Hey Acme...

WHY SUCH LITTLE LOVE

THE JERSEY CITY STORE???

Location: Location: 125 18th St, Jersey City, NJ

Starting off with a quick rundown of the history of this store, which has been given in some previous posts... this location opened as a Waldbaum's in the late 80's and was later rebranded an A&P with virtually no changes made to the interior. In fact, the interior remained virtually untouched until the "fresh" remodel in the mid-2000's. The only change to the décor over those years was the removal of the department signage in favor of painted murals that looked like they were made by grade school kids. The overall atmosphere was far more 70's than 80's and by the 2000's, the place felt incredibly dated.

I shopped here often throughout the 2000's and was baffled by the lack of a remodel especially with the Newport area booming with redevelopment. A&P finally came to their senses and rolled out an extensive floor to ceiling "fresh" remodel. I believe it was done in 2006 or 2007. After the grand-reopening, business here when through the roof! I actually had to stop coming here on the weekends since the place was absolutely nuts. Reviewers on yelp often sited A&P's high prices but preferred shopping here over the nearby ShopRite since the store was so much nicer.

Well times have certainly changed since then. ShopRite opened a new location in Hoboken and Target, directly behind the A&P, received the Pfresh remodel significantly expanding their grocery offerings. Both stores siphoned off a good amount of business from the A&P fresh.

In 2015, Acme took over the A&P fresh with a minimal amount of improvements on what had become a pretty tired store. New lighting in Produce and all new registers along the front-end were about all Acme could muster. Such a shame since this place is not doing anywhere near it's potential buisness. The Jersey City ShopRite is a dreadful store and any competitor with a clue could easily win over a decent amount of their shoppers. Why Acme hasn't done a floor to ceiling remodel baffles me all over again. So let's take a closer look...

SHOPPING CART MESS! 

Hey, cool... some old Acme carts! But wait, what are they doing here? Couldn't Acme spring for more new carts instead of bringing in two rounds of older models? This scene reminds me of the Acmes in the 80's. All sorts of random styled carts strewn all over the place. 

Acme's newest model of carts in front with the older green carts in the next row.




You can see some all-metal carts behind this plastic basket model.


Really worth saving these and hauling them all the way to Jersey City?

DARK AND DINGY INTERIOR!

Every time I come to this store now I always think about how dirty it is before I arrive. Once I step inside, I realize it's actually not dirty at all. Well, with one exception... the ceiling. It is awful. I believe most of the tiles are a holdover from the Waldbaum's days with A&P painting them beige for the "fresh"remodel. Why Acme hasn't ripped the whole thing out and replaced it by now... baffles me. I also think they should move all the lighting to the ceiling and brighten the place up.


Shoppers, please don't look up.


All new fancy registers but still no Quality Built register lights!


Saturday and not much going on. They did have four registers open which is an improvement over the two they usually have going at this hour. Had I taken this photo back in the late 2000's, you'd see a sea of shoppers waiting in line.


Still no Acme sign at the end of "Thank You For Shopping".

NEARBY SHOPRITE AND BJ'S

TO CLOSE???

The shopping center which is home to the ShopRite and BJ's is scheduled for total redevelopment. The initial plans show no place for either store. The property was to be separated into multiple blocks with smaller retail stores. The Pep Boys has already been torn down and replaced with a giant tower.  Public outcry over the potential loss of ShopRite lead to the developers claiming the store had been worked into new plans but those plans have yet to be revealed. There is speculation that if ShopRite remains here, it may eventually be torn down and rebuilt which would be a huge boon for the Acme. They could win shoppers over and keep them even after ShopRite reopened since no amount of redevelopment here can save the nightmare parking situation. For a look at the original plans for this shopping center, check out JerseyDigs by clicking here.

Reset in Weehawken!

Location: 4100 Park Avenue, Weehawken, NJ

I knew this day was coming sooner or later and so far I'm hating every minute of it. Acme is really switching this store up compared to other resets they've done in the area. Household products are all getting moved from the first few aisles to the opposite end of the store. Hard to tell yet where everything else is getting moved to at this point. The store is a mess. No signs of a décor swap and I suspect on won't be coming anytime soon. If Acme isn't bothering to fix up the dingy Jersey City store (more on that tomorrow), why would they put any money into this place, which is one of the most consistently clean grocery stores I have ever shopped in. Then again, a décor swap would be super easy here since the store doesn't need any other upgrades. A&P renovated every inch of this store, from floor to ceiling, back in 2012. Both Pathmark and Acme have managed to keep the place in pristine condition ever since.

Update: I'll be posting an update on the Jersey City store on Friday. The post didn't get finished for today. Also... a Bonus Store is coming on Monday!

Another update: I'll be posting an update on the Jersey City store on Saturday. Life just keeps throwing other things at me! Sorry to be such a messy blogger these days.


The seasonal aisle is getting some more shelving. All the half-high aisles on this side of the store have been built up a foot or two higher. The rear second half of this aisle is becoming a double wide. It looks like their putting in a designated health food department here but still hard to tell for sure. Black shelving is going in to the next aisle over from this one. One thing is for sure so far... the Weehawken Acme is getting TONS of new products on the shelves. Today I was shocked to see the new selection of organic powdered protein mix. Even bought some that was on sale!


Acme's standard issue black end caps are being installed throughout the store.


Loving the new Polar display! These seltzers are a regular item on my shopping list and guess what... Acme has them CHEAPER than ShopRite on a regular basis!!!

Acme – Bergenfield, New Jersey

Location: 80 New Bridge Rd, Bergenfield, NJ

Some history of the Bergenfield Pathmark courtesy of Stephen... The Newbridge Road Pathmark was a replacement for a smaller store that was located in the central business district. The current store was built on the site of the former headquarters of Parents Magazine. A Centennial A&P was just across the street with a Grand Union very close by.

Pathmark reopened as an Acme on October 14, 2015. The beige and gray paint on the facade is among the very few changes Acme has made to this store since it opened. Acme hasn't even sprung for new register lights which are desperately needed.

This particular road trip I took found one completely dead Acme after the next. I was encouraged by the amount of cars in the parking lot at this store but there was hardly a soul in the place.


Floral is to the left of the entrance. "Pathmark" has been removed from the signage. This store does not have a café which would be in this spot.


Pharmacy is over to the right under the second floor offices.


The beautifully stocked Produce Department is straight ahead with Seafood to the rear. Not a shopper to be seen on a Saturday afternoon. The Bakery is in the front corner at the other end of the store which is not a spot I ever recall seeing for it in any other Pathmark.




The removal of "Pathmark" left a big empty space on this sign.




Very clean and well stocked store.








The Seafood employee was so bored he was standing out front waiting to greet customers.


Health foods down this aisle which wrap around into the refrigerated section of Produce.




We got a shopper!








Thought there was a good crowd at the Deli but on closer look I realized it was mostly employees.


Kosher aisle.










Maybe I was here at a weird time. The store was loaded with freshly prepared foods so it must get busy at some point.


Acme's standard front-end with 3 registers open. Unfortunately I walked out of this store just like I did in Elmwood. The express line wasn't long but the cashier was far more interested in chatting with a coworker than ringing anyone up. I have ZERO patience for that kind of crap. Fortunately the Acmes that I shop at regularly have relatively well run front-ends otherwise I would shop at Acme at all.


Customer Service counter in the center of the front end.


Hand-me-down register light from a 90's A&P. Acme installed new registers in the area where the self-checkouts used to be. Not sure if Acme brought this sign in from another store or if Pathmark had already done so. The other registers have numbers printed on paper taped up to the register lights.  Time for an upgrade.

AERIAL VIEWS

A look at the former A&P and Grand Union in the immediate area.

Location: 91 New Bridge Road, Bergenfield, NJ

There is a farmers market in this shopping center which probably hurts the Acme. 

Location: 433 S Washington Ave, Bergenfield, NJ

1987

The Pathmark was built sometime between 1987 and 1995. Parents Magazine headquarters is still standing in the historic areal above.