Negotiations between Acme and property owner Abe Oster ended with Oster refusing to renew the company's lease, and Acme looking for a new location.
"I just hope they get another Acme-type store back in there," said Councilman Fred Constantino last week. "People need it."
Acme has been in Secaucus for 40 years and is the only grocery store in the center of town. A Stop and Shop exists in the Mill Creek Mall, but it is not easily accessible for people who do not drive.
According to Acme spokesperson Walt Rubel, the two parties have been in negotiations for more than three years about renewing the lease. Originally, Acme approached Oster about expanding their store.
"We wanted to do a small expansion and redo the whole inside," Rubel said. "He wouldn't even negotiate with us." But Mayor Dennis Elwell said that Oster wouldn't agree to the expansion because he didn't want to put out tenants who had been there for years.
Councilman Fred Constantino said that in as much as Acme is a focal point for the town, the other stores in the shopping center are also central to the life of the town.
"If they did what the Acme wanted them to do, they might have had to get rid of the bagel place which is also a focal point," said Constantino. "Acme stood their ground, [and] now Oster is standing his ground."
According to Councilman Robert Kickey, it was speculated at a council meeting that Oster might be in negotiations with a CVS store.
Not as convenient
CVS, however, wouldn't serve the same niche that the Acme does. Residents feel that Acme is convenient for senior citizens and other residents who are unable to provide their own transportation.
"They cater to a senior's whims," said Constantino. "It's a very convenient location."
Councilman Michael Grecco said that the fate of Acme is not the issue as much as what replaces it. He is hoping for another market like Acme.
Elwell had a meeting with Mr. Oster and the Acme representatives five months ago, in which the store agreed to something more modest, but in the end, an agreement couldn't be reached.
"I expressed an interest to both Mr. Oster and to Acme Markets that it is imperative to the residents of Secaucus to have a store they could walk to and buy affordable food," said Elwell. "I tried to negotiate to see if I could convince them to come to some terms."
Unknown fate
Rubel said that Acme presently has no specific plans to relocate within Secaucus, although they are looking.
"There is no place to move to because there is no space," Rubel said. "We need 40,000 square feet minimum, but ideally as much as 55,000 square feet, and that's just the footprint of the store. It doesn't count parking spaces or anything else around the store."
Speculations were made at a previous council meeting that the Acme may look to replace the Stop and Shop or build a new building near the Mori Tract on Paterson Plank Road, across from Best Buy. According to Rubel, Acme is not considering the Stop and Shop, whose owners have not expressed any desire to move from the location.
Rubel said that proximity to another supermarket makes the Mori Tract an undesirable location for a supermarket, because the area does not have enough business to support both.
"It's not a good location for another supermarket," Rubel said. "To spend the $8 to $10 million it would take to build a new supermarket when there is a competitor right there would not make sense."
Mori Tract owner Gene Mori said that he is not actively talking to Acme, although he does have plans to build a major shopping center on the 60-acre parcel, and is talking to three developers about the concept.
Mori is working on having an entrance and exit built from Paterson Plank Road, and a connection from Park Place to West Side Avenue. Mori said that the Meadowlands Commission had to take property owner Hartz Mountain to court for refusing to build access to roads on property it owns.
Ultimately, the town cannot control what happens to the Acme.
"Oster has the lease on the property," said Kickey. "He's the landlord, and he controls who's there."
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