ACME replacing ShopRite in East Norriton

[marketreportblog]

ACME appears to be taking over the Brown’s ShopRite in East Norriton, PA. It’s unclear whether they’ve bought the store or are just moving in when ShopRite vacates the space. This is now the third Wakefern store they’ve taken on (Snyder Plaza and Walnut Fresh Grocer were the first two). It does seem that Wakefern is losing market share in greater Philadelphia, but is this related? Or do we think it’s just an opportunity to grab an extra store for ACME, when the older stores’ leases are up?

https://morethanthecurve.com/acme-retur ... r-absence/

People on Facebook are saying the rent went up more than Brown’s was willing to take on, and that ShopRite closes 10/8 and ACME opens 10/15.

[mbz321]

This is weird...I was just thinking the other day how Acme hasn't opened a new store in a while. Also kind of bummed as I occasionally frequent this ShopRite when I'm in that area. It always seems busy to me so I'm surprised they are selling it off. (As a side note, this ShopRite was previously a Super G...I think the 'We are the low price Leader' signage on the outside was from them. Acme took over and still operates in another Super G 'on the other side of town' in Norristown/Trooper).

Given Acme's horrific pricing, I only see this benefiting the nearby Weis, Grocery Outlet, and Giant located one town over.

I also can't understand why the shopping center owner would be raising the rent...the center has several large vacancies already, as do many others in the vicinity.

Brown just doesn't seem to be able to make the cut in the suburbs. They operated the store in Warminster for several years (also a former Super G!) before selling it off to another operator. (Or maybe he needs quick cash to pay for his recently failed Mayoral campaign for Philadelphia :p )

[marketreportblog]

(As a side note, this ShopRite was previously a Super G...I think the 'We are the low price Leader' signage on the outside was from them. Acme took over and still operates in another Super G 'on the other side of town' in Norristown/Trooper).

It was previously a Super G but I thought the "low price leader" phrasing was distinctly ShopRite. I remember reading that they used the phrase Low Price Leader starting in the 50s in the early days when the members were trying to figure out how to compete with A&P and, at least so the story goes, the members decided not to offer S&H stamps but instead to lower all their prices by 5%. Doesn't mean Super G didn't also use that phrase but it's definitely also one ShopRite has used for a very very long time. Off the top of my head I know the ShopRite in Clark, NJ also has a Low Price Leader sign.

My understanding of it, too, is that Jeff Brown himself has left the business to pursue politics, and rumors on Facebook say his kids are running the business now and they really don't want to be in the grocery business. Maybe he'll come back, but as of now I don't think he personally is making these calls. And it's possible that the kids (or his wife Sandy, who was publicly said to be in charge of the company at the time of his departure) are looking for a way to get out and pass the stores off to someone else -- but in that case, I have to wonder why not another Wakefern operator.

Warminster is an interesting, kind of bizarre store. I liked it when I went, but just the history of it being previously Brown's and now Cowhey but having Village decor is just strange.

[storewanderer]

I would guess Shop Rite simply wasn't doing enough sales volume to remain at the location. If it was successful as Shop Rite, they could have found another operator to take the store over. The fact that they cannot find another Shop Rite operator to take it over, and are finding Acme, seems to sort of imply there just isn't much volume here. And there will probably be even less volume once Acme takes over.

Maybe the volume just isn't enough for Shop Rite. Shop Rites tend to be pretty high volume stores.

[mbz321]

It was previously a Super G but I thought the "low price leader" phrasing was distinctly ShopRite. I remember reading that they used the phrase Low Price Leader starting in the 50s in the early days when the members were trying to figure out how to compete with A&P and, at least so the story goes, the members decided not to offer S&H stamps but instead to lower all their prices by 5%. Doesn't mean Super G didn't also use that phrase but it's definitely also one ShopRite has used for a very very long time. Off the top of my head I know the ShopRite in Clark, NJ also has a Low Price Leader sign.

You might be right. I remember Super G having a long phrase on the outside of their stores (I know the Warminster store had it back in the day) but it might have been worded differently.

[veteran+]

(As a side note, this ShopRite was previously a Super G...I think the 'We are the low price Leader' signage on the outside was from them. Acme took over and still operates in another Super G 'on the other side of town' in Norristown/Trooper).

It was previously a Super G but I thought the "low price leader" phrasing was distinctly ShopRite. I remember reading that they used the phrase Low Price Leader starting in the 50s in the early days when the members were trying to figure out how to compete with A&P and, at least so the story goes, the members decided not to offer S&H stamps but instead to lower all their prices by 5%. Doesn't mean Super G didn't also use that phrase but it's definitely also one ShopRite has used for a very very long time. Off the top of my head I know the ShopRite in Clark, NJ also has a Low Price Leader sign.

My understanding of it, too, is that Jeff Brown himself has left the business to pursue politics, and rumors on Facebook say his kids are running the business now and they really don't want to be in the grocery business. Maybe he'll come back, but as of now I don't think he personally is making these calls. And it's possible that the kids (or his wife Sandy, who was publicly said to be in charge of the company at the time of his departure) are looking for a way to get out and pass the stores off to someone else -- but in that case, I have to wonder why not another Wakefern operator.

Warminster is an interesting, kind of bizarre store. I liked it when I went, but just the history of it being previously Brown's and now Cowhey but having Village decor is just strange.

So Food Fair was not part of that competition, just A&P?

[mjhale]

It was previously a Super G but I thought the "low price leader" phrasing was distinctly ShopRite. I remember reading that they used the phrase Low Price Leader starting in the 50s in the early days when the members were trying to figure out how to compete with A&P and, at least so the story goes, the members decided not to offer S&H stamps but instead to lower all their prices by 5%. Doesn't mean Super G didn't also use that phrase but it's definitely also one ShopRite has used for a very very long time. Off the top of my head I know the ShopRite in Clark, NJ also has a Low Price Leader sign.

You might be right. I remember Super G having a long phrase on the outside of their stores (I know the Warminster store had it back in the day) but it might have been worded differently.

Giant-MD/Super G's tag phrase back then was "The Quality Food People". That was on the front of almost every Giant-MD store that was built. The other tag line they had on a lot of their stores was "Discount Drug Prices". In the 1990s Giant-MD was on a big HBA discounting run to go up against Dart Drug.

Back to the present... Looking at the pictures of this store on Google Maps, it still retains the bones of the Giant-MD layout That would put the store at about 50,000 sq feet or so. The store also looks like it is heavy on service departments that appear to have broad selections. I'd imagine you would need some significant volume to keep all of that going. I visited the Trooper Acme/former Super G in 2019. It was a weekend afternoon. I'd say the store was busy but not insanely so. I'd imagine that Albertsons has more ability to absorb low volume stores more so than a smaller operator, especially one who seems to be distracted by other ventures based on what people have said here. I agree that Acme is expensive, comparable to the regular prices of Safeway down here in DC. Safeway has been running some really strong ads over the past few months. If Acme is or does the same thing maybe they can draw in some business that way. My perception is that Weis and Giant-MD would be cheaper than Giant. It looks like the closest Walmart and Wegmans locations are in King of Prussia. I'm not sure I'd want to brave the traffic to get down there just save a small amount of money. Time does mean something these days.

[mbz321]

Giant-MD/Super G's tag phrase back then was "The Quality Food People". That was on the front of almost every Giant-MD store that was built.

Anyone know what Shop N' Save used as a phrase then? (since the Super G's briefly became Shop N Save stores) Now this is bothering me lol.

I agree that Acme is expensive, comparable to the regular prices of Safeway down here in DC. Safeway has been running some really strong ads over the past few months. If Acme is or does the same thing maybe they can draw in some business that way.

Funny enough, in my supermarket circular bundle this week, they goofed and enclosed 'Safeway' flyers instead of Acme (there are no Safeway branded stores where I am in PA..the closest overlap is down in Delaware, which is another puzzler). The ad is identical from what I can tell, and certainly isn't as strong as other competitors in this area. Idk what they are thinking running the same pricing as Safeway in MD/DC... The Safeway brand itself is pretty tainted in this area after they ruined Genuardi's.

My perception is that Weis and Giant-MD would be cheaper than Giant. It looks like the closest Walmart and Wegmans locations are in King of Prussia. I'm not sure I'd want to brave the traffic to get down there just save a small amount of money. Time does mean something these days.

Kop Is definitely a bit of a hike for routine grocery shopping. There is still a Lidl in Norristown/Trooper (the short lived KoP store is closing as of tomorrow the 16th). There was an old Division 1 Walmart almost next to where the East Norriton Weis (ex. Genuardi's) is, but it closed back in 2019. It had room to expand, but Idk if Weis or the shopping center owner didn't want them there, but the whole thing is now a brand new Amazon warehouse that has been sitting dormant for well over a year now).

And yes, much like the Trooper Acme, the East Norriton ShopRite has retained the 'Giant MD/Super G' layout for the mostpart. The store itself is definitely going to need some freshening up if/when Acme actually does take it over.

[storewanderer]

Just curious when was the last time Acme actually built a new store from the ground up?

It seems like store growth lately has involved moving into existing buildings...

Albertsons has done a little bit of that in other regions like that recently opened TX Albertsons and the a while ago opened Andronicos in Monterey, but it seems like 90%+ of new stores in other regions are new builds.

[mjhale]

Giant-MD/Super G's tag phrase back then was "The Quality Food People". That was on the front of almost every Giant-MD store that was built.

Anyone know what Shop N' Save used as a phrase then? (since the Super G's briefly became Shop N Save stores) Now this is bothering me lol.

I agree that Acme is expensive, comparable to the regular prices of Safeway down here in DC. Safeway has been running some really strong ads over the past few months. If Acme is or does the same thing maybe they can draw in some business that way.

Funny enough, in my supermarket circular bundle this week, they goofed and enclosed 'Safeway' flyers instead of Acme (there are no Safeway branded stores where I am in PA..the closest overlap is down in Delaware, which is another puzzler). The ad is identical from what I can tell, and certainly isn't as strong as other competitors in this area. Idk what they are thinking running the same pricing as Safeway in MD/DC... The Safeway brand itself is pretty tainted in this area after they ruined Genuardi's.

My perception is that Weis and Giant-MD would be cheaper than Giant. It looks like the closest Walmart and Wegmans locations are in King of Prussia. I'm not sure I'd want to brave the traffic to get down there just save a small amount of money. Time does mean something these days.

Kop Is definitely a bit of a hike for routine grocery shopping. There is still a Lidl in Norristown/Trooper (the short lived KoP store is closing as of tomorrow the 16th). There was an old Division 1 Walmart almost next to where the East Norriton Weis (ex. Genuardi's) is, but it closed back in 2019. It had room to expand, but Idk if Weis or the shopping center owner didn't want them there, but the whole thing is now a brand new Amazon warehouse that has been sitting dormant for well over a year now).

And yes, much like the Trooper Acme, the East Norriton ShopRite has retained the 'Giant MD/Super G' layout for the mostpart. The store itself is definitely going to need some freshening up if/when Acme actually does take it over.

It wouldn't surprise me if Shop N Save took down the Super G Logo on their exterior of the building but left everything else up. Shop N Save certainly didn't do much else on their interior of the buildings from what I remember. Any Super G logos that were around were covered up. Everything else, decor, fixtures, layout, were all left in place and reused. What Shop N Save did reminds me a lot of what Acme did when they took over all of the A&P and Pathmark locations. Very minimal changes only to cover the former's logos and keep the store going otherwise. The consent decree with the FTC said that Supervalu would run the stores as Shop N Save until they could sell them to other operators who would presumably use Supervalu as their wholesaler.

I have a suspicion that Albertsons is running the strong Safeway ads here in the DC area to see who gets more traffic, them or Kroger. One of the two of them presumably has to go if the merger goes through. Harris Teeter has always done a lot of BOGO and big loss leader sales to get people into the stores. Safeway has historically been very expensive with minimal ad savings. Initially Albertsons did bring down pricing but it only went up again, and dramatically, when inflation hit last year. It is only with their ads and "For U" offers that you can bring pricing down to a reasonable level. With the Philly area having the same ads as down here I wonder if Albertsons is grouping Acme and Safeway together as a potential group sale if the merger actually goes through. Kroger doesn't have any stores in PA anymore. However, assuming Kroger is the surviving entity of the merger, if they sold off Safeway and Acme they could expand with some banner into PA again. By the way, the few Safeway stores in Delaware are from the union claiming jurisdiction going back to the 1980s and before when Safeway had a good group of stores in Delaware and the eastern shore. Those stores closed when Safeway went through the leveraged in the 1980s. When Safeway went back around the time of the Genuardi's buyout that is when the union got involved.