Original Tenant: ACME Markets
Address: 318 NJ-33, Mercerville, Hamilton, NJ
Address: 318 NJ-33, Mercerville, Hamilton, NJ
Opened: early 1960s
Closed: 1993
Later Tenants: Smith's Ace Hardware / Party Fair
Photographed: January 2021
The ACME of Mercerville, at NJ-33 and Quakerbridge Rd, opened in the late 1950s or early 1960s and closed in 1993 when the replacement store opened just east on NJ-33. I was not aware, by the way, when I visited, that the ACME was actually both the Ace Hardware space and the neighboring Party Fair for a combined total of 25,000 square feet. It used to be more obvious before the facade renovation. It also looks like that facade renovation included an expansion of the Ace Hardware out to the left side, making me think that whole space was previously the ACME. I didn't go into the hardware store nor the Party Fair, but I doubt there are any ACME remnants inside either. At the east end of the strip mall was an A&P, later SuperFresh, which was constructed separately and then later the middle of the strip was built connecting the two anchors. Tomorrow, we move just to the north along Quakerbridge Rd, the cross street on NJ-33 here, to see a recently-closed supermarket here on Grocery Archaeology!
While I was unable to ascertain an exact closing date for this Acme, I did find out that it opened on July 25, 1956. According to the next day's edition of The Philadelphia Inquirer, this store was the "28th Acme of 1956 to open its doors to the public." The article in the Inquirer also contained some more fascinating information: "The store, with 19,200 square feet of space and parking for 192 cars, has every modern convenience and facility, including a lobster tank for the selection of live crustaceans."
ReplyDeleteAnd although it is hard to tell based on historic aerial images, this Acme may have been slightly expanded between 1970 and 1979.
--A&P Fan
Awesome, thanks for sharing!
Delete