TOUR: Price Rite Marketplace - Allentown, PA

Price Rite Marketplace of Allentown

Opened: 2001

Previous Tenants: ACME Markets (1968-2000)

Cooperative: Wakefern Food Corp.

Location: 1720 S 4th St, Allentown, PA

Photographed: January 8, 2021

Our first Lehigh Valley store tour is here at the Price Rite of Allentown! We're about a mile and a half outside of downtown Allentown (or, as it's called in eastern Pennsylvania, center city rather than downtown).

The 35,000 square foot store was built as an ACME in the late 1960s, and used to more strongly look like an ACME than it does now. ACME closed in 2000, and the store reopened in 2001 as one of the earliest Price Rite locations. Price Rite is the limited-assortment discount store end of Wakefern (ShopRite).

Most recently, this store has gotten the latest decor package around 2020. Inside, Price Rite seems to have stripped most of the ACME attributes out, although there may be some remnants left.

I'm not sure how ACME would've had the back wall area set up, but this is a pretty standard Price Rite layout so it may have been modified at the time they moved in. Produce is on the left side of the store with the Drop Zone (weekly special area) to the right of that. Meat and cold cuts are on the back wall, with dairy in the back right corner. Frozen foods are in the last aisle with baked goods in the front right corner.

Here's a look at the Drop Zone, with the colorful signage hanging from the ceiling.

As we can see, Price Rite is a no-frills type of environment, but they do some things differently from other discount store operators. For instance, here's the international foods aisle, with frozen cases built right into the aisle.

That said, these frozen cases may be left over from ACME or perhaps brought in from one of the closed Lehigh Valley ShopRites at the time the store opened. These look older than 2001 to me.

The grocery aisles are less displayed than normal grocery stores, with most items in their cases. I don't believe this lighting was left over from ACME, but it may be.

I assume that the area with the lower ceiling across the back wall was prep space, probably butcher and deli, for ACME.

Price Rite stores tend to be larger than most discount operators, like ALDI or Save-A-Lot.

Frozen foods and baked goods here at the right side of the store. They have recently added the Sweet Spot departments to all their stores, with things like refrigerated cheesecakes and sheetcakes, fresh pizza dough, and other things you might not otherwise find in a discount supermarket.

And the front end may have some remnants from ACME, such as the lower ceiling which may be where ACME had customer service or perhaps their bakery department.

That's all for this Price Rite, and now we're going to head into the center city area for a look at a few small independent stores, moving west to east through the city. Head over to The Independent Edition for tomorrow's post!