Acme | Vineland, NJ

 

301 S. Main Road

Welcome to the Vineland Acme!

Welcome back to The Retail Connection! We'll be in Vineland for the next two weeks to tour this Acme and one of the ShopRite stores in town as well. We're starting with this Acme, which opened in 1997 and has a modified exterior design to match the castle theme of the center. This was one of the very last Acme stores to have the "Albertsons Marketplace" interior decor, which we saw in Avalon, although it's recently been remodeled to Quality Built.  Why don't we take a look inside?

Heading in through the FOOD·DRUG entrance, the signage for which is original to the store. The exterior has been mostly unmodified from its opening.

This welcome sign is the only remaining element from the previous decor package. I was expecting the store to still have Albertsons Marketplace/Santa Fe, and this sign was the first thing I saw, so imagine my surprise when I saw what you see below...

Quality Built! The produce department is to the left through this entrance. I could be wrong, but the green paint here looks lighter than it does in older QB stores.

The fresh bakery is on the left wall past produce.

A pretty large packaged meats section is in the back left corner. I really like how "The Freshest Food GUARANTEED" is white on gray. Usually, it's gray on yellow.

Service seafood and meats follow on the back wall. "Fresh" isn't capitalized here for some reason.

The corner deli is next, in a darker gray than usual to match the signage itself. If you haven't noticed already, the newer Quality Built remodels are slightly different from the earlier ones we've seen before.

Aisle 12! These aisle markers look a little neater than normal, too, although that could just be because they're new.

This is unrelated to the Acme, but I thought this photo hanging was interesting. It's of the old Woolworth store in downtown Vineland in 1960. I have no idea what this is today.

The store has a total of 16 aisles, which is about average for a store of this ilk. Dairy takes up all of the last aisle.

Pharmacy, HABA, and general merchandise are in the front left corner past dairy. While the inside obviously just says "PHARMACY", the old Sav-On branding remains on the front of the store.

And a look down the front end. I've always liked how these "90's Superstore" Acme locations have windows all along the front wall.

Other Images of Interest

Street View Images

2019

As I said earlier, the only exterior change this store has had during its lifetime is the addition of the Sav-On logo during the mid-2000s remodel.

Nearby competition

2.9 miles away: ShopRite of Landis

Not far from this Acme is the ShopRite of Landis Avenue. This store is older than the Acme, although it's still pretty large and nice inside. The store is operated by Village Super Markets. We'll be touring this store next week.

3.3 miles away: Lidl of Vineland

In the other direction is the Vineland Lidl, which opened November 16, 2017 as the very first Lidl in New Jersey and the first in the greater Philadelphia area. The store is virtually identical architecturally to the Folsom Lidl, which we toured in October as the very first store featured on The Retail Connection. The inside looks to be remodeled, though.

3.4 miles away: ShopRite of Delsea

The Delsea ShopRite is literally right behind the Lidl. The store opened in June 2013 as the third ShopRite owned by Bottino's Family Markets, who also operate the Millville location nearby. Interesting how this store is so close to the Village ShopRite on Landis.

That's all we have today on The Retail Connection! I must say, this was a pretty nice Acme. It must be doing well if it's able to survive being surrounded by ShopRites. It seemed decently busy inside, especially compared to Swedesboro. I do wonder why it took so long to get remodeled to Quality Built. Anyway, thanks for reading and don't forget to tune in next week for the ShopRite of Landis! Sincerely, The Retail Connection. 

Acme | Swedesboro, NJ

 

1619 Center Square Road

Welcome to the Swedesboro Acme!

Another week, another tour! Today, we will be checking out this Acme in Swedesboro (aka Logan Township, aka Beckett). This store opened in 2002 as an addition to the shopping center. This is one of not many New Jersey Acme locations that was never profiled on Acme Style, so I'm glad to be able to bring it to you here. Inside, the store has the Quality Built decor. However, as the flooring throughout will show you, this was actually one of the very last Acme locations to open with the extravagant "ACME Theme Park" decor, better known as Grocery Palace. Let's take a look inside.

Swedesboro is part of Logan Township, and this is known as the Logan Acme. Also, I believe this is the first time I got a picture of the welcome wall in the Quality Built decor. Usually, there are associates or customers standing in the foyer, but not here.

In the front left corner are sushi and foods to go. It seems this is a store of firsts for the blog, as this is also the first time we're seeing "Sushi" signage in an ACME.

The corner deli is next, in between prepared foods and the bakery. As you can see here and elsewhere in the store, there were "Price Lock" banners hanging throughout the store. ShopRite's done similar locked-in price campaigns before, most recently this past winter when it was promoted with an absolutely unbearable commercial. It had the guy who's not a mathematician (he just loves groceries) walking around the store yelling "Locked in prices!" and knocking on the freezers going "Lock lock!". Acme has been much more subtle. Anyway, I'm veering off topic... 

The fresh bakery is next, although no bakers are ready to service you. I've noticed this issue at many Acme stores recently. At least Acme usually has good-quality bakery items.

Pre-packaged baked goods as well as fresh baked breads are in the back left corner past the service bakery. Interestingly, there are two "This Is Your ACME" signs, with one here and the other on the front wall next to foods to go.

Produce takes up the rest of this area in the store. I've always wondered why Quality Built stores with free standing produce sections like this don't have produce market signage. The original iteration of this decor (as seen in Devon) had the sign over the cases. There's the other "This Is Your ACME" in the second photo.

Fresh seafood and Lancaster Brand Meats are in the left corner along the back wall. No shortage of locked-in prices here!

Packaged meats follow service meat and seafood. I've always found it funny how the signage here says "GUARANTEED". What are they guaranteeing? That it's Lancaster Brand?

A look down aisle 4, towards the front end. We've seen these Quality Built aisle markers a million times on the blog before.

Frozen meats and poultry are next, just past the entrance to the backroom.

Frozen foods are across from "The Freshest Food GUARANTEED" in aisle 9. Those patterns in the floor are from the past decor package: Grocery Palace, better known as ACME Theme Park! While relatively common in other Albertsons divisions, specifically Albertsons itself, it was pretty rare to see in Acme stores even back while it was still actively being implemented. Today, the only Acme stores to still have it are the Yardville and Milltown stores, both also in New Jersey. Unfortunately, I can't find any photos of this store with that look online.

Dairy starts in the back right corner and wraps around to the far right wall. It's too bad there's no huge barn over the dairy department like Grocery Palace had.

The pharmacy is in the front left corner. The pink tiled flooring is also left over from the Grocery Palace look (as seen here in Yardville).

Fresh flowers and the checkouts are along the front. Maybe one day we'll see a store that has the checkouts on the back wall, and I'll have a reason for clarifying that they're along the front every time.

This store has a Starbucks inside across from the checkout lanes (which are along the front, by the way). Not many non-Project Azalea Acme stores have a Starbucks inside. They put them into a lot of stores in the late 90's, but eventually took them out of most stores during the SuperValu days.

There was a customer service sign hanging in front of the exit, but I couldn't figure out where it actually was.

Sav-On lives on the pylon sign!

Other Images of Interest

Street View Images

2019

I'm not sure why the Acme sign is mounted so low. It was like that even when it shared the space with the Sav-On signage.

Nearby competition

2.9 miles away: ShopRite of Woolwich

This ShopRite opened only a few weeks ago. Until then, the Acme was the only supermarket in town. I imagine the ShopRite will be much busier, even after the grand opening celebrations end. We checked out the ShopRite last week, and you can see the post here.

That's going to do it for this post! What did you think of the Swedesboro Acme? I found it to be a very nice, clean, and well-stocked store. However, the ShopRite is hard to beat with its lower prices, greater amenities, and even better styling. I will say it was really cool to see the Grocery Palace flooring in person. That's probably the closest I'll ever get to seeing it, unless I can make it out to Yardville! Anyway, thanks for shopping, and see you next week. Sincerely, The Retail Connection.

ShopRite | Woolwich, NJ

 

65 Center Square Road

Welcome to the Woolwich ShopRite!

Welcome back to The Retail Connection! I'm very excited to bring today's post to you. We are at the Woolwich ShopRite, which had its grand opening only a few weeks ago on June 4. The grand opening celebrations were still ongoing during my visit. This stunning new supermarket is owned by Zallie's Family Markets, and is a relocation of the older Gibbstown store which closed in April. The store was insanely busy and I almost couldn't find a parking spot, so obviously everything is going well. Let's check it out!

This store is referred to as the ShopRite of the Center Square Plaza.

We walk into health foods, or "NOSH" (natural, organic, specialty, and healthy). There's a huge cake on display that says "Welcome to your new ShopRite of Center Square Plaza", which you can see in this photo. There was also a balloon animal artist shooting balloons everywhere over here.

This store has a significant focus on prepared foods, as we see here with the large Grilled Selections kitchen as well as to-go foods. There's a cafe in the front left corner of the store with outdoor seating.

There's also an in-store Zallie's Fresh Kitchen as a continuation of the grilled foods area which seems to sell mostly chicken.

International cheeses and packaged fruits are in an island across from the prepared foods kitchens. I love the sign that says "Life is great, but cheese makes it better".

The huge delicatessen is up next past the Zallie's kitchen, with a lot of people waiting in line. I was here on a Sunday afternoon in June right in the middle of the grand opening period, so the store was hopping.

The fresh produce is in the middle of this side of the store across from the service departments. This ShopRite is configured quite similarly to the Millville store, which has produce in the same area.

The fresh bakery and artisan breads are in the corner. I could've sworn I got a better picture of this area, but I guess this is the best I have.

Fresh seafood turned out well, though. I like the subtle wall graphics used in this decor package.

A look past the seafood counter along the back of the store towards the butcher shop.

Some nice meat art above packaged meats. Also visible in this photo are the store's electronic price tags, which ShopRite is slowly rolling out.

An associate was stocking aisle 12, so here's a shot down aisle 15, apparently the "paper products and then also charcoal and fire logs" aisle. I love the triangular aisle markers.

Fresh dairy and frozen foods are along the left side of the store. The regular frozen aisles go horizontally, as seen in the third picture.

The store has a total of 19 aisles, with the last one having a pretty wide variety from organic ice cream to garlic bread. I like the ice cream art on the wall.

The future pharmacy is on the front wall past frozen. It has not opened yet, but all the signage is up and, according to the sign, they've hired a pharmacist, so I'm guessing it won't be too long before it's filling prescriptions. At the time of my visit, there was a ShopRite Pharmacy logo (without the "pharmacy") on the facade, but it's since been replaced by a white panel that says "PHARMACY COMING SOON".

This store has the floral department across from the pharmacy. There seemed to be a service florist, although that may have just been for the grand opening. General merchandise is in the aisle behind floral (seems like ShopRite has a pretty good fabric department!).

As per usual, the checkouts as well as guest services are along the front. I didn't even bother buying anything here as every single lane was open with a line.

There were grand opening signs and banners everywhere in the parking lot.

Other Images of Interest

The former ShopRite

The Gibbstown ShopRite opened in 2000 and was originally a Thriftway. It was operated by the Funari family until 2004 when it was sold to Zallie's. This store closed on April 13, and the new location had its soft opening on May 25. The building is now vacant, but it's soon going to be subdivided, with Grocery Outlet Bargain Market taking over the right third (where the food court was in the ShopRite).

Street View Images

2023

This image was added pretty recently, and shows the store not long before it opened.

2019

The plans for this store date back to 2018, although they didn't break ground until last year.

Nearby competition

2.9 miles away: Acme of Swedesboro

Next week, we'll be touring this Acme just up the road from ShopRite. This is a pretty nice store, but ShopRite has a lot going for it so we'll see if the Acme can defend itself. This store opened in the 2000's, and, until ShopRite arrived, was the only supermarket in the area.

Thank you for reading this edition of The Retail Connection! This was my first time at a grand opening of a supermarket, so I'm not sure what the bar is, but the energy here was very high. There was a live DJ blasting music, a balloon animal artist making balloon dogs for children, free samples everywhere, and employees handing out circulars and coupons. It's safe to say this is the nicest store we've ever seen on the blog thus far. I recommend checking out 42 Freeway's article from the soft opening day for more information and photos. That's all for now -- thank you for reading! The Retail Connection: Check out happy.