocean.

Jersey Shore Acme – Cape May, New Jersey

Cape May pictures courtesy of Rob Ascough

New Jersey's southernmost Acme Market also happens to be a mostly intact pitched-roof store. The building has not been added on to. Unfortunately the front windows have been covered over with a new facade and the mod-Acme logo on the inside has been removed. Both the exterior and interior have been fashioned into a classic look that blend well with the town. The interior is a custom design and as far as I know, is not seen in any other store. The decor does borrow some elements from the "Neighborhood Market" and "Acme Them Park" packages but the main design elements appear to complete originals.

Interesting to note the entrance and exit are on the right side of the building with Produce receiving on the left. Very usual for a pitched-roof store. Unusual for any Acme of the 50's and 60's regardless of building model.

The pitched-roof model came in two models... small and large. The buildings varied widely in length depending on the size of the lot but when it came to the width there were generally only two sizes. There were also several other varieties in the early days of Acme's pitched-roof era but they were all retired quickly in favor of the pitched-roof style we know today. The Cape May location is the small model. The first clue is that the awning does not extend across the front of the store. Only the entrance and exit doors have an over-hang. You can see the difference by taking a look at the Clayton store which is the large version and has an awning extending across the front. On the inside... the small models only had 6 to 7 aisles while the large models had 9 aisles. The layouts were virtually the same.

What I am not clear on is why some pitched-roof stores were small and some large. The size was not necessarily dictated by the amount of land available. An example would be the old pitched-roof store in Brown Mills NJ (an upcoming post here at Acme Style). That store was the small version but the shopping center could have easily fit the large model. The small model was most likely chosen here in Cape May due to the limited space.

The impression that I have is that Acme started out with the large version and may have downsized it as they began building them a break neck pace. Perhaps it was done to reduce the cost of building these stores. Back in those days, size didn't matter as much. Acme was also operating under the belief that the store itself didn't matter much. It was the name on the front that drew shoppers in.

UPDATE 7.12.10: A commenter has pointed out that there were about 3 different sizes of pitched-roof/A-frame stores. Small, Medium and Large. After digging through my archives I found that I completely agree. Rather than re-writing this post, I will be addressing this subject in a future post once we're back from the shore. The more I look through old pictures the more it seems clear that these stores shrunk in size as Acme built more and more of them. Cape May is officially the "medium" sized model.

The rear of a still-open pitched-roof Acme! Can you believe it? This blog is littered with pictures of dumpy old backs of stores that have long been closed.

Nice to see the TLC the store has received.

The snow looks kinda refreshing after the summer we've been having. The Cape May Acme is one of only three stores to have the retro logo. The other two are Haddonfield, NJ and St. Michaels, Maryland.

Let's take a look inside at the custom decor...

This is a great looking store! Only 6 aisles. Probably had 7 back in the day before they created the wide Produce aisle.

Very nice decor touches here. Feels as though this look has always been in this store. "Cape May's Best" is part of the Neighborhood Market concept. Done better here than in any other Neighborhood Market store.

The tile pattern on the floor is used in the Frozen department in the Acme Theme Park stores.

The mural looks nice but it's certainly no mod-Acme logo. Hope those tiles didn't wind up in a dump somewhere.

Just a few blocks in from the water...

Located at 972 Lafayette Ave, Cape May NJ. It's tough find the street number online when searching for the Acme.

Jersey Shore Acme, Beach Haven NJ

Beach Haven pictures courtesy of Rob Ascough

The first stop on the Jersey Shore Tour is the Beach Haven Acme located at 9700 Long Beach Boulevard. One of the oldest Acmes still in operation. The original building is still intact with only minor exterior upgrades. The front sidewalk is used for additional floor space in the summer months when the sales volume here goes through the roof! Tent's are also set up outside to house additional merchandise. During the winter... the place is a ghost town.

The original entrance and exit are still located on the left side of the building. These doors and vestibule were added in during one of the remodels.

Easy to imagine the script logo running across the awning. This store has not lost it's original soul. The "SuperSaver" no where to be found.

The original entrance and exit located along the Dairy wall. Let's take a step inside...

The Produce alcove resides in a section that appears to have been added on to the building.

Aisles must be very short. Aisle 1: Ketchup. Aisle 2: Peanut Butter. The Albertson's Marketplace decor is pretty deluxe here for such a small store. Some huge Acme's don't have it this nice.

This store looks to have had a significant interior upgrade. The lights are now recessed. The floors were redone for the Marketplace decor. But the original air vents... an old Acme staple... are still in place.

Front end with the original huge windows along the front. You can tell it's wintertime here. If this picture was taken today this place would be mobbed.

UPDATE 7.12.10: Dropped the ball here... I've had a link to share about this store for a few years now. As a commenter pointed out, this location was to be torn down and replaced with a larger Acme. Exterior plans for the new store can be seen online. Thing is, the construction company refers to the store as the "Long Beach" Acme. It wasn't until this weekend that I made the connection that Beach Haven and Long Beach are the same thing.

So... plans were drawn up in 2007 for the old 20,000 square foot store to be torn down and replaced with a new 32,000 square foot store. The plans were put on the fast track so work could begin just after Labor Day 2007 in order to have the new store open in time for 2008 summer season. Never happened. A commenter has told us that the landlord was not happy with the plans and put the kibosh on the new store.... for now. Very glad to have the classic store photographed before it met with a wrecking ball! This 1958 is a classic!

Click here to see the illustration. Scroll down to the second entry.

Other interesting facts mentioned by another commenter... there are pencil marks on the wall to show how high the water was during a storm. And that sandbags are kept on hand in case of a storm!

Acme is right in the middle of Long Beach Island.

One of the only Acmes within easy walking distance the beach!

No huge Acme sign out at the street but you can always follow the Beach Haven water tower to the store.

You can see here how there are lots of trailers in back to hold merchandise. This aerial shot was probably taken during the summer when sales volume is quite high.

The section on the right side which is currently the Produce Department looks to be an addition but as you will see below, this section appears to have been with the building from the start. Perhaps it was a drug store at one point although it seems quite small even for the 50's/60's.

Here's a look at the store all the way back in 1963 from HistoricAerials.com. The next available year on Historic Aerials in 1956. The Acme had yet to be built.

A Google Maps shot from the street. Not a great image but I do love how you really get the 50's/60's feel of the store from this view.

UPDATE 9.23.10: Some new pictures of Beach Haven courtesy of Michael Lisicky...


The old school street signs still up after all these years. Updated signage of course.


The old cursive logo still on the door handles! Looks as though the logo was originally painted blue.




Old trailer in the back used for storage.


The Meat Department back door.

2nd Most Unique Acme Ever, Moorestown NJ

The old Moorestown Acme closed down in February 2006. A massive replacement store was built about a mile out from downtown. Prior to the new store opening, Acme said it intended to keep the old location open as well which pleased residents who were within walking distance to this store. The old location remained opened for several months but was eventually closed. In the end, claimed it did not make sense to keep both stores operating since they were located so close to each other.

Unlike the store in Haddonfield, this Acme was not retrofitted into an existing building. This store was designed and built from the ground up to be an Acme. Moorestown had strict building codes that required new buildings to have the same style as others in town. In order to accomplish this, the company hired a prominent architect from Philadelphia to design the store. I don't know if this same architect worked on the Haddonfield store as well or if the Haddonfield store served as inspiration for the Moorestown store.

The old Acme is located at 119 Chester Ave about a block off of Main Street. The building has been purchased by the Friends School whose campus is located across the street. Not sure what relation the Friends School has with the former Friends Meetinghouse in Haddonfield. The murals you see on the windows were added by the Friends School who announced renovation plans back in 2007. At that time, their intention was to persevere the structure and to not make any significant changes to the facade. So far, no work has started on the building.

Impossible to get a glimpse inside. The indoors reflect the outer doors. I am about 100% positive this store had the Checkerboard Arch decor.

One lonely cart remains. Just about the only concrete proof that this store was an Acme. Wonder what else was left behind inside the store.

I believe the checkout stands ran along this side wall.

No loading docks. Not even a double-wide door to be found on either side of the building.

The fish-eye logo sign used to be up at the top. Not sure if this store had an updated logo in it's later years. I do have a picture of this store when it was opened but unfortunately I don't have permission to post it at this time. Maybe the owner would be willing to provide an unwatermarked version and allow me to post it, credited however he wishes?

Couldn't see a clue as to what logo was underneath the paint.

No main parking lot here. Just a bunch of smalls ones located around the property. Would have been a long walk from the rear most parking lot to the front doors.

The center section looks to be a second floor were the breakrooms may have been located.

And now for the brand-new Moorestown Acme...

As new Acmes go these days... this one is quite unique too.

The windows along the top are seen from the inside of the store as well. The decor inside is Albertson's Marketplace. The store is so huge, many aisles are extremely wide.

Located at 350 Young Avenue, this Acme must have been a huge success when it first opened. Competition has since opened up nearby. Rumors are this store is not doing very well these days.

Wegmans and Target opened up just across the street. Check out those crowds. Target with their low grocery prices and Wegmans with it's extensive fresh food offerings leave shoppers with little reason to go to Acme.

Here's a very outdated aerial shoot. The new Acme is located at the orange dot but had not been built yet when this photo was taken. The Wegmans and Target would be built in the section at the bottom of the image near the ponds. More stores were built all along to lower half of the image along the main road. Today this entire area is jammed with shopping options.