TOUR: ACME Markets - Midland Park, NJ

ACME Markets

Opened: 2015

Previous Tenants: A&P

Location: 136 Lake St, Midland Park, NJ

Photographed: December 2020

Our first of two store tours here in Midland Park is the ACME, formerly an A&P. This 49,000 square foot store was built in the 1990s and is absolutely beautiful. Acme Style covered the store extensively back in 2017, and while the store mostly looks the same, I am pleased to report that the store seemed to be busier than at the time of Acme Style's coverage. But the store was clearly a no-expense-spared effort for A&P...

We enter in the front right corner to produce on the right of the grand aisle with floral and pharmacy on the front wall, and deli/prepared foods along the left side of the grand aisle. Natural foods, formerly liquor, are in the back right corner, with seafood, meat, and deli on the back wall; frozen and dairy are on the left side of the store.

Pharmacy is to the left of the entrance, with floral to the right. Prepared foods face this area, with the Cafe (complete with a neon sign that both Acme Style and I missed getting a photo of) on the front.

Deli and cheese line the rest of the island here.

Although the decor has not been updated, it's in pristine condition. The store is extremely well-maintained. And I'm assuming the store does good business because it's packed with merchandise. I'd think if the store were failing, it would have a lot less and a lot fewer perishables. That's not the case here.

Now for a look at produce and floral...

All the fixtures are left over from A&P, too.

An overview of the grand aisle. It doesn't look too busy but there were definitely customers around the store doing large orders. The liquor department has been switched to natural foods, but unlike what we saw in Allendale (also a deluxe A&P but Midland Park has been kept up better than Allendale), there is signage to draw customers here.

This selection seems a little more focused than Allendale, too. No jugs of iced tea or cases of bottled water taking up space in the refrigerator cases.

Gorgeous seafood and meat counters are up next along the back wall. The decor here is simply amazing -- the facility is and always has been beautiful, but at least judging by other A&P-turned-ACMEs, it took the better leadership at ACME to bring the stores up to their potential.

Packaged meats take up the middle of the back wall.

An overview of the back wall. The decor even continues into the first few grocery aisles, with specific signage on the back of the deli island for health and beauty items...

The grocery aisles are actually looking great, extremely clean, but all original from A&P. I do have to wonder about this store's business if there has been virtually no change over the last 5+ years.

Bakery on the diagonal wall in the back corner. This department, as Acme Style mentions, is huge!

An aisle and a half of frozen foods looking good despite the older cases...

Dairy lines both sides of the last aisle, with frozen continuing into the front corner with a great window letting in a lot of light.

And for a look at customer service and the front end...

This store is beautiful, but tomorrow we're going to check out its competition... kind of. Come back tomorrow to see the other supermarket just 800 feet away!