TOUR: Tops Friendly Markets - Canton, PA

Tops Friendly Markets

Opened: unknown, ca. 2000

Previous Tenants: ACME Markets (1960s-1995) > Bi-Lo (1995-ca. 2000)

Location: 2758 PA-414, Canton, PA

Photographed: August 17, 2022

I don't have to say it, you all already know. Today's store tour is a former pitched-roof ACME! You can't miss that roofline. And we can tell that this one is an earlier model, too, because of the beams that slant outwards on the sides where they connect with the roof. Looks like ACME or a later tenant added some covers on some of the front windows on the right side, but mostly the original structure is intact!

This store was built as a 14,000 square foot ACME in the 1960s before being sold to Penn Traffic in 1995. It became a Bilo, which because it was franchised remained until 2011 before being sold to Tops. It's been updated with the Tops decor I'm most familiar with, in an attractive but simple renovation.

It does have these aisle markers which I don't recognize from any decor package, so maybe they're left over from Bilo. Notice the cinderblock wall here, similar to Watsontown. That store and this one seem to be of roughly the same model.

The first aisle is produce and cold cuts, with deli and meat on the back wall. Dairy and frozen are on the left side wall. While the fixtures and decor have been updated, the layout is almost identical to how ACME's would have been set up on opening day.

A look across the back wall, with the beautiful pitched-roof on full display!

The meat department takes up the left 2/3 or so of the back wall.

And I love the high ceiling and big windows! The store is bright and open because of the windows and ceiling. As we can see here, there have been ceiling tiles added to the high ceiling.

Paper and cleaning on the left side of the store, and dairy/frozen are in the last aisle...

It looks like it's possible the fixtures could've been updated when Bi-Lo moved in, since these freezer and dairy cases don't look new enough to have been installed by Tops but don't look old enough to date back to the ACME days.

Another look at the cinderblock walls on the other side of the store!

Here's a look across the whole store from the front left corner. The last two aisles are longer than the rest because they extend all the way up to the front wall of the store instead of ending before the registers.

Three registers on the front end, with water and beverages beyond the registers on the front.

Unfortunately, the original ACME sign panels here have been removed.

One more look towards the back of the store from beyond the registers showing us that beautiful pitched-roof again! We have one more stop in the north central PA area before we move on, so head over to The Independent Edition on Monday to tour an independent store in a former A&P Centennial!