Acme Fresh Market - History

History

Fred W. Albrecht, a native of Massillon, Ohio, started in the grocery business when he gained control of his brother’s local store. In 1891, he opened his own store in Akron, called Albrecht's Grocery. After a visit to Philadelphia, and seeing their local "Acme" grocery chain, Albrecht soon renamed his small corner grocery store to "Acme". He also changed his business to conduct only cash sales. More Acme Cash Stores soon opened around the Akron area, reaching 40 locations by 1918. After ceasing home-delivery operations, Albrecht renamed his stores once again to “Acme Cash Basket Stores.” Acme grew to over 100 stores, both large and small, by the 1930s.

The Great Depression and World War II brought a decline in consumer behavior, and caused Acme to halt its expansion. Following the war, Acme began to experiment in the Supermarket business, opening their first such location in 1952. In 1966, the 75th anniversary of the business, the last of the small corner stores was closed.

In 1965, Acme opened a subsidiary retail chain called Click. The Click stores were department stores with a full sized Acme grocery store under one roof. The first Acme-Click store was in Stow (currently Fresh Market #17). In the 1970s, Acme joined with Youngfellow Pharmacy to open Y-Mart stores, a chain of pharmacy/convenience stores similar to Walgreens. After new competition entered the area, the Click stores were renamed Acme Super Centers in the early 1990s. The Y-Mart stores were renamed Acme Express in 1996. At the end of the 1990s, the Super Centers and Express stores were closed. Some of the Super Centers were converted into Acme Fresh Markets, while others were sold. The Acme Express stores were sold to CVS/pharmacy. This was part of the company's effort to downsize and rebrand the remaining stores as Acme Fresh Market.

There are currently fifteen Acme Fresh Market stores, one franchise store, an additional pharmacy, as well as two RSVP Food and Party Outlet locations.