BATH TWP.: House-smoked meats, grind-your-own peanut butter and local honey on tap are just a few of the food delights awaiting customers at the newly renovated Acme Fresh Market in the Montrose area.
The store, at 3979 Medina Road, has undergone a $3 million expansion and renovation, which culminated in a grand opening celebration Monday evening.
Acme’s store now covers 103,000 square feet and includes several new and expanded departments.
It grew into 10,000 square feet of space that had been part of its neighbor, Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft, which downsized into a more compact format.
The store has a new emphasis on prepared foods, with daily dinner deals and a salad bar. The deli features a smoker, where meats, such as beef brisket and turkey breast, are smoked in-house. Acme Marketing Director Katie Swartz said it’s not just meats that are smoked, noting how smoked macaroni and cheese and smoked baked beans are part of the prepared foods lineup.
The bakery and floral areas have been redesigned to greet customers as they enter the store, and they showcase the work of Acme employees. Customers can watch as cakes are being decorated.
Behind the floral department is an expanded selection of party supplies, cards, and for the first time, a complete line of Wilton cake-decorating supplies.
The amount of space devoted to prepared foods and natural and organic foods has doubled, Acme Executive Vice President Jim Trout said.
“Our goal was to create a world-class shopping experience at Montrose, and I feel like our customers are going to say just that,” he said.
There is now an extensive bulk foods section that includes several flavors of honey on tap, including New Jersey Blueberry Honey, as well as a local clover honey from a Medina County apiary.
The expanded seafood department has live lobster and whole fresh fish, as well as more exotic seafoods, such as octopus.
Getting the biggest expansion in the store was the wine department, which doubled in size and was designed to have the feel of a high-end wine store within the grocery store.
As a nostalgic touch, the new store includes a restored mechanical pony named Cheerio, which children can ride for only 10 cents.
Trout said the company will complete its new store in Green later this year, and next year hopes to embark on a similar renovation at Acme No. 1, its West Akron store.
Lisa Abraham can be reached at 330-996-3737 or at labraham@thebeaconjournal.com. Find me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter @akronfoodie or visit my blog at www.ohio.com/blogs/lisa. Betty Lin-Fisher can be reached at 330-996-3724 or blinfisher@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/blinfisherABJ and see all her stories at www.ohio.com/betty.
