ACME Markets
I mentioned when we visited Bronxville and Hoboken that ACME has been serious about remodeling lately, and here's another example I stumbled upon while visiting Philadelphia. The store at Roosevelt and Harbison, which opened in 1979 when it moved from across the street into a former Food Fair, is now undergoing what appears to be a fairly significant remodel. We've seen this store before, but only briefly and I'd never been inside.
This store received its current Quality Built remodel no later than 2018, but it's now getting quite a bit more work even though the decor isn't changing. The grand aisle is on the left side of the store, with floral and beer/wine in the front-left corner. Deli and bakery line the left side wall with produce opposite, and meat/seafood and dairy are on the back wall. Pharmacy is in the front-right corner.
The flooring is new along with most of the fixtures here in the grand aisle, and as you can see in the first interior picture, a new setup is being built in the first two grocery aisles which I assume will be beer and wine. That makes me wonder what will be moved into what's currently beer and wine on the front wall, if anything.
The store got a cosmetic-only remodel to Quality Built relatively early on, but now the significant work is being done, it looks like.
All-new refrigeration, flooring, and produce bins have already gone in.
Looking towards the back of the store. It's shallow but wide, and you can see that here. The produce is set up in an L-shape, so refrigerators line the right and back of the department.
Bakery is in the back-left corner. Acme Style, I'm pretty sure the wood paneling behind the bakery is left from a previous decor package, but I don't recognize it to identify it for sure. What do you think?
Here's a look at packaged meat and frozen meat, opposite on the back of the produce cases and beer/wine department, on the back wall.
The store is around 50,000 square feet, but feels on the smaller side because the ceiling is rather low. Notice that the flooring has been removed in the rest of the store after the grand aisle, but it hasn't been replaced yet.
Frozen foods are in the first few grocery aisles after the new beer/wine department.
Looks like older, but painted, cases. Part of me wonders if the plan is to just leave the concrete as-is and polish it because it's in good shape here, but I would assume they wouldn't have added the new flooring in produce if they were just going for polished concrete across the store.
A large meat and seafood counter with new fixtures on the back wall.
Another thing that makes me wonder if they're going to just leave the concrete is that clearly some areas have already gotten a little bit of work on the concrete subfloor, since some were obviously in rougher shape than others. Still, almost no ACMEs have polished concrete floors and I haven't known them to switch to that in remodels, so I would bet it's more likely new tile will be going down in the rest of the store.
I'm not quite sure what used to be in this alcove on the back wall, but today what look like brand-new dairy cases line the outside of it with sale items in the middle. Additional dairy cases line the last aisle.
More of the same paneling here around the milk cases in the back-right corner of the store.
These dairy cases look quite new, possibly not brand-new but definitely within the last 10 years or so.
A few short aisles of HABA are in the front-right corner with pharmacy facing.
And a look across the front-end. This part of the concrete flooring almost looks polished already.
Opened: 1979
Owner: Albertsons Companies
Previous Tenants: Food Fair
Cooperative: none
Location: 6601 Roosevelt Blvd, Mayfair, Philadelphia, PA
Photographed: February 12, 2025
And before we move along, here's another, better shot of the former location across the street...
Original Grocery Tenant: ACME Markets
Address: 6501 Harbison Ave, Mayfair, Philadelphia, PA
Opened: 1950s
Closed: 1979
Later Tenants: CVS/Staples > CVS
Photographed: February 12, 2025
This roughly 25,000 square foot store is now a CVS, and is kind of diagonally across from the present-day ACME which has a better location out on Roosevelt Boulevard. This store faces Roosevelt, but is only accessible from Harbison and Magee, the cross streets. Here's the other stores we're seeing this weekend!
I'm not sure about the paneling behind the bakery. I see from your photos it is used in other parts of the store as well. Must have been put in during one of the remodels/expansions. If I had to guess I would say, based on it's color, the Albertsons Marketplace era.
ReplyDeleteI have never been to this location. It was always on my list but I never got there. Someone left a comment on Acme Style that this was the very first ACME to hit $1 million in sales in a week just after it got the 80's remodel. I assume it is still one of the chain's top stores as it has always gotten lots of love over the years.
I know Quality Built is not the most exciting décor package out there but I still think it's a fantastic look for ACME. The color scheme is holding up well over the years. ACME has also done amazing work improving the overall look of their stores with nicer flooring and cases. About a year ago, they launched a small ad campaign that the were improving the quality of their produce. As a decade long, loyal ACME shopper, I can tell you that was not an empty promise. I find ACME's produce to be, for the most part, the best of the major grocery chains. Light years better than Stop & Shop for sure. And even better than ShopRite despite ShopRite's high volume and product turnover. With the the attractive free-standing cases (many with illuminated shelves below) and new flooring, ACME's produce departments have become super pleasant to shop. It is very exciting to see ACME no longer playing dead out there and giving their competitors a run for the money!
As far as the floor goes, I'm certain new tile will be going in. I would say the smoothed out floors have been prepped for tile and not for polishing. I watched the Hoboken store go through the same process. And it took endless WEEKS to get the project done and that's a small store!
Thanks for covering this store! It's one of those locations that just screams... Giant and ShopRite you're trying to get in our way but sorry to say, ACME is here to stay!
Side note: has anyone seen PhillyMom on TikTok and Instagram? Hilarious! She mentions the "Acme-a-me" on the regular. Here's two good ones...
https://www.tiktok.com/@oliviaeherman/video/7400392331167305003
https://www.tiktok.com/@oliviaeherman/video/7424165474142883118
Wouldn’t be an Acme Style comment without a spelling mistake. Should read “Ac-A-me”.
DeleteIt feels like that produce promise hasn't made it to Voorhees. At this point, I stick to Wegmans and Walmart for produce.
DeleteWell it is hard to beat Wegmans. And Walmart has the volume to keep produce from sticking around on shelves for too long. I was at Vorhees this past summer on a Sunday. I was shocked to see the place slamming busy. When I photographed it for the blog, which would have been a weekend day as well, I remember there hardly being a soul in the place. That was way back in the SuperValu days when just about every ACME located was bordering on being toast.
DeleteBusiness at Voorhees has definitely picked up, I'll say that. For quite a while it seemed dead and it wasn't getting the renovation, it just seemed like it might be closing. With their considerably more competitive pricing, I find myself there a bit more often.
DeleteAlbertsons Marketplace would make sense. And it would make sense that this is a high-volume store, since it definitely seemed busy and well-run when I visited. I agree with you about QB and the renovations, though, it definitely seems like the decor package has held up well and the other upgrades look really nice.
DeleteI agree about the produce, and it's definitely a big step up from the previous offering. I think they did the same around the store -- it was about the time that the produce was spiffed up that they started improving meat/seafood service counters, bakery, and deli offerings. Still, I just find ACME's produce to be so inconsistent that I usually don't bother. (Bakery and deli are always great!) I'm usually shopping at multiple places every week, so it's often a place like SuperFresh or Food Bazaar for produce and perishables, then ACME for center-store and nonfoods. Often, ACME is similar to ShopRite on price on those items. And over at Kings, the produce is similarly hit or miss, and more often than not I find it missing.
Acme Style, what Wegmans do you visit most often? I go to the Hanover one from time to time and I have to say, that store has the WORST produce of any big-chain supermarket I go to regularly. Every time, wilted greens, mushy apples, moldy onions, wrinkly bell peppers. To the point that the Stop & Shop in Morris Plains actually usually has better produce than Wegmans (of course Uncle Giuseppe's across the street beats them both easily).
As for Voorhees, there are so many of those South Jersey stores I need to get to someday. I've recently gotten to a couple of the ACMEs in and around Philadelphia (like this one!) and I need to keep going. Thanks to both of you for talking about your thoughts here!