Weis | Millsboro, DE

24832 John J. Williams Highway

Welcome to the Millsboro Weis!

While we aren't quite back to Pennsylvania yet, we're definitely much further north than we were in Florida! We'll be spending the next two weeks in Millsboro, a medium-sized town located in southern Delaware between Rehoboth Beach and Ocean City. Last year, we saw the Harris Teeter in town, and this year we'll be taking a look at the other two supermarkets in this part of town, Weis and Giant Food. When the Nanticoke Crossing shopping center first opened back in 1994, its main anchor was Food Lion. In 2016, following the Ahold-Delhaize merger, the store and 37 others in Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia were sold to Weis Markets of Pennsylvania. Weis reopened the store on October 14, 2016, along with other ex-Food Lions in Delaware in Millville, Lewes, and Rehoboth Beach (now closed). Let's take a look inside one of the few Weis stores in Delaware!

This store doesn't have much of a grand aisle, but the deli and bakery are located diagonally down the right wall, with the produce department in the back corner. This store has Weis's current decor package, which we also saw in East Norriton and Conshohocken. I'm not a huge fan of it, especially in a smaller store with low ceilings like this one.

The packaged meat department and the meat and seafood counter are on the back wall. As you can see by now, nothing in this decor matches literally anything else.

It's been a while since we've seen an aisle 12! In this store, it's home to paper products.

The last few aisles contain dairy items and frozen foods. And umbrellas, since we're not far from the beach.

This corner of the store next to the customer service counter has an assortment of random sale items. I'm not too familiar with Food Lion, but I would imagine this would be where the pharmacy would go in an average store with this layout. I know this store definitely never had one, though, as there was an Edgehill Pharmacy next door upon opening (acquired by Rite Aid in 1999, then moved across the street in 2014).

I thought this display of Old Bay merchandise was interesting. This store is only about 13 miles from the Maryland border.

And, finally, the checkout lanes. The "thank you for shopping at Weis" sign is from the previous Weis decor package, which this store never had. It might've been added when the store first opened as Weis, if it opened with Food Lion decor in the rest of the store.

Other Images of Interest

Street View Images

2024

Not much of a different vibe here, other than much nicer weather. I visited next week's store on a different day, and the weather wasn't much better at all.

2008

This store seemed to have had a weirdly bare-bones version of the Food Lion logo, without the iconic lion. As you can see, Weis didn't make any changes to the exterior other than putting their logo up.

Nearby competition

0.5 miles away: Giant Food of Millsboro

Next week, we'll be taking a look at the last of the three supermarkets in this part of Millsboro, the Giant Food. It opened in 2008 and has Giant Food's current decor inside (which we've seen before, in Wilmington).

1 mile away: Harris Teeter of Millsboro

Almost exactly a year ago today, we toured the Harris Teeter a mile down the road. This store also opened in 2008, giving Food Lion two competitors in one year after years of standing alone. I chose to tour this store last year over the Weis or Giant Food due to the possibility of it being sold in the Albertsons-Kroger merger, but the list of stores has since come out, and this one will definitely be spared (the other DE Harris Teeter, Selbyville, is on the list, however).

Thanks for coming along with me on this Weis tour! This store was definitely quite different than the other two Weis locations we've seen, both acquired Genuardi's stores. It was a nice store, although it did feel dated inside despite the modern decor. By the way, if you've been wondering what a Weis-built store looks like, here's one of their newer models, as toured by The Market Report in 2022. A store of this model will be opening in Delaware in Middletown next year, their first purpose-built store in the state. Anyway, I'll see you next week across the street! Eat better, spend less, that's The Retail Connection!

 

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!

Weis | East Norriton, PA

25 W. Germantown Pike

Welcome to the East Norriton Weis!

Weis is officially making its debut here on The Retail Connection! We were near one when we toured the Millsboro Harris Teeter back in August, but this will be our first time stepping inside. This store opened on June 16, 2012, in a former Genuardi's. This store has pretty much the reverse layout of the Springfield store (now GIANT), with produce on the left and deli/bakery on the right. Let's begin our tour!

We're entering through the large tower on the left. The right entrance goes into beer and wine.

Floral and an expansive produce department line the left wall of the store. This store has Weis's current decor package, which before seeing in person I considered to be one of the ugliest decor packages of all time. While I still don't exactly love it, experiencing it for myself made me appreciate it a little more. It also does look better in these stores with high, exposed ceilings than older and smaller ones like Pennsburg.

Pharmacy is in an island on one side of aisle 2. I do really like the retro design here.

Meat and seafood are in the back left corner of the store past produce. One thing about this decor is that pretty much every element is different from everything else.`

Greeting cards are in aisle 3.

Dairy is in aisle 15 and frozen is in the back right corner of the store. Here's how this area would have looked as Genuardi's. I can't exactly tell if the coffin coolers are the same as the ones Genuardi's would've had, but either way, it's interesting that Weis kept them.

Bakery is on the right side of the store behind the dairy aisle. Donuts were a big part of the Genuardi's bakery, so it's nice to see Weis promoting their own, but I've had a Weis donut before and it was pretty average.

The plain market deli is located across from the bakery. The backsplash behind the counter here is left over from Safeway's Lifestyle v2 decor from Genuardi's.

A little shaky in the kitchen area. This area is still a big gripe of mine. There's way too much going on with the decor.

The seating area for prepared foods and beer and wine are in the front corner on the east side of the store. I believe this whole area would have been food bars and seating when the store was Genuardi's.

Customer service (or Customer Solutions) is past beer and wine, as is the Weis Change Exchange kiosk, their version of Coinstar. Interesting to see a supermarket have their own take on something like that, kind of like the Presto! ATMs at Publix.

The thank you sign was installed when the store first opened back in 2012, and is from the Fresh Market decor which preceded this one. Weis kept the Lifestyle decor from Genuardi's when they opened.

Other Images of Interest

Street View Images

2013

This store started out open 24 hours, but it now operates from 7AM to 10PM. You can see the store as a Genuardi's by clicking here.

Nearby competition

0.6 miles away: Acme of East Norriton

This is the newest Acme, having opened last month on October 20. It's a former ShopRite, although it's quite a full-circle moment for Acme as they operated a store on this property in the 50's! We toured this store last week, and you can see it for yourself here.

1.2 miles away: GIANT of Blue Bell

The Blue Bell GIANT opened in 1995 and is our next stop on the Norristown-area tour.

2.5 miles away: McCaffrey's of Blue Bell

This store has a pretty interesting history dating back to 1970 when it was built as a mall! It later became a Clemens and then a SuperFresh, but closed during A&P's bankruptcy in 2015. McCaffrey's opened a beautiful new store here in 2016.

That's going to do it for the East Norriton Weis! It seemed like a really nice store to me, and I think I would shop here if I lived in the area. Genuardi's was always one of my favorite supermarkets, and I'm glad their buildings are living on as other grocers. Have a great weekend, and see you next week! Eat better, spend less, that's The Retail Connection!