Weis | Conshohocken, PA

 

200 Ridge Pike

Welcome to the Conshohocken Weis!

Just like the GIANT across the street, the Weis in Conshohocken is the fourth grocery anchor of its shopping center. An A&P originally opened in this plaza in the early 60s, being converted to a SuperFresh in 1983 and closing in 2002. The building was then demolished for a new Genuardi's, which opened in 2005 as the very last store in the chain to open. It closed on June 9, 2012, being one of three Genuardi's stores acquired by Weis (the other being Doylestown and East Norriton), reopening June 16. It was remodeled to the current Weis decor by 2016, and, last year, had this facade "update". Let's head inside!

Floral is to the left and produce is straight ahead when entering through the main tower on the left side of the store. The right entrance goes into the beer and wine and cafe area. This store has quite a few similarities to East Norriton in terms of layout, but the back wall is different.

The meat counter is the first department encountered on the back wall, more or less in the same spot it was in East Norriton.

A look down aisle 7, home to chips and other salty snacks.

Interestingly, the pharmacy is on the back of the store past the packaged meats. Usually, Genuardi's stores had the pharmacy department in an aisle, similarly to Wegmans. Also note the "Weis Pharmacy welcomes all Rite Aid customers", referring to the former Rite Aid next door which closed during the initial 143-store closing round in October.

Dairy is in the back corner, where the huge frozen department was in East Norriton.

On the right side of the store are the bakery, deli, and kitchen departments. All retain the Lifestyle backsplash. This was probably one of the only, if not the only, Genuardi's to open with a Safeway decor, as the majority of their stores opened in the late 90s and the Safeway acquisition took place in 2001.

The beer and wine department, as well as seating for the cafe and the Conshohocken Brewing Company, are in the front left corner and just past the entrance marked BEER. Those holiday wine displays probably shouldn't have still been there on January 27.

Checkouts and customer solutions on the front end. Genuardi's stores usually had windows on the front wall, so I'm not sure why this one doesn't.

And, before we go, a look at the sign for Plymouth Square, which probably predates the Genuardi's.

Other Images of Interest

Street View Images

2018

This was how the store looked prior to the facade remodel last year. To be honest, I prefer this style.

2007

Still a two-year-old Genuardi's in this picture. Click here for a clearer picture of this store from before the sale to Weis. The Starbucks labelscar Josh mentioned is still present 12 years later.

Nearby competition

0.4 miles away: GIANT of Conshohocken

Last week, we stopped into the GIANT of Conshohocken, which is so close by it's visible from the Weis parking lot. This store opened in 2006 in a former Clemens, but the building was originally occupied by Penn Fruit back in the 50s.

4 miles away: Acme of Andorra

The Andorra ACME opened on February 7, 1962 as an original tenant of the Andorra Shopping Center. It closed in early February of this year, and GIANT apparently has plans to move into this space and a few of the neighboring store.

That completes our second Weis tour! This was definitely a nice location, though, like East Norriton, it didn't seem very busy. The stores have been open for almost 12 years now, so they can't be that low-volume, though. Thank you for reading, and see you next week for our first New Jersey store since October! Eat better, spend less, that's The Retail Connection!

GIANT | Conshohocken, PA

 

10 E. Ridge Pike

Welcome to the Conshohocken GIANT!

Our quick stop in Philadelphia was followed by a drive up the road to Conshohocken, a town with two supermarkets, and we'll be seeing both! While it doesn't look necessarily interesting from the outside, the Conshohocken GIANT has a very interesting history. It first opened in the mid 50s as Penn Fruit, closing in 1973 and reopening as Zallie's Shop N Bag the following year. Shop N Bag closed in 1996 (with the Zallies moving on to bigger things). Clemens, a family-owned chain based in Lansdale, reopened in the space on April 16, 1997. The store was one of 13 locations sold to GIANT in 2006. After various expansions throughout all those years, the store, which started out at roughly 15,000 square feet, had become a 39,000 square foot supermarket, which we'll be seeing now.

We enter to the left side of the store, with floral to the right and produce to the left.

To the left of floral are the pharmacy and customer service counter, which divide the grand aisle and the checkouts.

Organics are in aisle 1 across from the pharmacy. Now, let's head to the back.

The bakery department is in the far left corner of the grand aisle. It may look small, but wait until you see the meat and seafood counter!

Up next, we find the deli area.

Beer and wine is in a strange location across from the deli. I believe grab and go foods and seating were in this area originally. That probably would make more sense, but I guess they couldn't find another spot for beer and wine.

Hopefully land and sea isn't very popular at this store, because I don't think you could fit a line longer than three!

Meat is on the back wall as we enter what was the original Penn Fruit.

Household products are in aisle 12. The arched roof is still looking amazing in this store, 70 years later.

Dairy is in an alcove on the right side of the building. I would imagine this area was another store originally that one of the past tenants expanded into.

The GIANT Direct department is just past the right entrance. This was previously a WSFS Bank, and before that a Beneficial. Marty is always watching.

Both aisle 12 and checkout lane 12 decided to make an appearance in this tour!

Other Images of Interest

Street View Images

2011

Not much of a change other than new signage.

Nearby competition

0.4 miles away: Weis of Conshohocken

Our next stop will be the Weis just across the street. This store was originally a Genuardi's from 2005 to 2012, becoming Weis on June 16, 2012 along with Doylestown and East Norriton.

3.6 miles away: Acme of Andorra

Last week, we toured the Acme of Andorra Shopping Center in Philadelphia, which was in the process of closing. There are rumors that the store will become a GIANT, which would expand a few doors down, but nothing has been confirmed yet.

That is all for this tour! This was definitely a nice store, and, while it does have a somewhat strange layout in the expanded areas, it's held up pretty well for being such an old building. Next week, we're headed to the Weis in town. See you then! The Retail Connection: For today's table.

McCaffrey's | Blue Bell, PA

 

1301 W. Skippack Pike

Welcome to the Blue Bell McCaffrey's!

Welcome back! Our grand finale for this group of stores is the Blue Bell McCaffrey's. The enclosed Clover Mall opened here in 1978 along with Clover and Clemens Markets. In 1990, Clemens relocated into the former mall space. The store was one of six Clemens to be sold to SuperFresh in 2006, and closed during the A&P bankruptcy in 2015 (one of only two acquired Clemens to make it to the end of SuperFresh, the other being New Hope). It became the fifth location of McCaffrey's, a small family-owned upscale supermarket chain, on July 22, 2016. Let's take a look around this beautiful store.

We enter down a hallway into floral, complete with a really cool water feature.

Up next is Java Jim's coffee and cafe, a staple of McCaffrey's.

The first fresh department shoppers see is the stunning bakery. All of the McCaffrey's stores have different decor, and this one is far and away my favorite.

The small service seafood counter is up next. In the Clemens days, this was the bakery and the current bakery was the deli. McCaffrey's doesn't have much of a deli.

Exceptional is a good word to describe the produce department, located across from bakery and seafood. Dairy is in the aisle behind this, and uses the back of the fake window signage.

The cheese and butcher shops are located in the back left corner as a segue into the rest of the store. The butcher counter is one of the few things in this store that is mostly unchanged from Clemens, though the decor is obviously new.

Aisle 5 has paper products and general merchandise. As The Market Report said in their tour of this store, while the aisles are clean and streamlined, the focus is obviously on the fresh departments.

Packaged meats and lots of prepared foods are in the back of the store.

Beer and wine are in the back right corner, with their own registers and exit out to the side of the store.

There's also a seating area, which is enclosed but has windows looking out to the frozen department.

The frozen department in question, located in aisle 10. McCaffrey's must love ice cream, because they have a lot of it!

Ten checkouts and a small customer service island round out the interior of the store.

Other Images of Interest

Street View Images

2017

If you didn't already notice, one of the stores in the strip is still called Clemens Cleaners!

2011

Thankfully, McCaffrey's got rid of that unsightly cart corral. By the way, you can click here to see PlazaACME's photos of the store both while it was SuperFresh and during the transition to McCaffrey's.

Nearby competition

1.8 miles away: GIANT of Blue Bell

We've now toured all the nearby competition. The Blue Bell GIANT opened in 1995 and has the chain's latest decor inside. You can tour the store here.

2.5 miles away: Weis of East Norriton

The East Norriton Weis opened on June 16, 2012 in a former Genuardi's store which operated from 1998 until Safeway sold off most of the chain in 2012.

3.1 miles away: Acme of East Norriton

We began this journey almost a month ago with the East Norriton Acme, which opened on October 20 in a former ShopRite store.

Well, what did you think? I loved McCaffrey's, and I think if there was one near me I would shop there at least somewhat regularly. We're done with the Norristown area for now, but I'd love to come back sometime in the future and check out even more stores. Next week, we're headed back to a place that is very familiar to the blog: South Jersey! See you then, and have a great Thanksgiving! The Retail Connection: Exceptional. Every Day.