Remodeled Lawrenceville!

When we last saw the Lawrenceville store on the blog back in September 2014, the self-checkouts were being removed and rearranging had been underway in some departments. This was around the same time news broke that Acme had signed a new long-term lease here. The news was accompained by word that the landlord was going to make a huge investment into the shopping center. There's absolutely no sign of that ever happening. In fact, the center seems to have more vacancies than ever with the Acme the only store drawing any significant business. As mentioned in previous posts, there is intense competition on Route 1 including Wegmans, ShopRite, Whole Foods and Trader Joes all within close proximity to each other. The Acme happens to be just far enough south to enjoy a comfortable distance from the competitors. This is a surprisingly busy store especially considering its relatively small size. 

Ever since my visit in 2014, I've been planning to check back in to see if a remodel was in fact underway. Turns out it was! Sort of. This is one of those situations that I would call a refresh more that a remodel. Not a whole lot has changed beside the décor. That said, the store does look really good....


The Premium Fresh & Healthy version 3.0 décor has replaced the Chalkboard Market signage and color scheme.


The coffin cake case was replaced with upright refrigerators for the Bakery with enough room remaining for some additional cases for Produce. The Bakery sign here used to hang over the service counter but was moutned to this wall in recent years. Too bad they didn't give this perfectly good sign to the Lincroft store to replace their wacky Bakery sign.


The product images and fresh messages that normally accompany the department signs were not included here. Perhaps they were cut since they would be a bit overkill with all the new "Acme loves local" signage.




















The service departments would look a million times better if the back walls were tiled. Particularly with Seafood, it seems like we're looking into the back room.


The frozen food cases were updated years ago.


All of the former green sections of the ceiling have been painted white...






No department signage in the back section of Dairy, just a stunted aisle sign.




As mentioned in the last visit to Lawrenceville, the last aisle has been removed to give some much needed breathing room for Dairy. The grocery selection must have taken a pretty big hit since this wasn't a very large store to begin with.






The front-end didn't get much love during the remodel. The old register lights are still in place with some just about to fall over. The self-checkouts were located in this spot.