You don’t have to be a super genius to know what comes next for A&P on Valley Road.
Following A&P’s bankruptcy announcement, Pennsylvania-based Acme Markets announced it had entered into an agreement to acquire 76 A&P, Superfresh and Pathmark stores in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania, including Montclair’s A&P at 510 Valley Road. The Pathmark at 1 Lackawanna Plaza was not on the list of supermarkets Acme intends to buy.
Pending regulatory and bankruptcy court approvals of the transaction and other conditions, the stores will be run under the ACME Markets banner.
Is this good news for Montclair area shoppers? Well, it might be a slight improvement. NJ.com looked to Consumer Reports’ supermarket ratings. Based on a 100-point scale, A&P scored a 64; Pathmark scored a 66; and Acme and Stop & Shop scored a 70. Wegman’s topped the list with a score of 90, followed by Trader Joe’s with a score of 87, Whole Foods at 81 and Shop-Rite at 78.
The acqisition is good fodder for this blogger, who has been chronicling Acme stores at Acme Style since 2009
Acme closed its Allwood Road store in Clifton earlier this year. Did you shop there and what’s been your experience with Acme?
I remember the old Acme in Montclair that closed in 2000. It seemed like a decent store when I was growing up in the 70s/80s but it went down hill in the 90s to where it became a bit like a smaller, sadder version of the current PathMark.
The Acme that was in Clifton was clean, big and bright but the quality was seriously lacking.
The old Acme in Montclair was terrible, though possibly I just caught it at the tail end n the early 90s. It was dirty and always had rotten fruit with flies. Hope this new location works better than the old.
Acme always seemed like a low-end brand for me. Maybe it was just the particular store I went to growing up, but that’s my impression.
Can’t help but think of these two when I hear the name “Acme”.
https://www.animationartgallery.com/images/CJL/CJLAR.jpg
Me too Spiro. When I was young we’d go to Acme and I’d always wonder,
“Where do they keep all the gadgets? And where are the anvils!?!”
Used to live on the corner of Pine & Walnut many years ago and shopped for convenience at the Acme then it slowly went into decline especially in the limp produce aisle.
Went in there a few years later for a needed bag of kitty litter and grabbed the Acme brand, got it back to the apartment, opened it up and along with the litter someone added the bonus of a cigarette filter….Those were the days!
Trader Joe’s for the PATHMARK? Why not. The ACME on Claremont was not memorable for me. Any update on the apartment house fire on Claremont Ave next to Dem Two Hands?
A supermarket that’s more cut rate than A&P in Upper Montclair? Supermarkets are very slow to catch on, I’d give it 3 years before it shuts its doors. Seriously, Upper Montclair needs something like a Whole Foods or a Fairway, not a bargain basement brand.
Acme markets are numerous where I grew up, and I shop there often when visiting family. Their newer stores are very clean and well stocked — they have moved upscale in many ways. I would welcome Acme over the A&P on Valley Rd. I find A&P’s produce and meats to be pretty bad overall, and their prices high. Even more problematic is the service at A&P — on any given afternoon you will find only a single lane open with a line 8 people deep.
Montclair has a Whole Foods. Fairway requires more space then that A&P. Let’s get creative and try to get Zabars to open in Montclair. I’d be there daily 🙂
hrhppg, you missed dan tanna’s point.
UPPER Montclair needs- as in MUST HAVE a Whole Foods. A&P and ACME don’t fit into our UPPER Montclair address.
Sorry.
Perhaps in “lower” Montclair, those cut rate stores will work. But up here in the “43”? No way.
Because of this, only Wegmans will work.
Prof, what to do? The A&P is too small for a Wegmans. There’s not enough parking and Valley Road traffic would be a nightmare.
You already have a Kings in the 07043. Why isn’t that enough?
Maybe Kidville should just expand. Lord knows there are enough special snowflakes in the 07043 to support even more $1,000 toddler birthday parties.
profwilliams you cracked me up. I grew up in the UPPER and man what a mess of horrible people. But despite their horribleness they would call it the UPPER with their chin held a bit high. I didn’t matter if their clothes were threadbare they were DESIGNER. It didn’t matter if the luxury car was in the shop more then on the road it was a WHATEVER. This is why I ran screaming to live in Bloomfield as an adult.
But still would love a Zabar’s.
Would love it if a Trader Joe’s would fit in that location…
hrhppg … you are being overly dramatic… I grew up in UPPER as well and there was very little if any expressions of superiority.
In fact, the most expensive homes sit in the estate section of 07042. Yes there has historically been geographic racial divisions in Montclair between the two … but Montclair is obviously a far more harmonious place then most.
and fyi .. ACME would be an embarrassment on Valley road.
Fresh Market is a new (to NJ) upscale grocery chain. They have locations in Bedminster (a former A&P) and in Livingston (a former PathMark). They could be an ideal addition either to the Lackawanna Plaza location, or to the Valley Road A&P site.
Wegman’s, on the other hand, likes very large stores with enormous amounts of parking. It has been reluctant to open NJ stores in recent years, although two are now underway. One in Parsippany, the other in Montvale.
I’ve never lived in Upper Montclair but have known several people from there who were run-of-the-mill normal people…no superiority at all. The grandiose come in all shapes and sizes and are found in any town. Beware of those who consider themselves intellectually superior! They’re the ones who won’t shop in the A & P.
…. Forgive me, but just say, “ACME in Upper Montclair.”
So wrong sounding. How can such a generic sounding name EVER be used in a town called UPPER anything.
I blame Obama!!
What’s next, the Widget Store on Valley next to Williams-Sonoma?
Well, good luck with your Acme, those of you who (as usual) like to act superior to everyone else.
Guess what? i’ll be laughing at you when the Acme is gone in three years. I’ll be annoyed, though, when like too many other places in Montclair, the store will be closed and empty for an inordinate amount of time. My hunch is that eventually it will get knocked down and an ugly development will be put up in its place.
You have to wonder about placing a full super market within a circle with already a Kings, Shop-Rite, another Kings in Verona, Stop n Shop on Allwood, Whole Foods on Bloomfield Ave, Path Mark or whatever it will be. All of these loose some volume to CostCo, Fairway, Trader-Joes, Corrado’s. We can use some housing to meet the demand. Too bad food distribution isn’t a public utility so efficiency can work to the benefit of the citizens. Sort of like health care isn’t it? Our system works on free-enterpise, no central planning for equal distribution of the essentials of life. How more nail salons? Seems to be an endless demand for them. On the other hand, we do not have enough (any) hot dog stands.
Kings might do well in the A&P space on Valley Road. Close to the current location, far better parking, and a bigger store.
The current Kings site could make a fine multi-use, walk to the train residential and commercial space. Not unlike the Above complex in South Orange