ShopRite | Vineland, NJ

 

3600 E. Landis Ave

Welcome to the Landis ShopRite!

Hello again, and thanks for stopping by The Retail Connection! This post will mark our first time inside a Village ShopRite. Village Super Market is one of the larger Wakefern members, with 30 stores in northern New Jersey, southern New Jersey, and, for whatever reason, Lutherville-Timonium, Maryland. This store was built in the late 1970's, and I believe it was originally a Starn's ShopRite but was owned by Village by 1986. Inside the store, we'll see Village's standard 2000's decor package. Let's step inside!

A very expansive produce section takes up most of the far right wall. This store only has one set of entrance doors, so this is what everyone sees when they walk in.

Customer service is next to the entrance doors across from produce.

The deli is in the back right corner. Village stores always refer to the delicatessen as the "appy", short for "appetizing store". Appetizing stores were Ashkenazi Jewish stores in New York City in the 1800s that sold foods that go with bagels, such as fish and cheese. This term is never used in south Jersey, and I'm not sure how common it is in north Jersey or the New York City area nowadays either. "Appy" has fallen out of favor in more recent Village decor packages in favor of "deli" or "delicatessen".

Prepared foods on Bistro Street are next, with the freestanding soup and salad bars on islands across.

Seafood is next. All of the departmental signage in this decor has the name spelled out on a circle that says "Village Market" around it. It works here, but not so much in other areas, like "Village Customer Service Market".

And a look at all the service departments on the back wall.

Well, I guess not all of the service departments, as there's also service meats in the meat alcove, alongside pre-packaged meats.

The aisle markers incorporate the pre-2002 logo and are obviously older than the rest of the decor. They've held up pretty well, though.

Milk, juice, and the rest of dairy take up the right side of the store. I guess dairy doesn't get a cartoonish Village Market sign.

Frozen foods are in the last few aisles, and here's a look down aisle 20. The cases on the right side are older than the ones on the left.

Ice cream is in the front right corner and gets its own signage and graphics.

The bakery is next to ice cream, set away from the rest of the service departments like a 90's GIANT.

Floral and the pharmacy are next. I love how they called the floral department "horticulture". 

Here's a close-up of the pharmacy, which was closed for the day when I stopped by.

A look at the busy but pretty organized front end. The store wasn't overly crowded, but almost every register was open.

Here's a closeup of the huge "We're not just a supermarket... we're ShopRite" slogan across the front wall. I find it kind of funny how instead of thanking you for shopping, they're just boasting that they're not just a supermarket... they're ShopRite.

And, before we go, here's a look at the old-school ShopRite logo on the front of the building. I don't know for sure that this is original to the store, but it's pre-2002 at least.

Other Images of Interest

Street View Images

2022

I would guess the last time this store had any exterior changes was when the new script logo was put up, which happened before 2008.

Nearby competition

2.9 miles away: Acme of Vineland

The ShopRite's closest competition is this Acme nearby. While the ShopRite is slightly larger, the Acme is more modern and has a better location (although the ShopRite is easier to enter). We saw this store last week, and you can check it out here. It seems both stores do a good business, as they've coexisted for over 25 years at this point.

Thank you for shopping with The Retail Connection! I was pleasantly surprised by the conditions of this store. While it isn't necessarily modern, it's pretty large, very clean, and the employees are all extremely nice. I spend most weekends near this store, and while I hadn't even known about it until I came here to take pictures, I think I'll start regularly shopping here. I can't speak for all Village stores, but if this one is indicative of the rest, they put on a great show. See you next week! The Retail Connection: Check out happy.

Acme | Vineland, NJ

 

301 S. Main Road

Welcome to the Vineland Acme!

Welcome back to The Retail Connection! We'll be in Vineland for the next two weeks to tour this Acme and one of the ShopRite stores in town as well. We're starting with this Acme, which opened in 1997 and has a modified exterior design to match the castle theme of the center. This was one of the very last Acme stores to have the "Albertsons Marketplace" interior decor, which we saw in Avalon, although it's recently been remodeled to Quality Built.  Why don't we take a look inside?

Heading in through the FOOD·DRUG entrance, the signage for which is original to the store. The exterior has been mostly unmodified from its opening.

This welcome sign is the only remaining element from the previous decor package. I was expecting the store to still have Albertsons Marketplace/Santa Fe, and this sign was the first thing I saw, so imagine my surprise when I saw what you see below...

Quality Built! The produce department is to the left through this entrance. I could be wrong, but the green paint here looks lighter than it does in older QB stores.

The fresh bakery is on the left wall past produce.

A pretty large packaged meats section is in the back left corner. I really like how "The Freshest Food GUARANTEED" is white on gray. Usually, it's gray on yellow.

Service seafood and meats follow on the back wall. "Fresh" isn't capitalized here for some reason.

The corner deli is next, in a darker gray than usual to match the signage itself. If you haven't noticed already, the newer Quality Built remodels are slightly different from the earlier ones we've seen before.

Aisle 12! These aisle markers look a little neater than normal, too, although that could just be because they're new.

This is unrelated to the Acme, but I thought this photo hanging was interesting. It's of the old Woolworth store in downtown Vineland in 1960. I have no idea what this is today.

The store has a total of 16 aisles, which is about average for a store of this ilk. Dairy takes up all of the last aisle.

Pharmacy, HABA, and general merchandise are in the front left corner past dairy. While the inside obviously just says "PHARMACY", the old Sav-On branding remains on the front of the store.

And a look down the front end. I've always liked how these "90's Superstore" Acme locations have windows all along the front wall.

Other Images of Interest

Street View Images

2019

As I said earlier, the only exterior change this store has had during its lifetime is the addition of the Sav-On logo during the mid-2000s remodel.

Nearby competition

2.9 miles away: ShopRite of Landis

Not far from this Acme is the ShopRite of Landis Avenue. This store is older than the Acme, although it's still pretty large and nice inside. The store is operated by Village Super Markets. We'll be touring this store next week.

3.3 miles away: Lidl of Vineland

In the other direction is the Vineland Lidl, which opened November 16, 2017 as the very first Lidl in New Jersey and the first in the greater Philadelphia area. The store is virtually identical architecturally to the Folsom Lidl, which we toured in October as the very first store featured on The Retail Connection. The inside looks to be remodeled, though.

3.4 miles away: ShopRite of Delsea

The Delsea ShopRite is literally right behind the Lidl. The store opened in June 2013 as the third ShopRite owned by Bottino's Family Markets, who also operate the Millville location nearby. Interesting how this store is so close to the Village ShopRite on Landis.

That's all we have today on The Retail Connection! I must say, this was a pretty nice Acme. It must be doing well if it's able to survive being surrounded by ShopRites. It seemed decently busy inside, especially compared to Swedesboro. I do wonder why it took so long to get remodeled to Quality Built. Anyway, thanks for reading and don't forget to tune in next week for the ShopRite of Landis! Sincerely, The Retail Connection. 

Acme | Swedesboro, NJ

 

1619 Center Square Road

Welcome to the Swedesboro Acme!

Another week, another tour! Today, we will be checking out this Acme in Swedesboro (aka Logan Township, aka Beckett). This store opened in 2002 as an addition to the shopping center. This is one of not many New Jersey Acme locations that was never profiled on Acme Style, so I'm glad to be able to bring it to you here. Inside, the store has the Quality Built decor. However, as the flooring throughout will show you, this was actually one of the very last Acme locations to open with the extravagant "ACME Theme Park" decor, better known as Grocery Palace. Let's take a look inside.

Swedesboro is part of Logan Township, and this is known as the Logan Acme. Also, I believe this is the first time I got a picture of the welcome wall in the Quality Built decor. Usually, there are associates or customers standing in the foyer, but not here.

In the front left corner are sushi and foods to go. It seems this is a store of firsts for the blog, as this is also the first time we're seeing "Sushi" signage in an ACME.

The corner deli is next, in between prepared foods and the bakery. As you can see here and elsewhere in the store, there were "Price Lock" banners hanging throughout the store. ShopRite's done similar locked-in price campaigns before, most recently this past winter when it was promoted with an absolutely unbearable commercial. It had the guy who's not a mathematician (he just loves groceries) walking around the store yelling "Locked in prices!" and knocking on the freezers going "Lock lock!". Acme has been much more subtle. Anyway, I'm veering off topic... 

The fresh bakery is next, although no bakers are ready to service you. I've noticed this issue at many Acme stores recently. At least Acme usually has good-quality bakery items.

Pre-packaged baked goods as well as fresh baked breads are in the back left corner past the service bakery. Interestingly, there are two "This Is Your ACME" signs, with one here and the other on the front wall next to foods to go.

Produce takes up the rest of this area in the store. I've always wondered why Quality Built stores with free standing produce sections like this don't have produce market signage. The original iteration of this decor (as seen in Devon) had the sign over the cases. There's the other "This Is Your ACME" in the second photo.

Fresh seafood and Lancaster Brand Meats are in the left corner along the back wall. No shortage of locked-in prices here!

Packaged meats follow service meat and seafood. I've always found it funny how the signage here says "GUARANTEED". What are they guaranteeing? That it's Lancaster Brand?

A look down aisle 4, towards the front end. We've seen these Quality Built aisle markers a million times on the blog before.

Frozen meats and poultry are next, just past the entrance to the backroom.

Frozen foods are across from "The Freshest Food GUARANTEED" in aisle 9. Those patterns in the floor are from the past decor package: Grocery Palace, better known as ACME Theme Park! While relatively common in other Albertsons divisions, specifically Albertsons itself, it was pretty rare to see in Acme stores even back while it was still actively being implemented. Today, the only Acme stores to still have it are the Yardville and Milltown stores, both also in New Jersey. Unfortunately, I can't find any photos of this store with that look online.

Dairy starts in the back right corner and wraps around to the far right wall. It's too bad there's no huge barn over the dairy department like Grocery Palace had.

The pharmacy is in the front left corner. The pink tiled flooring is also left over from the Grocery Palace look (as seen here in Yardville).

Fresh flowers and the checkouts are along the front. Maybe one day we'll see a store that has the checkouts on the back wall, and I'll have a reason for clarifying that they're along the front every time.

This store has a Starbucks inside across from the checkout lanes (which are along the front, by the way). Not many non-Project Azalea Acme stores have a Starbucks inside. They put them into a lot of stores in the late 90's, but eventually took them out of most stores during the SuperValu days.

There was a customer service sign hanging in front of the exit, but I couldn't figure out where it actually was.

Sav-On lives on the pylon sign!

Other Images of Interest

Street View Images

2019

I'm not sure why the Acme sign is mounted so low. It was like that even when it shared the space with the Sav-On signage.

Nearby competition

2.9 miles away: ShopRite of Woolwich

This ShopRite opened only a few weeks ago. Until then, the Acme was the only supermarket in town. I imagine the ShopRite will be much busier, even after the grand opening celebrations end. We checked out the ShopRite last week, and you can see the post here.

That's going to do it for this post! What did you think of the Swedesboro Acme? I found it to be a very nice, clean, and well-stocked store. However, the ShopRite is hard to beat with its lower prices, greater amenities, and even better styling. I will say it was really cool to see the Grocery Palace flooring in person. That's probably the closest I'll ever get to seeing it, unless I can make it out to Yardville! Anyway, thanks for shopping, and see you next week. Sincerely, The Retail Connection.