The Fresh Grocer on Walnut Street lost its legal battle with University of Pennsylvania after nearly 4 years and will close in March. Interestingly, they can't confirm or deny that ACME will replace it like as announced in 2017, which indicates ACME may have lost interest in the site.
https://www.thedp.com/article/2020/02/f ... -down-acme
Fresh Grocer in Philadelphia closing
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Re: Fresh Grocer in Philadelphia closing
This store sort of had a love-hate relationship from the locals. The layout is one of the strangest you will see in a grocery store...weird diagonal zig-zaggy aisles along with surly staff and frequent problems with vermin.
Acme continues to lose market share in the region as Giant has been expanding enormously in Philadelphia itself (mainly with small stores branded as Giant Heirloom Market, but there are plans in the works for a few regular sized stores as well), so who knows if they will take it over at this point given their indifference to remain competitive. I guess another Fresh Grocer/ShopRite operator could always take over if a deal falls through, or hell, maybe Giant will grab it.
Acme continues to lose market share in the region as Giant has been expanding enormously in Philadelphia itself (mainly with small stores branded as Giant Heirloom Market, but there are plans in the works for a few regular sized stores as well), so who knows if they will take it over at this point given their indifference to remain competitive. I guess another Fresh Grocer/ShopRite operator could always take over if a deal falls through, or hell, maybe Giant will grab it.
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Re: Fresh Grocer in Philadelphia closing
I am surprised things are not getting better at Acme; Albertsons has one of their best people running that division. That is too bad. Or maybe Giant is just "too good." I was pretty impressed with the Giant-PA operation I saw last summer. Good mix, good pricing, well staffed. The Acmes I went into, one was quite good, the other was passable. Some pricing issues, but good mix. I could see how Giant-PA has a more appealing offering and stronger pricing.mbz321 wrote: ↑February 18th, 2020, 10:49 am This store sort of had a love-hate relationship from the locals. The layout is one of the strangest you will see in a grocery store...weird diagonal zig-zaggy aisles along with surly staff and frequent problems with vermin.
Acme continues to lose market share in the region as Giant has been expanding enormously in Philadelphia itself (mainly with small stores branded as Giant Heirloom Market, but there are plans in the works for a few regular sized stores as well), so who knows if they will take it over at this point given their indifference to remain competitive. I guess another Fresh Grocer/ShopRite operator could always take over if a deal falls through, or hell, maybe Giant will grab it.
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Re: Fresh Grocer in Philadelphia closing
Giant-PA has a much longer history with Ahold than Giant-MD and, at various times, shared resources with Tops and served as an umbrella for Edwards (pre-rebranding as Stop& Shop), yet they seem to have been less impaired by Ahold than Giant-MD. That Giant-PA operates mostly in smaller markets might have enabled them to resist being redone as Stop&Shop in the way that occurred with Giant-MD. It's been a while since I've been in a Giant-PA store, but they did seem well run with reasonably good perishables. Ahold really hurt Giant in the deli/bakery area which had been one of their strengths pre-Ahold. Oddly, Giant-MD once had stores close to Philadelphia under the Super G banner but I believe those were sold rather than being converted to Giant-PA which makes it odd that Giant-PA is investing in the Philadelphia area now.
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Re: Fresh Grocer in Philadelphia closing
It was confirmed that ACME will inhibit the spot after all, but not be open until later this year. The interior of the store probably could use a deep cleaning and maybe some re-arranged fixtures, but it still seems like a long time for an already built space.
https://www.inquirer.com/news/fresh-gro ... 00219.html
https://www.inquirer.com/news/fresh-gro ... 00219.html
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Re: Fresh Grocer in Philadelphia closing
They were all in the suburbs too of Philly and South Jersey...none were in or right near the city itself. I believe they were Union as well, which would have made it difficult to convert to Giant PA stores without a lot of trouble. Many (if not all?) of the stores became a short-lived extension of SuperValu's Shop 'N Save chain, but they weren't successful and were later dumped on various buyers (many became ShopRite, Acme grabbed a few, etc.).
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Re: Fresh Grocer in Philadelphia closing
ACME opened October 23rd, with a store not open 24 hours (as was promised before, but now with COVID-19, 24 hour stores are practically extinct). The store features a "salad robot" and some new décor that resembles Kroger's current package.
https://www.thedp.com/article/2020/10/a ... iladelphia
https://www.thedp.com/article/2020/10/a ... iladelphia