Acme Confirms 4 Store Closures in N.Y. Metro Area

Acme Markets confirmed the chain would be closing four stores in coming months—all of them former A&P or Pathmark stores in the New York-New Jersey metro area that had been acquired in the A&P bankruptcy action four years ago.

Stores in Weehawken, N.J.; Woodcliff Lake, N.J.; and Elmwood Park, N.J., are to close on or by Oct. 2, Dana Ward, a spokeswoman for the Malvern, Pa.-based division of Albertsons Cos. confirmed to WGB. The Scarsdale, N.Y., location is expected to close by Nov. 4.

In a statement, Ward said the units had not met sales goals and the decision to close came after a routine evaluation of its store base.

“Like all retailers, we are constantly evaluating our store portfolio and have to look at every angle of the business. These stores have not met our goals for a number of years, and we have made the decision to deploy the team and resources to other locations to serve our customers. Closing a store is always a tough decision, but we remain focused on growing our business and reinvesting those resources into our existing stores along with aggressively exploring other new sites."

Acme acquired all four of the closing stores—the Weehawken and Elmwood Park sites had originally been Pathmark stores, while the Woodcliff Lake and Scarsdale units had operated under the A&P banner—from A&P when that chain sold its stores in a 2015 bankruptcy auction. The acquisition extended the Acme brand from its Philadelphia base into the New York metro area, where it had scant presence previously.

The stores have also faced new competition since the acquisition. Whole Foods Market, for example, opened earlier this month in Weehawken, and a Wegmans in Montvale, N.J., opened in 2017, affecting the Woodcliff Lake site.

Ward said associates at the affected stores would have the opportunity to transfer to open positions at nearby stores. “We look forward to continuing to provide our customers with clean, fresh, full and friendly shopping experiences,” she said.

Separately this week, Lidl U.S. reportedly confirmed plans to build a new store at the site of an Acme that closed in 2017 in Lawrenceville, N.J., near Princeton.