ACME Markets
Opened: 2015
Time for another ACME renovation! (Did you see Bronxville?) This one's also a former A&P, but it's a store we've seen before. The renovation has been finished and looks very good, with a couple exceptions. One is the ceiling -- especially since it's so low, it's extremely noticeable and very obviously discolored. The liquor store is completed to the left of the entrance, with produce straight ahead.
The store is looking quite good, and another good sign: it was very busy at the time of my visit. That meant, though, taking pictures was very hard, so you'll excuse some of the truly awful pictures in this post.
The beer and wine department here is branded The Frosted Mug, which started in the PA stores.
The new shelving is exceptionally well-done, with good lighting throughout.
The produce department has been expanded into the backroom space on the left, but it's still quite small. Still, the space is used extremely well.
I had to circle the store a few times to get pictures without people blocking everything.
Looking back up towards the front of the produce department. It looks like this case between produce and the grocery aisles is left over from A&P, but most of the other produce fixtures are new.
New service meat and seafood department counter. Looking good, and again, a great use of space.
Alright, now the store opens up a bit once you get out of the first aisle. The ceiling gets higher and we finally get a shot with fewer people. New flooring and lighting look good, as do the new category signs on the top of the meat case. But the fixture is left over from A&P. Still, it looks to be in very good shape.
Shelving is left over from A&P, too. Notice the hanging items above the grocery aisles.
Floral in the front of the produce department. While I'm happy to see ACME stores getting good, and needed, investment, I want better decor. This decor package is perfectly fine but completely forgettable. You can barely even read some of the signs because of how muted the colors are.
Even tiny independent stores have more exciting decor than this!
The freezers weren't replaced.
And neither were the dairy cases -- you can still see the A&P slotted panel at the top -- but they have new doors added. The black category marker signs are looking a bit tired here, as they were installed when ACME took over from A&P. The red-and-white category signs you can see on the meat case are still being rolled out chainwide, so I'd assume these will be replaced soon enough.
Bakery looking pretty fantastic with new fixtures and signage.
And deli is looking good, too, in the front-right corner next to bakery.
And a look across the front-end...
Owner: Albertsons Companies
Previous Tenants: Vitale Foodtown > A&P
Cooperative: none
Location: 614 Clinton St, Hoboken, NJ
Photographed: January 29, 2025
I'm glad this store has gotten some good investment, but I want more from the design. Still, it seems to do a very good business especially for its small size, so I'm sure it'll continue to get upgrades over time. Lots more to see this weekend, so check out the other posts here -- just be aware the Sunday links won't work until tomorrow.
I shop this store pretty regularly and I can tell you it is a massive success for ACME! There is a huge ShopRite just a few blocks away but it doesn't faze this place at all. The remodel was extensive and done very well, particularly in produce and the bakery. All flooring was also replaced. There are some new dairy cases but they appeared to have come from a closed Kings. Same with the "new" produce cases. You are correct, the produce cases on the grocery side were not replaced unfortunately. They should have been. Not in the best of shape. I believe produce was able to be expanded by eliminating the backroom floral space. That area has been moved on to the sales floor where A&P's customer service was located. Customer Service has been wisely moved to the other side of the front-end next to the Deli. My biggest complaint... Customer Service has ZERO signage. Must be an oversight as Floral has an abundance of signage. The entire atmosphere of this store has been completely transformed by the remodel and it has clearly resonated well with the community. This has to be one of the most successful ACMEs pitted against a ShopRite in all of the land!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the details here! Yes, this seems like a high-volume store, especially considering its size. Strange about the signage, but that seems like an easy enough fix later on.
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