After decades as an A&P store, the barrier island’s only supermarket morphed into an Acme this week, with a construction crew taking down the large A&P sign on Route 35, as well as on the store’s front facade.
Acme purchased the store after A&P declared bankruptcy this summer, resulting in the closure of three other company-owned supermarkets on the mainland – a Pathmark in Toms River and a Pathmark and A&P store Brick. Of the four stores, only the Ortley Beach store will survive under new ownership. The mainland stores will close later this month.
The Ortley Beach store closed for a few days in order to be restocked by Acme. The supermarket remains looking essentially identical – inside and out – and only the signage signaled the change. The store’s pharmacy section will remain open under the Acme banner.
The former Acme store, known as the “Seaside Heights Acme” stood essentially in the same location as the current store. It was opened as a sister-store to the Long Beach Island Acme which – coincidentally – was torn down earlier this year and replaced with a much larger building. After the original Acme closed, A&P (which already had a presence near the same site) built the current store, which is ironically now turning into an Acme.
According to the Acme Style blog, the original Acme and A&P stores may – at one time – have co-existed. The sign that remains in the parking lot today is a leftover from the original Acme store.
![](https://lavallette-seaside.shorebeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/shorebeat_v3_logo.png)
Advertisement
![The Hugh J. Boyd elementary school in Seaside Heights, 2023. (Photo: Shorebeat)](https://lavallette-seaside.shorebeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/boyd_school_seaside_heights_1739-80x80.jpg)
Seaside Heights & Seaside Park
Seaside Heights School Board Seeking More Participation, Will Change Meeting Times
![John Marrone (Photo: Ocean County Jail)](https://lavallette-seaside.shorebeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Marrone-80x80.jpg)
Police, Fire & Courts
Seaside Park Man, 68, Charged in Fatal Crash With Pedestrian
![Acme, Ortley Beach (Photo: Daniel Nee)](https://lavallette-seaside.shorebeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/IMG_4637.jpg)
Ortley Beach & North Beaches
Lottery Ticket Worth $10K Sold at Ortley Beach Acme
![The home on Middle Sedge Island, Barnegat Bay, Toms River, N.J., May 2024. (Photo: Shorebeat)](https://lavallette-seaside.shorebeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/middle_sedge_hankins_island_lavallette_nj_barnegat_bay_toms_river_1805-80x80.jpg)
Ortley Beach & North Beaches
Abandoned Private Island ‘Mansion’ in Barnegat Bay Poised for Demolition
![Seaside Park's repainted water tank, May 2024. (Photo: Shorebeat)](https://lavallette-seaside.shorebeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/dji_fly_20240517_153528_302_1715974629501_photo_optimized-80x80.jpg)