Acme Markets will close its lone Dover store.
Acme announced on April 27th plans to close stores in Lansdale, PA; King of Prussia, PA; and Dover. The stores are expected to close by June 8.
“Closing a store is always a tough decision, but we are focused on growing our business and reinvesting those resources into our existing stores along with aggressively exploring new sites,” stated Dana Ward, senior communications coordinator for Acme. “We look forward to continuing to provide our customers with clean, fresh, full, and friendly shopping experiences. Associates who are interested in remaining with the company will have the opportunity to transfer to open positions at other stores.”
The unit of Idaho-based Albertson’s has closed older stores over the years in a market area that includes Philadelphia and adjacent areas of Delaware, New Jersey and Maryland.
The company has always played up its Philadelphia roots that include sponsorships with the Eagles NFL team.
Albertson’s also has four Safeway stores in Delaware, including one in Dover. A Safeway and Acme are located across from one another in north Wilmington, leading to speculation that the company may reduce its store count.
The company plans to expand in the drug store business with the purchase of a large chunk of the Rite Aid chain. Walgreens is selling off stores to meet antitrust concerns.
Acme expanded a few years ago with the purchase of store sites from the now-defunct Pathmark chain but has faced stiff competition from Shoprite, a cooperative with local store owners.
Shoprite has grabbed a large chunk of the Bear-Glasgow market in Delaware by opening in former Superfresh and Safeway locations.
To date, Shoprite has not expanded beyond northern Delaware.
Dover has long been a difficult market for grocers, with chains coming and going.
However, Pennsylvania-based Redner’s has found a niche in the Dover area with a trio of stores.
Another formidable competitor for Acme is Walmart, which has a distribution center in nearby Smyrna and operates two Supercenters in the Dover area.
