Showing posts with label Store: Acme. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Store: Acme. Show all posts

Friday, October 25, 2024

Acme | Elkton, MD

 

101 Big Elk Mall

Welcome to the Elkton Acme!

Maryland is new territory for us, but at least there's some familiarity in the Elkton Acme! Acme opened a location here on May 4, 1976, as the original anchor of the Big Elk Mall, later being joined by a now-closed Kmart. In the 1990s, the store was expanded to the left, also receiving a complete interior remodel to the Red White & Blue decor, as well as this facade upgrade. The Wilmington location looks similar to this store, although that one has been more recently upgraded and repainted, while Elkton is pretty much true to how it looked for its grand re-opening. Notice the Sav-On sign? This store still has a Sav-On Pharmacy - and pre-Quality Built decor! Let's check it all out!


Not a glamorous foyer by any stretch of the imagination, but we do get to see this store's decor - Premium Fresh & Healthy 2.0! This decor was put into stores in the very late 2000s as a successor to PF&H 1.0. The wall colors are darker and the physical decor is less intricate, but there isn't a drastic departure between the two. PF&H 3.0 was a much bigger change.


The produce department is to our left. This store even still has the original '90s produce windows! The view isn't that exciting, though.


The small bakery counter is past produce but still on the left. Those two hanging pieces of decor are definitely not part of the actual package; they were probably found by a random baker at HomeGoods.


Delicatessen and the butcher block are on the back wall. This is the first time I've seen a word placed on a leaf in this decor; usually, they were put off to the side. They would've had room to put it on the left, but I guess they thought this looked better.


This is probably the only Acme left that still has a Shop the World department, even though it isn't really Shop the World. Interestingly, while Acme dropped that branding long ago, Jewel-Osco continues to use it in current decor today.


Frozen foods are in aisle 7. It's quite surprising to see how even the aisle markers have remained unchanged. The Concordville location has Quality Built aisle markers, even though the rest of the store still has PF&H.



Packaged meats continue down the back wall. Notice how the flooring is still from the RW&B package.



Dairy is on the right side of the store. The last aisle has quite an interesting selection, ranging from cheese to visit our bakery to cough and cold. I wonder how they decide which department to promote with the extra slot. I've seen other stores with "visit our deli" or the grammatically incorrect "visit our floral."


The last two aisle markers are labeled as "wellbeing" even though they don't actually have HABA items. Although, yogurt and cheese are both good for my wellbeing.



The pharmacy and floral departments are in front, just next to the other entrance. This is the only store I've seen with that lit-up "Sav-On Pharmacy" sign. The pharmacy hours sign is, I believe, the only Quality Built element of the entire store.


It may come as a shock to hear that checkouts and customer service are in the front of the store.


Other Images of Interest

Street View Images

2018


Notice the M&T Bank signage on the right tower. I would assume that that was where the DriveUp & Go department is now.

Nearby competition

1.1 miles away: Redner's of Elkton


Next week, we're headed to our very first Redner's, a discount chain based out of Pennsylvania. This particular location opened back in 2005.

2.0 miles away: Food Lion of Elkton


Last week, we toured the Elkton Food Lion, which is probably the easternmost supermarket in Maryland. It opened in 1999 and anchors its shopping center.

4.8 miles away: Safeway of Glasgow


Safeway is quite common in Elkton's state of Maryland, but not as much in Delaware, where there only two other locations. This store opened in 2004 in a former Genuardi's.

This was a nice store. I was glad to see that Premium Fresh & Healthy was still fully in place. Thank you for reading! I'll see you next week at Redner's. Sincerely, The Retail Connection.
















Friday, September 6, 2024

Acme | Broomall, PA


1991 Sproul Road

Welcome to the Broomall Acme!

Happy September! We're kicking off one of my favorite months of the year with, you guessed it, an Acme! This location has a somewhat interesting history, though, at least as Acmes go. It's the anchor of the Lawrence Park Shopping Center, a large and regionally well-known shopping center that recently completed an expansive renovation. It was definitely justified, as the shopping center has been operating since 1957. At that time, Acme's spot was filled by Food Fair, one of the top supermarkets in the Philadelphia area back in the '50s and '60s. Food Fair closed in 1979, and the store reopened as ShopRite that year. ShopRite closed in 1994, and the store soon became an Acme, relocating from their older Broomall store that is now a CVS (which has another location in the Lawrence Park parking lot). I feel like it's been a while since we've had a store with that much history! Let's go inside now!


This store has the early version of Quality Built, which we also saw last year in Cape May Court House. It's held up pretty well, but a remodel to a newer package also wouldn't be unnecessary.


Broomall Freshest Produce Market is just to the left in an alcove after we enter. As you'll see, this version of QB has much more vibrant colors than the more common version.


Usually, Acme hides wine in a random aisle near the center of the store, but in Broomall their selection is front and center.


The bakery is in the back of the grand aisle. I find it interesting how this store has the signs so far in front of the actual department. Usually Acme doesn't do that, but they had to here with the odd ceiling situation.



Meat and seafood is in the back of the store.


The one thing that tends to always change among early QB stores is the deli signage. This is one of the better ones I've seen. Others include Cape May Court House and the horrifyingly ugly Beach Haven.


Salty snacks are in aisle 8. The aisle markers are quite similar to the final product, though the number is thicker and the colors are slightly tweaked.




Dairy is on the right.


The curvy pharmacy is in the front corner. This store kept the Sav-On branding, though not on the outside. Also, I'm just realizing now that this store doesn't have the retro logo wall.




HABA, floral, checkouts, and customer service (where I had to check out, because the self-checkout wasn't taking my card) as we proceed out of the store.

Other Images of Interest

Street View Images

2019


Here's the store with its old look. Personally, I like this better. It's way too white now.

Nearby competition

1.8 miles away: GIANT of Broomall


Here's next week's store, the GIANT up the road that goes behind this shopping center. It opened in 2019 as a replacement for an older store in Broomall, closer to the Newtown Square area, that opened in 2001 in a former Bradlees. That store is now an Amazon Fresh. Speaking of which...

2.1 miles away: Amazon Fresh of Broomall


We're only about two miles away from the Amazon Fresh! This store opened back in 2022. Like in pretty much every market, Amazon Fresh has been pretty slow to grow in the Philadelphia area. The only two other locations nearby (and neither are really close at all) are Warrington, which opened in 2021, and Bensalem, which opened only a few weeks ago on August 22. We toured the Broomall location back in March of 2023, and you can see it here.

Thanks for joining me at this Acme! I don't really have anything to say about this store - as '90s Acmes go, it's very average. I don't like this decor as much as the later version of Quality Built, but it isn't bad. If this store is getting a remodel at any time soon, it would get the University City decor (which the Trolley Square store in Wilmington now also has - thanks PlazaACME!). I really hope we start to see Acmes getting this decor that's sprouting up in Albertsons and Safeway stores across the West. But that's all for now! I'll see you next week at GIANT. Sincerely, The Retail Connection.








Friday, July 5, 2024

Acme | Clifton Heights, PA

 

5300 W. Baltimore Pike

Welcome to the Clifton Heights Acme!

It's time for another Acme! This store opened on October 29, 1995 as the chain's largest store at the time, with 60,287 square feet featuring special amenities like a dry cleaner, Max Pak wholesale food department, and a UPS depot (none of which it still has today). However, Acme originally opened on this property on May 15, 1957. The previous store closed in 1993, and was demolished along with the Bazaar of All Nations next door to make way for a new shopping center with a large new Acme as well as a The Home Depot. You can read more about Acme's history in Clifton Heights, and tour this store as it looked in 2014 by visiting its Acme Style profile. On this blog, though, we'll be seeing how it looks in 2024!


This hanging welcome sign is usually seen in older remodels, but I guess they figured this was better than putting the letters on a brick wall. This store only got the QB remodel a few years ago, and before that had the PF&H 3.0 decor.


This store's grand aisle is on the left side, beginning with the large produce alcove. Unlike many other Red White & Blue stores which had their produce windows either removed or covered with mirrors, they were left untouched in this store, and through them we can see the abandoned Modell's Sporting Goods next door.


Bakery is behind "Fresh to Go" in the produce department. They spelled Liscio's correctly in this store!


Lancaster Brand Meats are in the corner on the left side of the store as we transition to the back wall.



Fresh meat and seafood, as well as the corner deli, are on the back wall. I had a hard time getting photos in this area, as it was surprisingly busy for 10 AM on a Tuesday.


Health and beauty products are in aisle 16. The aisles on this side of the store are much smaller than the ones on the other side. Also, the category markers on the shelves are left over from the previous decor package.



Dairy fills out the right side of the store.


I don't know if I've ever taken a photo of the split down the aisles that was put into several Acmes in the 90s. Apparently this was popular on the West Coast, but it's definitely not common to see on this side of the country.



The pharmacy and floral departments are in the corner, just inside after going through the right entrance.


A look at the front end, with an extremely high ceiling. This store has windows looking up to the store offices and employee lockers.


And, before we go, here's a look at the 50s Acme sign, which has been reused by the shopping center, who apparently doesn't think Acme is the star of the show.

Other Images of Interest

Street View Images

2017


At this time, the store still had the "Premium Fresh & Healthy 3.0" decor.

Nearby competition

1 mile away: GIANT of Aldan


The GIANT of Aldan wasn't looking great when we toured it last May, with missing signage on the exterior and a terrible decor package inside. I hope it looks better now, but I haven't been by it since so I don't know.

1.3 miles away: Lidl of Clifton Heights


Last week, we headed to the Lidl in Clifton Heights, which opened in 2022 in part of a former Kmart.

1.3 miles away: Price Rite of Secane


The Lidl and this Price Rite Marketplace are equidistant from the Acme. This store opened in 2005 in what was originally an A&P (and later SuperFresh), and is the only Price Rite in the Philadelphia region following the closure of the Camden store in 2021.

Well, that is all for this post! This was a pretty big store, even for a 90s Acme, and it was very nice inside. The decor looks great in here, too. Thanks for reading, and see you next week down the shore! Sincerely, The Retail Connection.





















Memorabilia | Focal VHS Tape

  For our next piece of memorabilia, we're going to be looking at something that, at first glance, has nothing to do with retail. But an...