Acme | Paoli, PA

 

39 Leopard Road

Welcome to the Paoli Acme!

The Main Line has been home to many Acme stores over the years, including two in Paoli. The original one operated in this very shopping center from August 25, 1954 to February 10, 1999. The next day, this brand new store opened in an expansion to the shopping center, complete with the company's new Chalkboard Market decor. The next day, Folsom, a store with almost no differences in terms of layout and decor history (Chalkboard Market > Premium Fresh & Healthy 1.0 > Quality Built), opened its doors. Let's head inside the doors that opened for the first time in Paoli back in 1999 now!

There's always something preventing us from being fully welcomed.

The freshest produce market in Paoli is on the left side of the grand aisle.

Opposing produce is the island with the bakery, foods to go, and deli. I hope that "Fresh Rolls" sign isn't common, because they misspelled Liscio's. On a better note, I like that Dietz & Watson signage in the deli.

In an almost identical scene to Folsom, the fresh seafood and meat counter resides in the corner, completing the grand aisle.

The seating area for The Frosted Mug, formerly the a la carte bistro, is in the back of the deli-bakery island.

Breakfast items are in aisle 2. Health foods were originally here after the QB remodel (having previously been in aisle 1, where beer and wine now are), but must have moved again.

This part of the store offers both pools and Lunchables. The former is probably getting more popular than the latter now that it's almost summertime.

Dairy is on the left side of the corner.

HABA and the pharmacy department are in the front left part of the building. The pharmacy here is much different from Folsom's, with this interesting curve design and a different color, but both retain the Sav-On branding.

Fresh flowers are in the front of the store. I don't know why there were so many flowers here. I guess it was because spring had just sprung a few days before (and now it's almost summer!).

Other Images of Interest

Street View Images

2023

The Citizens Bank must have been removed sometime in the past year. I noticed the labelscar on the front of the building but hadn't realized what it said.

Nearby competition

3.4 miles away: Wegmans of Malvern

Last week, we toured the Malvern Wegmans nearby, which opened in July 2010. Wegmans has killed a few Acmes before, like Collegeville and Woodcliff Lake, but not this one. The Wegmans was still much busier, though.

3.6 miles away: GIANT of Frazer

This is probably one of the few GIANTs near an Acme in a newer building. While GIANT only opened here in 2006, the building dates back to the 80s when it was a Thriftway before becoming a Clemens in 2000.

This was a very nice Acme! It is actually considered the flagship store, as it neighbors Malvern, the town of Acme's headquarters. Acme president Jim Perkins also chose to be interviewed for a Philadelphia magazine article inside it in 2019. Next week, we're seeing a store that actually wasn't in any of our nearby competition sections over the past few weeks - it would be in this one, but the stores don't really compete! See you there! Sincerely, The Retail Connection.