A Tale of Two ACME's

So Woodstown didn't exactly work out last post, so we're continuing the Journey through Jersey to find a couple more abandoned ACME's which I think more than make up for it!
ACME, Egg harbor City, NJ
This store might look familiar to some of you; it's been pretty thoroughly covered. I'd even go as far as to say it's earned the title of most famous former ACME. It opened in 1956 and closed down in 2002. The decay had gotten bad enough in that time that I was sure this would be a tear-down if somebody ever wanted to do something with the property, but thankfully it would seem I was wrong. Since my visit, the roof has been rebuilt, the interior gutted, and stone facing applied to the outside.
While I'm thrilled they went through the effort to save the building, it came at the cost of one of the last fish logo signs, which while busted out was still easily recognizable.
I'm not saying I'm glad this sign got smashed, but it gave me the opportunity to steal some shards of the colored plastic, an idea I may or may not have stolen from Acme Style. I would be surprised if this was the only location to ever get a logo update like this (replacing the blue football in the middle with their current block letter logo), but it was at least the only one still in existence by the time people got into photographing supermarkets.
This corner is where the main entrance would have been. The space was boarded up pretty tightly, but I found a hole big enough to get a picture through.
Looking down the old front awning. Part of this area would have been fenced in as a cart corral originally.
The inside is in the condition you'd expect. It smelled pretty strongly of mold. Even though the décor got taken out when ACME closed, you can still see the outlines of the old department signs. They appear to have closed with the 60's/70's Colonial décor's signage, but with the walls painted over. The fish logo was added when the store remodeled to this décor, and likely got replaced with the block lettering during the repaint. White walls would indicate this was done in the 90's during the era of the Checkerboard Arch décor.
A little bit of the Colonial orangey-red Meat wall paint is visible. Some taller cases must have been put in sometime between the initial remodel and the repaint. And yes, for those of you wondering, the lights weren't on. That's just sunlight coming through where the roof has given out. Sorta ironic that happened over a wet floor sign.
Back in 2012, JoshAustin610 speculated this might be the most badly decayed former ACME out there. All of the competition it would have had back then has been demolished, but some other contenders have fallen apart in that time to take its place now that it's no longer abandoned. There are two absolute ruins in Philly (two links) that I wouldn't count since there aren't any ACME traces left in either, the old Berlin NJ store (which we'll see later this post), and Shamokin PA (which we saw on here a couple weeks ago). Of those, I think Shamokin easily takes the cake but feel free to argue with me in the comments.
Usually ACME's of this vintage had a second floor with break rooms in back. This one had them on the side. The building's position on the property would have made it impossible to back a truck up to the actual back of the store, so most of the "back" rooms were actually on the right. Don't ask me why they built it like this, because the property's massive and they could have stuck it anywhere else on it and still done their normal layout.
Looking along the actual back. There is one small loading dock there, which I believe served the meats department. Maybe their thought was they could back one truck up to it along the wall.
The original roadside sign frame is still up by the store's back driveway, but wait until you see the one fronting the main road!
Here's a more zoomed-out view of the store and my 200+K mile Ford Focus, which somehow hasn't left me stranded on one of these expeditions yet.
Here's the crown jewel of the entire trip! This high-mast pylon sign somehow avoided the 70's logo update, and better yet the "Markets" part survived the closing!
Zooming in, ACME's labelscar is still very clear. This would have looked incredible at night with the exposed neon. I am praying to God this doesn't get taken down in whatever they're doing to the building.
This store easily had twice as much parking as it did salesfloor, but for whatever reason they felt the need to keep this posted.
One final shot before we head out. I absolutely loved this place.
Texaco/Amoco/BP/Valero/Sunoco, Hammonton, NJ
In between our two ACME's, we'll be taking a quick look with some terrible photos of some of the stuff I passed along the way. There's a TON of neat old stores on this road, but the sunlight glaring off my windows was doing everything it could to prevent me from showing you. If you're ever in the area, White Horse Pike is a fascinating drive.
This station's changed hands quite a bit. It began life in the 70's as a Matawan-style Texaco. It became Amoco sometime in the 80's, and Valero in the late 2000's. Like most of the former Valero's here, it became a Sunoco last year. I get the impression Circle K got all of the ones with convenience stores, and Sunoco got the rest.
Wawa, Hammonton, NJ
I'm a little on the fence about whether this one was an early relocation or if it just permanently closed. It looks like a 60's or 70's build. Since the paneling on the front is still stained brown, it couldn't have closed any later than the 90's. All of the operating Wawa's of this model were painted gray sometime in the mid-90's; finding one that's still the original color is extremely rare and this could possibly be the last in existence. There's an early 90's Wawa in town that could possibly have replaced this, but it is a little far for a replacement. This one has been home to Refresh Food Mart since probably right after Wawa closed. That's a very 90's logo.
Taco Bell, Hammonton, NJ
At first I thought this was a converted KFC, but as it turns out KFC closed down years before Taco Bell opened. While Taco Bell did recycle the sign frame when they opened in 2015, the building was a total rebuild. Also of note is the driveway sign in the foreground- the building sits next to a huge old Ponderosa that closed back in the 90's and was split up into a small shopping center.
Wendy's, Hammonton, NJ
This store opened in the mid-90's alongside the shopping center behind it. The copper roof and sconce lights were painted black last year, but it appears no full remodel has taken place, inside or out.
Eckerd/Rite Aid/Walgreens, Hammonton, NJ
If this place hadn't converted, I probably would've cut this photo from the set. I feel so bad for those poor Rite Aid-less East Jersians. :(
Ideal Manufacturing Co, Hammonton, NJ
I did quite a bit of digging around online and while I'm still not 100% sure what the story behind this place is, I can tell you it served as a clothing factory and store starting in 1953. I think the middle part of the building dates back a little earlier, and was expanded with the sheet metal wings on either side when Ideal moved in. Given their appearance and the time period this store opened, there's a decent chance those buildings were WWII Surplus. After the original Ideal closed, this became an antique store who kept the name. It too closed, and the building now sits for sale.
White Horse Farm, Hammonton, NJ
To be honest, I thought this was a restaurant at first. It is actually a real farm, and this building appears to be their packing/distribution center. The front part of it looks so commercial, I have to wonder if they did operate their own restaurant, or perhaps farmer's market, in here at one point.
Citgo, Chesilhurst, NJ
This station dropped the Citgo brand in the late 2000's and began selling independently. Surprisingly, they went through the effort of boxing out the formerly rounded corners of the canopy.
Dollar General, Atco, NJ
This store opened in 2017 on a long-vacant lot. Something was here previously, but it's been gone so long I have no way of telling what it was.
Murphy's Marketplace, Atco, NJ
I was sure this was an old A&P going by the metal façade, but as it turns out, it was built for Murphy's in the 80's. Murphy's is a small chain, they had 4 locations in South Jersey until this one closed in 2017. The others all seem to be doing well.
Rite Aid, Atco, NJ
I'm pleased to report that this one is far enough west that it didn't get swallowed up by Walgreen's. It was built in the mid-2000's, replacing a smaller store in the Murphy's shopping center. It was Wellness-ed in 2015.
Atco Diner, Atco, NJ
This place looked sorta interesting from the outside, but seeing photos online I wish I checked out the interior! Sadly, this place closed the same month I drove by.
Berlin Shopping Center, Berlin, NJ
This center was built in 1974, anchored by Kmart (pictured) and ACME. It's been shedding tenants for well over a decade. ACME closed in 2004 (presumably at the end of their lease) and was never filled. By the time Kmart closed in 2014 (also presumably at the end of theirs), there were no other tenants left in the center's main building. That's an accomplishment, as the center's actually pretty big. The smaller strip of stores across the parking lot is doing a little better, Dollar General is still open in half of it. The other half has a dry cleaner, Chinese restaurant, and two vacant spaces. This center's only outparcel is a former Ponderosa now occupied by a surprisingly nice Italian Restaurant
Kmart had only been closed for three years at this point, but was already in pretty bad shape. Despite that, it looks a thousand times better than the rest of the building its in.
Either the borough has taken over the center or is acting as security, since clearly the owners aren't paying much attention to it.
The inside hasn't been trashed or fallen into too much decay yet, aside from the broken window on the floor. Judging by the lack of any security lights, I'm willing to bet power's been cut to the building.
The customer service desk looks to be the only fixture left in the store.
Looking down the center towards the ACME. I don't know much about the inline tenants, but towards the end I know there was a karate studio and a pizzeria in here.
To my dismay, I discovered the windows had been painted over. Since Kmart's weren't painted but photos from 2012 show them uncovered, I'm gonna guess this happened in 2013.
I do know that the space next door to ACME was an Eckerd for a time, but I'm willing to bet this space was home to ACME's Rea & Derick Pharmacy originally. Eckerd moved down the street to a freestanding store in the mid-90's, and this became Dollar General. DG moved across the parking lot around 2010. The windows are starting to fall in here. I'm lowkey hoping they don't fix this and that one day these stores will be accessible once more. But for now, we wait.
Also I kinda like that vine growing up the pillar. It almost makes this place feel mystical.
Eckerd's entrance was set back into the store a little bit. They did a real stellar job keeping the pink paint off the ceiling there. :/
ACME's entrance had these panels sticking out between the doors. Walking up from the side, I got excited thinking these were open doors. 
I was worried with the painted-over windows I wouldn't be able to get any pictures of the interior. It took some searching, but I finally found a hole big enough to see through. There wasn't much light so my pictures weren't exactly good, but hey it's better than nothing. 
The store would have opened with the Colonial décor. Checkerboard flooring indicates it was redone in the 80's. It closed with the mid-90's Convenience Store (that's actually its official name) décor. This look, used concurrently with the Red/White/Blue décor, was basically just a watered-down version of it used exclusively in smaller stores. It has been extinct from operating stores since the early 2010's. Acme Style's post on this store from 2009 shows the inside a lot better.
Looking down the center between ACME and Kmart.
The outside has some Kmart influences, but is still for the most part their typical 70's façade. 
The smaller strip across the parking lot thankfully wasn't painted over. Unfortunately, the vacant storefront here had been gutted. Just to make myself feel better about not being able to see inside the inline stores in the other building, I'm telling myself they were probably gutted out too.
This vacant space was in between the dry cleaner and Chinese restaurant. The scars on the wall look like they might have held mirrors at one point, so perhaps this is where the karate studio was.
This space was in between the Chinese restaurant and Dollar General. It looks like they started to subdivide the space but never finished.
Looking at the Kmart again before we head around back.
One of ACME's rear loading docks appears to have been out of service long before the store closed. They built stairs in front of it and added some bollards to keep trucks from backing up to it.
The back of the store is surprisingly graffiti-free. Despite that, it's otherwise in pretty bad shape. The second floor windows are busted out and a chain is the only thing holding that door shut.
The area behind Eckerd is starting to look overgrown.
Of these stores, Kmart's been closed the shortest amount of time but somehow looks the worst in back.
We don't get a full Garden Center sign here, but it's cool seeing half of it. Especially with the original lettering.
The center's pylon sign has seen better days. ACME's sign was painted over when they closed, but that was long enough ago that most of it has chipped off. While this sign does have the new logo, the storefront still had the red oval logo up until the end.

According to my streaming service, this was my most listened-to song of the year in 2018. That may or may not be due to the fact that I had just gotten an Alexa in my dorm and every night I'd take advantage of it by yelling at it to play this to help me relax before going to bed.

Comments

  1. That first vacant Acme looks completely destroyed, which is always cool to see, but it's also depressing. I love how the second vacant Acme you covered on this post sits right next to a vacant Kmart.

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    1. I agree, I love places like that but they're always so sad. Yeah, that second center had a little bit of everything!

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  2. I'm getting strong ACME Style vibes with this post, which of course is always appreciated. Neat that you took inspiration from that blog to pick up a souvenir or two also, and of course, I love the pictures! Cool to see the old fish-eye sign remaining at the first one (even if it was painted over -- but that itself presents a new fun sight, the block letter ACME labelscar on top of it), as well as the high-rise ACME MARKETS one. And at the second location, the way all the doors and windows were painted pink almost makes it look like a tiny architectural model or something!

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    Replies
    1. Oh -- and I also meant to say, great photos of both ACMEs!

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    2. Thank you! ACME Style was what brought me down this rabbit hole in the first place so that means a lot! This store had a lot of neat stuff. It's hard to pick favorites but this is at least in my all-time top 5 stores.
      The pink paint was an interesting choice, I could totally see that place being a plastic model.

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