Food Lion | Claymont, DE

 

3609 Philadelphia Pike

Welcome to the Claymont Food Lion!

It's our first time inside a Food Lion here on The Retail Connection! During the 1990s, the North Carolina-based chain began expanding throughout the country, opening new stores as far west as Texas and Oklahoma, as far south as Florida, and as far north as Pennsylvania. There were even plans for expansion into states like Illinois when a controversy on meat quality sparked by a Primetime Live report caused sales to decline, and the chain eventually retreated from all new markets except central Pennsylvania and Delaware, where stores continue to operate to this day. This particular Food Lion opened on August 26, 2009 in what was originally an A&P that later became a SuperFresh before moving down the street in 2000. The Food Lion opened with the chain's Rutherfordton decor, but now operates with Easy Fresh & Affordable 3.0, which we'll be seeing today. Let's head inside and get our lion's share!

The produce department is in the front right corner. Because of this store being a 70s A&P (which actually has a similar design in terms of the vestibule to purpose-built Food Lions), you have to walk past the registers to get to the grand aisle. Also for that reason, all of the departments in this store are quite small.

The deli-bakery is next, combined into one department in true Food Lion fashion. For being so basic, I actually really enjoy this decor.

No service department for meat and seafood, but it's in the back right corner past the deli-bakery counter.

Dairy products, ingredients that enrich meals, can be found along almost the entire back wall.

Paper products in aisle 7. The aisle markers are a high point of this decor for me. They're simple but look really good.

Frozen foods and ice cream run down the left side of the store. It gets really cramped once you get over here, but they still had a full selection.

Six checkout lanes and customer service under the front overhang. Even with all the lanes open, there were still lines! I was very surprised to see the store so busy, even on a Sunday morning.

Other Images of Interest

Street View Images

2020

This seems to have been during the remodel, as the main facade has the new colors but the rest of the store is still tan.

2017

Definitely still straight out of Rutherfordton, North Carolina here.

2007

Pre-Food Lion days here. To see photos inside the replacement SuperFresh when it was still open, click here.

Nearby competition

3.1 miles away: Acme of Foulk & Naamans

We're probably all familiar with this Acme by now. One thing I forgot to mention is that there was a Genuardi's across the street that opened in 1999 and later became a Safeway from 2004 until 2018. It had to close due to the Albertsons-Safeway merger, but I'm surprised they weren't forced to sell it off to another company to retain competition.

4.9 miles away: Acme of Boothwyn

Just barely meeting the criteria for nearby competition is the Boothwyn Acme, which we've seen in this section on several previous posts and toured back in October. It opened as SuperFresh in 1994, then was converted to Pathmark Sav-A-Center in 2008, then sold to Acme in 2015.

Thank you for reading this post! This was actually a much nicer store than I was expecting, and also quite busy. It's been the only supermarket in Claymont since SuperFresh's closure in 2015, so it is understandable. See you next week! This is our home, that's our The Retail Connection.

ShopRite | Wilmington, DE

 

1300 Rocky Run Parkway

Welcome to the Brandywine Commons ShopRite!

Of the six states that ShopRite operates in, Delaware has the lowest amount of stores, with only six locations, mainly in Wilmington. Additionally, all of the locations are owned by the Kenny family. This store opened on January 5, 1994 and, along with the store in the First State Plaza, was owned by Ron Cutler, but obviously was taken on by the Kenny family somewhere along the line. Here's an article featuring a photo of the inside of this store from shortly before its grand opening (by the way, the Chestnut Hill ShopRite was, in fact, saved, and remains open today). Inside, the store has the same decor as all other Delaware ShopRites. Let's head inside and take a look!

The floral shop is just to the left in the entrance foyer.

The ShopRite Kitchen and the deli are in an island on the left side of the grand aisle. The health and beauty department is on the opposite side of the island.

Your neighborhood vegetable stand opposes the hot food offerings.

The fresh bakery is quite simple, but attractive. Definitely more understated than the kitchen and deli, but nicely so.

The fisherman's cove follows the bakery, and bears a slight resemblance to what was seen in the Eddystone ShopRite's seafood department, though that store has since been remodeled.

Fresh meats are on the back wall, and the dairy department comes after that. Purple seemed to be quite a common color for ShopRite in the early 2010s. We saw hints of it in the West Chester store, and Hatfield looks like a grape exploded in the store.

Aisle 13 is mostly canned and jarred foods.

Dairy and frozen run down the left wall and continue into the front corner.

If this looks busy to you, just wait until we get to the Food Lion! Side note: I believe the "cashier on duty" signs are there because, from late 2021 to late 2023, this store reverted to all self-service checkouts, to much criticism. They eventually turned back to having manned checkouts.

Other Images of Interest

Street View Images

2013

Interestingly, this store was previously signed as a World Class Store. I didn't realize that branding was ever used outside of the Saker ShopRites in central Jersey.

Nearby competition

1 mile away: Sprouts Farmers Market of Wilmington

This Sprouts, the first and only one in the state, opened on March 11, 2020, in what was formerly a Barnes & Noble from 1998 until relocating in 2019, and originally a Pathmark from 1969 to 1997 (probably one of the first Pathmarks that wasn't originally a ShopRite).

1.2 miles away: Giant Food of Wilmington

Slightly further down Route 202 is the Wilmington Giant Food, which originally operated as Super G from 1995 to 2005 before becoming a regular Giant. The next closest Giant is in Bear.

2.9 miles away: Acme of Foulk & Naamans

Last week, we saw the Acme in the F&N Shopping Village, which originally opened in 1968 and has been expanded and renovated several times since then. It currently has the early version of Quality Built for decor.

What did you think? This seemed like a really nice ShopRite to me, as do most of the ShopRites owned by the Kenny family (though the Chestnut Hill one is certainly... interesting). Next week, we'll be seeing a store brand-new to the blog. See you then! The Retail Connection: Check out happy.

Acme | Wilmington, DE

 

2098 Naamans Road

Welcome to the Foulk & Naamans Acme!

It's our first time seeing snow on the blog! My favorite kind of precipitation is meeting my favorite kind of Acme: a 90s store. Well, sort of. The corner of Foulk Road and Naamans Road was first adorned with an Acme on August 28, 1963 when a pitched-roof store opened for business. In the late 70s, the store was demolished and replaced with a new location, which in the 90s was expanded to its current size and given the tower entrances we see here. A more recent remodel to the center gave this store a new color scheme and slightly altered facade. Let's take a look inside!

The Tortured Produce Department is to the left upon entering the store, along with paper products which are apparently considered "Fresh to Go". This store has the early version of the Quality Built decor, likely receiving it around 2016. Remnants from Premium Fresh & Healthy 1.0 and Red White & Blue can be found throughout the building.

The bakery follows produce on the left side. The awning from PF&H 1.0 remains, but no longer has signage on it.

Lancaster Brand Meats are in the back left corner. This area actually looks really good compared to the average Acme meat department.

A look down aisle 3, with pancake mixes (not just pancake) and other "morning foods".

The meat and seafood counter and corner deli are on the back wall as the final service departments. Both retain their PF&H backsplash. The corner deli signage in this store is only slightly better than Cape May Court House's, but I do like the colors.

Fresh dairy starts in the corner and continues down and the angled east wall of the store. 

Health and beauty is in the last few aisles, complete with the logo timeline wall. The logos seem to be in chronological order in this store, unlike some of the few others that received that feature.

Fresh flowers are on the front wall, directly next to the right entrance. This area formerly had a walk-in floral cooler, but it was removed and blocked off.

Lining the front end are checkouts, the DriveUp & Go department, and Citizens Bank branch. Seems like whoever installed the thank you signage got it backwards.

Other Images of Interest

Street View Images

2023

Definitely a lot sunnier and warmer here. I believe this was the first store I've ever done a tour of that had snow on it.

2018

The store looked like this from the 90s expansion up until recently. The red logo also made a return to this store following the QB remodel.

2012

Still using the white logo here.

Nearby competition

2.9 miles away: ShopRite of Brandywine Commons

This is next week's store. The ShopRite in Brandywine Commons is one of six in Delaware, all of which are owned by the Kenny family. This particular location opened in 1994.

2.9 miles away: Sprouts Farmers Market of Wilmington

The Wilmington Sprouts opened on March 11, 2020 as the chain's first Delaware store. However, it was previously a much more serious competitor to Acme from February 5, 1969 to August 1997 when it operated as a Pathmark. It later became a Barnes & Noble from 1998 until relocating in 2019.

3.1 miles away: Food Lion of Claymont

We'll also soon be seeing the Food Lion in nearby Claymont, which opened in 2009 in what was formerly a 70s A&P-turned-SuperFresh that relocated down the street in 2000.

3.8 miles away: Giant Food of Wilmington

The Wilmington Giant first opened in 1995 as a Super G, converting to the Giant name in 2005 along with the other Delaware stores (the New Jersey locations were renamed Stop & Shop). We toured this store back in October.

Alright, I think that covers everything! This was quite a long post, but this is a very nice Acme certainly deserving of one. Normally, I'm not a fan of the early version of Quality Built, but this remodel actually turned out really well, and the facade looks great, too. Next week, we'll be seeing that nearby ShopRite. See you then! Sincerely, The Retail Connection.