ACME | Seaville, NJ

2087 Shore Rd.

Welcome to the Seaville ACME!

Isn't it funny how two weeks ago, we were at the Seville Square Publix, and now we're 1,000 miles away at the Seaville Square ACME? Seriously! This store is much more established than that one, though. ACME opened here on April 13, 1988, as the second anchor of the center after Jamesway opened in 1986. Here's an interesting local newspaper article from the day before this store opened. The company promoted this location as a "Super ACME" -- at the time, it was the largest store they'd ever opened -- and it featured amenities like video rental, photo developing, pizza, ATMs (or should I say "tap MAC"), and an in-house cosmetician. It was also the first supermarket in Upper Township, and remains the only one today. That, coupled with it being close to the shore (it's practically right next to the Garden State Parkway), make this a very busy ACME. So let's see it!

The produce department is to our left. This section has the faux windows, but I don't believe it ever had the Red White & Blue decor with which that was standard. Either way, that decor mostly went into new-build stores in the 1990s. On a related note, this is one of not many ACMEs that opened in the 1980s, and one of fewer still that's still open (other locations like Elberon and Williamstown are long closed). Mostly they were focused on remodeling old stores.

The grand aisle continues with Fresh Baked. I always love seeing the Carvel cakes, because they make me think of my grandma who would always buy them. Although pretty much every supermarket has them (and we even have some standalone Carvel stores in the Northeast), they always make me think of ACME for some reason.

Packaged meats are in the corner and continue onto the back wall. If you read my last post, then I should mention that "Lunch Meats" is clearly winning the battle.

The lack of capitalization of "fresh" tells us that this is a more recent Quality Built remodel (the store previously had PF&H 2.0). Obviously, the "s" in "fresh" is not quality-built.

Here in the dairy department, you can get a much better look at the original '80s flooring in its great condition!

Here's a picture of the hallway to the bathrooms. Obviously this was the perfect place to sell a random assortment of on-sale health items.

Aisle 16 is home to bread and dairy. I'm not sure why that angled wood paneling is there on the wall. I've never seen anything like that in an ACME.

If you really wanted to know exactly how the retro floor looks in this store, then you'll love this picture.

Not the best picture of the pharmacy... but there's not much to see there, anyway.

Faintly, you can see the end of "Thank you for shopping at your Smithville ACME!"

Other Images of Interest

Street View Images

2019

Clearly, I visited the store on a much more beautiful day than this! I took these pictures last July after taking the ferry back from Lewes.

I hope you enjoyed this store! Overall, it's a pretty average store, but it does have some interesting decor remnants. I'm sure this store will continue to operate for years down the line. Like I said, it really doesn't have any competition! The next closest supermarket is the ShopRite of Marmora, which is 5 miles away and really not worth going to if you're anywhere south of Ocean City. Well, until next time. Have a wonderful Easter! Sincerely, DelValRetail.

Winn-Dixie | South Pasadena, FL

6851 Gulfport Blvd. S.

Welcome to the South Pasadena Winn-Dixie!

Obviously, the Sunshine State isn't always the best nickname for Florida. The weather was definitely not very nice at the South Pasadena Winn-Dixie when I visited last May. But it's OK, because the store itself is incredibly interesting! There's a reason that Albertsons Florida Blog has nicknamed it the Family Choice 'n Karry Sweet-Dixie. Before we go inside, let's review the store's very convoluted history. The first supermarket to operate in this building was The Family Mart, which opened its first Florida location here on February 14, 1978. The Family Mart was the new Southeast division of A&P, a chain we're quite familiar with on the blog; the store opened not long after A&P closed its locations in  Pinellas County. This came at a time when A&P was experimenting with a number of new store names, including Plus and SuperFresh in addition to The Family Mart. In 1987, the Florida locations were sold to Kroger, which renamed them to a new banner, Florida Choice. That was far more short-lived, and Kash n' Karry (a chain actually based in Florida) bought all of this area's locations in 1988. Sometime between 2004 and 2007, this store became Sweetbay Supermarket, the new name for Kash n' Karry that owner Delhaize slowly rolled out across Florida. In 2013, as Sweetbay winded down operations, this store and 71 other locations were sold to Bi-Lo Holdings and converted to Winn-Dixie in 2014. Now the nickname kind of makes sense, right? Well, I'm ready to get out of the pouring rain, so let's go inside! And did I mention that the decor is still from Sweetbay??

The neighborhood deli and bake shop are to our left after entering the store. The decor doesn't look too dated in this shot, but it really is over 20 years old! This is what the store was remodeled to whenever it converted from Kash n' Karry to Sweetbay in the mid-2000s. To see a Winn-Dixie with a much newer decor package, check out New Smyrna Beach -- the only other one I've ever been to!

The produce market continues the grand aisle on the left side of the store. The department has obviously been downsized in recent years, with bread now under one of the "Produce Market" signs. Either that or Winn-Dixie has a very loose definition of produce.

Fresh dairy is in the corner. I really like this decor, honestly! It's definitely 2000s-styled, but I think it's somewhat timeless. It isn't in terrible condition, either.

The seafood and meat departments are side-by-side on the back wall. The "Beef People" sign above the meat counter is one of the few changes Winn-Dixie made upon moving into the store. Obviously, Sweetbay wouldn't have dared to call themselves that! Although, WD did make it fit right into decor that they didn't even design.

From this angle, the store doesn't look like it was ever anything but a Winn-Dixie! These aisle markers are from the chain's newest decor package. They were installed in 2023 shortly after Winn-Dixie's sale to Aldi was announced (thanks Albertsons Florida Blog for that information!).

"Lunchmeat" follows the service meat counter on the back wall. I always find it interesting to see what grocery stores will call this section. They could say "Packaged Meats," "Lunch Meat," "Deli Meat," or even "Cold Cuts" in the Northeast. I've never seen "lunchmeat" as one word, though. Anyway... that white wall to the right is where the pharmacy was. All Winn-Dixie Pharmacy locations closed by the end of 2023. Kind of an odd place for a pharmacy, in my opinion. I do know that this store had a pharmacy going all the way back to when it was The Family Mart, but I don't know how much of their original layout still exists today.

The right side of the store is home to the HABA department. When Albertsons Florida Blog went to this store a few years ago, there was signage that said "Heath and Beuty." Obviously Winn-Dixie has since realized it isn't worth keeping that decaying sign on the wall. So now we just have pictures of people being healthy and beautiful!

The large customer service counter is in the front corner on this side. There's an alternative entrance to the store near here, too.

And a look at the checkout lanes along the front end as we leave this store. It seems like the "Thank You for Shopping" is from Sweetbay, and "your neighborhood Winn-Dixie" is from, well, you know who. But that could be completely and totally wrong.

Other Images of Interest

Street View Images

2026

Here you can see that side entrance.

2009

And here you can see the store when it was a Sweetbay. As you can see, the logo is somewhat similar to Hannaford, another Delhaize-owned chain in New England.

That's all there is to say about this store! At least in the context of how it was when I took these pictures in May 2025. According to an August article from local newsmagazine St. Pete Rising, this store will be converted to Aldi in the near future. Aldi acquired Winn-Dixie back in 2024, with plans to convert many locations to their own name and format. More recently, Aldi sold the Winn-Dixie brand and 170 locations back to a new company called The Winn-Dixie Company, while retaining the remaining stores (including this one). With that being said, I'm really glad that I was able to see this store and its old decor, which Aldi obviously will not be keeping. Thank you for reading! DelValRetail: Bring More Good Home.

Publix | St. Petersburg, FL

 

3050 54th Ave S.

Welcome to the Seville Square Publix!

...it sure has been a while! I had figured that it was time for a break after 79 continuous weeks of posts. No, I haven't moved to Florida in the meantime --- I was just visiting --- but it's a "pleasure" to be back with not just a Publix, but my first Publixsons! This store originally opened as a Skaggs-Albertsons on February 11, 1976, being St. Petersburg's second location of the chain, and was renamed to Albertsons in 1977. In the early 2000s, the store received a new facade, an attached liquor store, and an interior renovation to the extravagant and incredible Grocery Palace decor (also known as Acme Theme Park). On June 9, 2008, it was announced that this Albertsons would be one of 49 locations in Florida sold to Publix, the dominant supermarket chain in the state (at the time of the sale, they had 54% of the market share in Florida; the next closest was Winn-Dixie, with 15%, and Albertsons had just 2%). Albertsons left the building in late 2008, and Publix opened on January 15, 2009. Publix refreshed the decor before opening, repainting the walls and adding Classy Market 2.0 signs. Around 2016, the store got an update again to the Classy Market 3.0 decor; but, as we'll see, the remodel wasn't nearly as thorough as is typical with Publix stores.

This store has two entrances, both of which are on the left side of the building. As we enter, we see the "welcome to Publix" sign, the pickup area for mobile orders, and various promotional items. But, more importantly, we see the remnants of the Albertsons Grocery Palace decor! Amazingly, Publix left up all of the crown molding and other wall decor, simply repainting and hanging up their own signage. In the Albertsons days, the Reading Center would have been in this area (along the front wall of the store, behind where I took this picture), and possibly Starbucks Coffee (if this store had that).

In typical Grocery Palace fashion, the pharmacy is on an island as we enter the grand aisle. Here's an image of how this area would've looked when this store was an Albertsons. Although, the pharmacy in this store would've been branded as Albertsons, not Osco. For some reason, Publix doesn't use the window that shoppers see as they enter the store, instead having the counter in the back of the island.

Publix's famous deli and bakery departments, as well as the produce section -- which I don't understand to be as well-known -- make up the left side of the store. I love all black and white cookies, but Publix's are the absolute best, so I highly recommend them if you ever happen to stop in their bakery.

The meat cases are on the back wall beyond the produce department. Obviously, the wood panels are an Albertsons leftover. Also, I always find it interesting that Publix uses white cases. They look new and dated at the same time.

Canned foods, beans, and other Great Depression-esque foods can be found in aisle 3. This is probably the most Publix-looking shot in the entire tour, considering the aisle marker and flooring are both courtesy of them.

Here are the meat and seafood counters.

Wood paneling continues as we enter the former International Deli. As Albertsons Florida Blog pointed out, Publix doesn't have signage for this part of the store, but the selection is generally the same as it would have been at Albertsons.

The frozen food section looms behind a nice Expressions by Hallmark section near the front of the store.

Dairy and frozen foods can be found in the last few aisles of the store, with the very last aisle being under a lower ceiling. That was also a feature of Grocery Palace stores, though this store likely had an altered version because it was a remodel, not purpose-built. If you hadn't noticed, this store has a drop ceiling, while new-build stores had an exposed ceiling.

Wine is in the front corner of the store. Beer is in one of the middle aisles, but I didn't take a picture of it. You aren't missing a lot. The wine section was definitely favored in terms of visual appeal.

The customer service desk can be found on the front end, as is customary. In Grocery Palace, even something as simple as the customer service sign was elaborate and intricate.

Checkouts continue down the front end. I really like those 95 Years bags. Publix's official 95th anniversary was on September 6, 2025 (these pictures are from May). Also, now may be the time to tell you about my dream of retiring to Florida and working as a Publix bagger during the summer.

A look at floral, which is connected to the Publix Pharmacy department.

Here's a look at the Publix Liquors store, which is part of the main building. I was going to take pictures inside, but it wasn't very interesting at all, so I didn't.

Other Images of Interest

Street View Images

2026

The funny thing is that this image is newer than the rest of them -- I took these pictures and wrote everything up to here back in May 2025! At least we can see that not much as changed since I went.

2011

It certainly has changed since 2011, though. A much more vibrant color scheme back then.

2008

 And here's the store back when it was an Albertsons! It's not the best quality (being a 2008 Street View image), but I figured this is probably the only time I'll ever have an image of an Albertsons on this blog, so it's fine. This was in March 2008 -- just three months before it was announced that the store would become a Publix.

And that's all! This was my third Publix post, and definitely my most interesting! Unless I make it to the Yardville ACME (and assuming that store still has its original decor), this is probably the closest I'll come to seeing Grocery Palace in person. I hope you enjoyed this post! Next time, we'll be at the Winn-Dixie in nearby South Pasadena, which somehow has an even more storied history! The Retail Connection: Where Shopping is a Pleasure.