ACME Buys Super Fresh: Can O.C. Sustain 2 ACMEs?

The Super Fresh grocery store at Eighth Street and West Avenue in Ocean City, N.J., will remain open and operate as usual during bankruptcy proceedings. ACME purchased the store in a deal expected to be fully approved in the fall. ACME Markets announced Monday that it will purchase the Super Fresh supermarket at Eighth Street and West Avenue in Ocean City, NJ, and 75 other grocery stores in the Mid-Atlantic region owned by A&P. A&P filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on July 19. ACME already owns and operates a supermarket at 34th Street and Simpson Avenue in Ocean City. The purchase must be approved by bankruptcy court and would not be final until the fall, and managers at both Ocean City stores said they did not know yet how the acquisition would affect local operations. A manager at Super Fresh, who said he could not comment further, said only that the store will remain open in the short term. Super Fresh employs about 150 people, and employees know little more than what was announced at the corporate level. "The vast majority of our stores are operating normally and will be fully stocked during this process," A&P announced in a news release about the bankruptcy. "While some stores will close in the near-term, the vast majority will continue providing customers with the same high-quality products and exceptional customer service. We will also continue to honor all existing customer promotional and loyalty programs. Serving our customers has been and will continue to be our No. 1 priority." A manager at the 34th Street ACME said, "We're not allowed to speak about it at the store level," and referred questions to the corporate media relations department, which has not yet returned calls about whether the company would operate two ACMEs in Ocean City. Rumors about the closing of one or the other of Ocean City's supermarkets are annual events. The stores are situated about 2.75 miles apart, near the two gateways onto the island, which is home to as many as 150,000 people on peak summer weekends but only 11,701 year-round residents, according to the most recent U.S. Census. Some speculate that the 34th Street ACME location could be sold to become a "Super Wawa." Since first offering it 16 years ago, Wawa now has more than 400 locations that sell fuel. Ocean City Regional Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Michele Gillian said Wednesday that representatives of ACME have told the Chamber they tentatively plan to keep both stores open and to honor all Super Fresh contracts, even after the potential deal is finalized in the fall The Ocean City stores compete with ShopRite locations nearby on the mainland in Marmora and Somers Point. The official release on Monday said ACME entered into an agreement to acquire 76 A&P stores in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania under the A&P, Superfresh and Pathmark banners. The offer is subject to customary legal and bankruptcy court approvals, following A&P’s Chapter 11 filing on July 19, 2015, including the potential for higher bids to be submitted and anti-trust approval. A&P has asked the court for an order requiring other bidders to submit their bids by September 11, 2015, with an expectation that court approval for the sale of the stores would be received by October 15, 2015, according to a news release from ACME. ACME Markets operates 107 stores across Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and New Jersey. ACME was acquired by Albertsons Companies in 2013. ACME Markets began in 1891 when two friends, Samuel Robinson and Robert Crawford, opened a small neighborhood grocery store in South Philadelphia, emphasizing quality products, low prices, and friendly service, according to the news release. For a list of A&P, Superfresh and Pathmark stores purchased by ACME, please click here.