643 Conchester Highway
Welcome to the Boothwyn Acme!
It's officially October, the birth month of both The Retail Connection and yours truly (whose birthday is... today)! The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company has had a history in the Delaware County town of Boothwyn dating back to 1971. The location we'll be seeing today opened back in 1995 as a SuperFresh, being converted to the Pathmark Sav-a-Center banner in 2008 and sold to Acme in 2015. This is our first time seeing a SuperFresh like this, which is probably my favorite A&P exterior design. Let's begin our tour!
Instead of the welcome signage being over the entrance doors like it is in many stores of this model (such as Rehoboth Beach), here in Boothwyn it's above the carts.
Just inside the entrance is the beer and wine section, branded as The Frosted Mug. Previously, this was a PLCB-owned Wine & Spirits Shoppe. I believe this was the only SuperFresh to have that feature.
Produce lines the left wall beside the beer and wine section. As you can see, this store has the Quality Built decor, and it's looking really good in this store. Previously, it had the Pathmark Sav-a-Center decor, replacing A&P Fresh 1.0, and originally 90's Foodmarket. To tour this store after the Acme acquisition but before the Quality Built remodel, click here.
A very spacious corner deli takes up the back right corner. This is one of the largest Acme deli departments I've ever seen.
Fresh seafood and fresh meats are the first departments on the back wall. Due to the design of the wall, the two signs had to be split up.
Packaged meats are next. I have no idea why the wall is angled the way it is. I would assume it was built like that, but I don't know why.
Frozen foods are in the aisles across from meats.
The fresh bakery is in the back left corner, taking up a lot of space like the deli on the other end.
Obligatory look down aisle 12.
The dairy department lines the east wall. This store has a total of 16 aisles, which is a pretty good size considering the large grand aisle on the other side.
Customer service sits on the front wall next to dairy. The unobscured view of the second floor, including various cables and wires, is certainly a choice.
You'll never guess what's along the front end... checkouts! Six of them, to be exact, with one express lane.
Before we head out, here's a look at the pharmacy, located on the other side of the vestibule by produce.
Other Images of Interest
Street View Images
2019
This photo was probably taken as The Frosted Mug was being put in, as there's no signage for any sort of beer and wine department.
2015
The Pathmark closed later that month, as this photo was taken during the last month of A&P as a whole in November 2015. Acme would've opened a few days later.
This was a very nice Acme. It was very clean and well-stocked and the Quality Built decor looks great. I was here on a Friday night and it didn't seem too busy, though. Either way, I enjoyed my visit here and I was happy to be able to bring it to the blog. Next week, we're headed a few miles southwest to a store in Wilmington. See you then! Sincerely, The Retail Connection.
First of all, Happy Birthday!
ReplyDeleteI think this store looks a lot better with Quality Built than the Pathmark Save-A-Center decor. Quality Built seems to fill the walls better, and the earth tones fit the feel of the building much better than the gray/bright blue of the Save-A-Center decor. However, with all of the gray and blank wall space in the Pathmark decor, that probably could have passed for modern these days!
Thank you!
DeleteI agree. I like most of the A&P decors from that period, but the Sav-A-Center decor definitely falls flat. There was definitely a lot of empty space with that look and what graphics were there were pretty small. Quality Built is probably the best this store has ever looked on the inside, although 90's Foodmarket is pretty good too.