In case you all didn't know already, I really like ACME. I really do. Their prices are (somewhat) decent, selection is amazing, and the customer service is friendly. However, all of these are things that reviewers on Yelp and Google Maps do not describe the Weehawken ACME, which opened as a Pathmark in the late 70s on a reused site from a reservoir (hence the tower, and Tower Plaza). This location closed last month after roughly four years of being an ACME.
This location was featured in A&P's "We Hear You" and "Lower Price Project" campaigns post-2009 bankruptcy as a model store for what A&P will be striving for: satisfying its customers. Tower Plaza is more of a small indoor mall. You enter in a set of double-wide doors, which leads you to a massive, endless hallway filled with shops like Subway, Dunkin' Donuts, Super-Cuts, a Laundromat, a Post Office, and Boost Mobile; all of these make it a hub for the affluent neighborhood of Weehawken and bordering Union City, West New York, and North Bergen.
The entire front of ACME is exposed in the hallway, which makes it a cool place for taking photos. Unfortunately, it was very busy when I visited (a crowd formed along the benches outside ACME) which means of course I wasn't able to get any photos of it.
The store is HUGE. Considering this was built in the 70s, it's shocking just how large this is. I didn't even walk the whole store while I was here, and my tour was already lengthy.
I'm not entirely sure what was originally here during the days of Pathmark, but I would venture to guess a liquor department, or bank. You can see the classic pharmacy alcove far off to the left here as well.
This is Pathmark's "Fresh" decor that was designed by A&P around 2012. I personally don't like the decor that much (as its very generic, bland, and Target-like), but it gets the job done here. The store felt inviting, and the departments were easily identifiable.
The produce department alone has to be around 10,000 square feet!
Snackfood lines the right back of the store, where Pathmark unironically makes a metaphor out of it.
What I never realized about this decor is that it's actually backlit! The letters are slightly illuminated for a nice affect on the ruby-red background that is in the foreground.
"Quality Meal Solutions" is sure right! This store has a hot foods bar, grab-and-go station, and a full-service deli.
The milk cases are very attractive with newly-installed LED lighting. It's a shame they all went to waste.
For lunchtime on a slow Wednesday, the amount of customers is not bad.
Pathmark installed these sleek, black (most likely ex-A&P) cases.
The store tops out at around 24 aisles, believe it or not!
I really don't get the floor pattern here. Are they trying to go for road lines? Minimalism? Covering old tiles? The path to which Pathmark is going? I just don't know.
A little bit of the hallway can be seen here, along with ACME's new checkstand lights, and Pathmark's old school checkout lanes.
I believe there was only one checkout open on my visit. Odd. I guess it was a sign of the times for this store. Its closing was announced a week or two after I visited it over the summer.
But hey, at least there's some cool new ACME brand Technibilt Renaissance carts!
Pathmark of Weehawken
4100 Park Ave
Weehawken, NJ 07086
Pathmark > ACME Markets
Weehawken, NJ 07086
The Pathmark OF Weehawken NJ
ReplyDeleteWasn't Built In The Late 1970's It Was Built In 1982 According To Flickr.com
It wasn't this large from the start either. It was added on to along the parking lot side.
ReplyDeleteThe section prior to the Pharmacy was always the "sale" section. There was a Bank of America to the far side which was removed, making this section larger.
This was a really well ACME... except for the front-end. Rarely were there enough registers open to handle the business. I really think that contributed to it's downfall. Pathmark had 4 self-checkouts here which ACME promptly removed and almost never had 4 registers open at any given time!
I'll have to redo this post, since this location is now a Lidl, but I definitely want to clarify the history too, including the location of the bank and sale sections.
DeleteI sensed front-end issues when I was there. Out of the dozen-or-so checkouts they had, only one was open, and had a line forming. Poor decision on ACME's part considering the likely-high sales volume of this store that was definitely possible.