Acme | Devon, PA

 

700 W. Lancaster Ave

Welcome to the Devon Acme!

A scenic ride down Sugartown Road brought me from the Acme of Paoli to the Acme of Devon. This store opened in 1972 as Pantry Pride, the discount division of Food Fair, and closed with the rest of Food Fair's area stores in 1979. Acme took over the store in 1980, and has expanded and remodeled it several times since then. Perhaps its most famous remodel took place in 2014, shortly after Albertsons regained control of the company, when it received an early and unique version of the Quality Built decor, which it still has today. Let's see it!

I usually try to start on the side of the store with the grand aisle, but I ended up going in on the other side this time so we'll be starting with the pharmacy.

We can already see the decor's special flair! I have no idea why that one of the wall is painted red, though.

The pharmacy is in the front left corner of the store. The decor here is amazingly vintage-looking. It replaced the boring Santa Fe decor, which we saw in Avalon (though, according to Google Photos, that store has since been remodeled as well).

Dairy is on the outer walls past the pharmacy as we head into the main part of the store.

Pet food and other general merchandise are in aisle 11. The aisle markers in this store are nothing like what was used in the common version of Quality Built.

Lancaster brand meats are in quite a small section on the back wall. This area is probably the most similar to how it would appear in a more recent remodel.

Fresh seafood and meat is looking really good as we make our way to the grand aisle of the store. I love the font used for "fresh". It's seen elsewhere in the store.

Devon's Freshest Produce Market gets its own signage despite being freestanding as opposed to in an alcove. Normally, there would be no signage for this department.

Fresh baked, with a very small counter, is on the right wall.

The corner deli is beautiful, and I really like the arrow signage used in this store.

This signage is a more recent addition. I'm not sure if older versions had the "This Is Your Acme" signage, but if they did, this wouldn't be the logo used.

Not the best look at the front end as we check out of this store. This wall was completely redone last year as the store added The Frosted Mug. Here's how this area looked in 2014 shortly after the initial remodel.

Other Images of Interest

Street View Images

2022

The exterior of this store is just as sharp as the inside. I really like the design of the facade, too. I believe the store got it in the early 2000s, and looked more like Wilmington before.

I hope you enjoyed this store! The decor is amazing and I'm pretty disappointed that no other stores got it. The Philly decor that some stores are receiving in more recent remodels definitely call back to this look in some ways. Thank you for reading, and see you next week! Sincerely, The Retail Connection.

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.

Wegmans | Malvern, PA

 

50 Foundry Way

Welcome to the Malvern Wegmans!

Malvern is home to the headquarters of Acme Markets, but, interestingly, they don't operate any stores in town. Wegmans, however, does, and we'll be seeing their store today. It opened on July 18, 2010 as a co-anchor to the new Uptown Worthington shopping center along with a Target. It's quite similar to Concordville, which we saw in January. They're both 140,000 square feet and have a very similar layout, but Malvern felt slightly larger to me. Let's head inside!

We immediately discover delicious as we see the produce department, located on the left side of the grand aisle.

The Buzz, the Wegmans coffee shop that I didn't get a picture of in Concordville, and old fashioned subs are to your right on the front wall. The market cafe follows through that archway.

The bakery is across from old fashioned subs as the grand aisle continues. I guess Wegmans doesn't play when it comes to fresh bread.

Sushi is on the right wall and other pre-packaged foods are in the middle of the grand aisle. Anyone on r/wegmans will know how hated Wegmans's pre-made pizza slices are.

The delicatessen neighbors the bakery, while the meat and seafood counters are across from it.

A look at the packaged meats as we head through this archway into the center store.

The cheese cave is behind produce.

This Wegmans had a flower section in this spot that we did not see in Concordville. The Acme in Paoli that we'll be touring next week also had a very large floral department. I guess the people of Malvern and Paoli love their horticulture (as a Village ShopRite would say).

The iconic dairy train was blowing off some steam above the dairy department.

Chips and salty snacks can be found in aisle 8b.

This store's beer department is in the next aisles over. Concordville had this section near the Market Cafe.

There's no such thing as getting dehydrated in the last aisle of the store.

A blurry look at the front end of the store.

Malvern's pharmacy department is much more accessible from the front of the store than Concordville's. And that concludes this tour!

Other Images of Interest

Street View Images

2018

Not much of a change in the last six years.

Nearby competition

1.8 miles away: GIANT of Frazer

Last week, we took a look around the Frazer GIANT just down the road, which retains the Clemens decor it's had for the past two decades.

3.3 miles away: Acme of Paoli

And next week, we're headed to Paoli to see their Acme. The company has been in Paoli since 1954, but this particular store opened on February 11, 1999, one day before its twin, the Folsom store.

And that's all for this tour! Like Concordville, I found that this was a nice store but difficult to get pictures of. Most Wegmans are very busy and the layout is not great for taking photos, but I would imagine nobody's designing stores with that in mind. I'll see you next week at the Paoli Acme, which has a layout very familiar to me! See you then! The Retail Connection: Every day you get our best.