Acme | Wildwood, NJ

 

5300 Park Blvd.

Welcome to the Wildwood Acme!

The Retail Connection is back down the shore! Back in May, we saw the Acme of North Wildwood, but now we're in Wildwood proper to see their own grocery store, which of course is also an Acme. This location is very unique as Acme stores go, being one of many stores in Wildwood to have doo-wop style architecture. Despite its vintage design, this store only opened in May 2006 on the site of an older location, which was actually built in the 50's but had been upgraded over time (and was one of the first stores to receive the new block letter logo, coinciding with a Checkerboard Arches interior remodel in 1992). Let's take a look around!

This Acme has a small Beach Shoppe underneath the right tower, with a small selection of beach toys and supplies. I believe Beach Haven is the only other Acme to have this.

Like many Acme stores nowadays, Quality Built is on the inside. This store was built with the Santa Fe decor.

The first department on our tour is the corner deli. This Acme has the exact same layout as Avalon.

No counter here, but the baked goods are in cases and coolers next to the deli.

Fresh seafood and meat are in the back left corner. The backsplash is left over from the Santa Fe days, as is the floor tiling.

The rest of the grand aisle is occupied by a freestanding produce section, across from the fresh departments. Usually, stores with this type of produce department that get remodeled to Quality Built have no signage here, but this one did get a hanging "Fresh Organic Produce" sign.

Packaged meats are next to the meat and seafood counter.

Snacks and drinks are in the aisles across from Lancaster brand meats.

A look at dairy, located in the back left corner, and also a big display of Entenmann's donuts.

Even despite being twice the size of the old location, this store is still relatively small. It tops out at 10 aisles, with the last having dairy and frozen foods.

The customer service counter and general merchandise are in the front left corner. Like most shore Acme stores, this location doesn't have a pharmacy.

Two thank you signs in Wildwood. Hopefully, you're really welcome.

An awesomely retro road sign to match the exterior.

Other Images of Interest

The original Park Boulevard Acme

Photo courtesy of Wildwood Historical Society

Photo courtesy of unknown

Photo courtesy of The Sun By-the-Sea

The original Acme operated here from June 14, 1956 until late 2005. The first picture is from shortly after the store opened, while the latter two were taken sometime in the late 90's or early 2000's in the years before demolition. The store was remodeled in the 70's to the 70's Colonial decor and then again in 1992 to Checkerboard Arches, which it closed with. For more information on the history of Acme in Wildwood, check out this article from The Sun By-the-Sea.

Street View Images

2022

Here we see the signage lit up.

2018

The parking lot is packed in this August shot.

2008

And the opposite was true in October 2008. Google Maps has few images from the Jersey Shore back in 2007-2008, but they did go here.

Nearby competition

3.1 miles away: ShopRite of Rio Grande

The Wildwood Acme doesn't have much competition, although there is this Village-owned ShopRite three miles away in Rio Grande. The exterior of this store is still pretty retro-looking, though the inside has been remodeled to Village's latest decor.

That's all for today's edition of The Retail Connection! This is a pretty cool Acme, although it's small and during the summer season it gets crowded. Either way, I'm glad I was able to bring this to you and complete the collection of Acme stores of The Wildwoods! Next week, we're staying in Wildwood proper to tour a non-grocery store. See you then! Sincerely, The Retail Connection.

ShopRite | Brookhaven, PA

 

5075 Edgmont Ave

Welcome to the Brookhaven ShopRite!

For the first time since May, we are touring a supermarket in the state of Pennsylvania here on the blog! The supermarket in question is the ShopRite of Brookhaven. This store opened in August 2016 inside a former 70's Pathmark which closed in November 2015 along with the rest of the chain. The store is operated by the Burns family, who are best known for founding The Fresh Grocer, now a subsidiary of Wakefern along with ShopRite. This store was intended to be a The Fresh Grocer originally, although I'm guessing they thought the ShopRite name resonated more with this area. With that backstory out of the way, let's begin our tour!

The current entrance vestibule was added by ShopRite. Pathmark had their entrance and exit doors to the left, in the area that ShopRite uses as the exit.

We enter on the right side of the store to the grand aisle, with the first department being produce. I love the colorful flooring seen throughout the store.

Beer and wine are to the right across from produce. This was the pharmacy area back when the store was Pathmark.

The ShopRite Kitchen neighbors the beer and wine area. I like this decor, specifically how the bland signage contrasts with the colorful wall graphics. The new Burns decor going into their Drexel Hill store is great, too.

Deli, bakery, and seafood round out the grand aisle. Now, let's head into the main area of the store...

Health and beauty are in the first two aisles. I really hope ShopRite actually knows how to spell "wellness" and the second L in "your wellness center" just fell off, although it really doesn't look like there's enough space for that.

Meats and the butcher shop are on the back wall. That giant gray cow is watching your every move.

A look down aisle 5, with cooking and baking products. I like how the graphics from the walls continue onto the aisle markers.

ShopRite is slowly rolling out electronic price tags to their stores. We caught a glimpse of them in Woolwich, and I hear they've also made their way into Yardley, Fairless Hills, and Berlin.

Dairy takes up the back left corner and also the last full aisle.

Frozen foods are in the last few aisles.

Bread, rolls, and other dry grocery items are in the front left corner across from the refrigerators. This area is referred to as the "Alcove" on the aisle markers and shopping cart directories.

Along the front end of the store are the checkout lanes and customer service, the latter of which is in the former bank space. Of all the thank you signs we've seen on the blog, I think the one in this store might be one of the best.

Other Images of Interest

The Brookhaven Pathmark

This is the Pathmark one day before it opened on January 27, 1971. This image comes from a newspapers.com archive of the Delaware County Daily Times. The Brookhaven location was the third Pathmark in the county.

Street View Images

2018

The ShopRite from Home signage on the facade was only recently switched to the new name, "Order. Pickup. Deliver."

2015

Pathmark closed its doors a month after this photo was taken. To see the store in between Pathmark's closure and ShopRite's opening, click here.

2007

Doing some good business here! This was not long before the acquisition by A&P.

Nearby competition

0.4 miles away: Aldi of Brookhaven

Almost directly next door to the ShopRite is the Brookhaven Aldi. This building was originally used by GIANT, who opened here in 1987 as one of their first stores in the area. They lasted in this spot until 2016, when a new location across the street opened. Aldi moved in here shortly after. To see the store back when it was a GIANT, click here.

0.5 miles away: GIANT of Brookhaven

And here is the new GIANT. From what I understand, this was the last GIANT to open with this model. The early 2010's decor was still in place as of last December, and the older logo is still used on the front of the building, so I'm assuming this store hasn't been remodeled since opening in 2016.

1.1 miles away: Save A Lot of Brookhaven

The Brookhaven Save A Lot opened in the late 90's in a building previously used by Thriftway and originally built by Food Fair. We've toured this store on the blog before, and you can see it here.

3.4 miles away: Acme of Nether Providence & Acme of Granite Run

The nearby town of Media has two Acme locations, and both are the exact same distance (about three and a half miles) from this ShopRite. We've toured the Nether Providence Acme here, although I haven't made it to the Granite Run store yet. Both stores have Quality Built.

That's all for the Brookhaven ShopRite! As you saw, it obviously has a lot of competition, but the store was pretty busy and has been open for seven years at this point so obviously it's been able to hold its own. Even though ShopRite totally gutted the store and changed the layout, it still has an undeniable Pathmark vibe inside. Thank you for shopping with us, and see you next week! The Retail Connection: Check out happy.