Original Grocery Tenant: ACME Markets
Address: 467 Allwood Rd, Clifton, NJ
Opened: 2004
Closed: 2015
Later Tenants: Seasons Supermarket (2016-2023)
Photographed: May 22, 2023
Well folks, I attempted to get to the Seasons kosher supermarket in Clifton -- the former Styertowne ACME -- before it closed, after it
abruptly announced its closure this spring. Rumors suggested it wouldn't actually close until mid-June but by late May it was empty and locked up. So unfortunately we will only get the outside pictures and a brief look in through the windows.
The store opened in 2016 in a former ACME that was a bit over 10 years old at the time of its closure. The 55,000 square foot store was turned into one of the larger kosher supermarkets in the area. While Seasons says they lost their lease (which is true; this will
soon be home to New Jersey's second Stew Leonard's), I think the real story is not that simple. Online reviews suggest selection was drastically cut back over the years, with many of the service departments closing well in advance of the store's closure. Seasons itself has had some troubles,
declaring bankruptcy in 2018 and
emerging in 2019 but is now expanding again. I believe Seasons had trouble with the large space, which was unusually large for them, and likely had trouble competing with the new
Aisle One in Passaic along with the established Kosher Konnection in Passaic.
You can see extensive interior views of Seasons when it was open
here.
It seems Stew Leonard's intends to use the existing building, despite the fact that it's smaller than some of their new stores such as
Paramus.
At the time of my visit, the store was very much still a closed Seasons, as the inside was being cleared of any last items, but the front doors were locked. You can see the clear ACME remnants inside, too...
And we get a really good view of the store's interior through the front windows.
My exploration of the property was cut short a bit by the active work going on to clear out the store, since I did not want to seem overly suspicious.
But we see the ACME registers are still in place, as well as the bones of a lot of the ACME decor. Stew Leonard's, of course, will clear out everything in sight (if Seasons doesn't remove it first, possibly to send to an older store). Lots more to see once Stew Leonard's opens up here, but in the meantime, here's a few more posts today:
I did ask Uncle Giuseppe's to open here.
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