Tour: Pathmark - Wilmington, Delaware

Courtesy of Catnapped Retail Central (archived)

Well, well, well... what do we have here? An old school Pathmark? In Delaware? Untouched since the 90s? Yes.

We've covered the other Wilmington Pathmark on the blog before, but this is the Kirkwood Plaza location, which is not only older but also a bit more interesting than the one on Lancaster Avenue.

The store has quite the produce department, but once again, that would go for any Pathmark, with the Produce being positioned in the middle of the store for maximum visibility and therefore profitability.

The cases are looking a little bit dated here in 2014, but it gets the job done just fine. It blends very nice with the 90s decor, complete with the checkerboard. No, not the A&P checkerboard from the 90s Foodmarket decor. Not the ACME version, either. 

"Was checkerboard styling big in the 90s?" asked no one, ever. There's nothing more 90s than a good old checkerboard pattern. We can see even more checkerboard here in Aisle 1, which is paper products in just about every Pathmark ever (besides maybe a few A&P-opened Sav-A-Center models).

Heading back towards the produce department we can get a glimpse of the front end here, which seems to be a bit cluttered with promotional items. Take note of the Customer Services sign in the distance, obviously taken from a closed store in the Path to Savings era.

Meats line the back wall of the store along with your usual seafood, deli, and just a dash of dairy. More Path to Savings signs are at the meat counter here, no big surprises, but still a neat part of Pathmark history.

I never got why all of the Pathmark logo signs in these stores were obviously embellished by the 3D letters, but why did they choose to disguise them? The first time I ever saw this decor I thought "oh, is it THAT old that the signs faded THAT much?" but at this point, I've seen more of these 'faded' Pathmark logos in stores than painted ones, like we saw in Aisle 1 here in Wilmington.

Dairy and the Bakery cap off this corner here, with not too bad of a selection of baked goods for an older store. I'm not sure whether it was the time of day these photos were taken, or if the service bakery is just closed for good.

Beverages & Snacks just to the right of the Bakery here, with quite a selection of America's Choice sodas on the left... and hey, cheap water! 

As I was writing this very line, I was thinking of implementing a cringe-worthy joke, but then I said to myself, "No, don't do it. It's too cheap of a shot. Don't go for it."

So here it is:
"There's so much America's Choice in this photo that Sav-A-Lot wants to buy the brand!"

I immediately have regrets.

Can we forget that 'joke' ever happened? Anyways, the store seems to be bustling with customers. I'm not entirely sure where this store fell on A&P's profitability list, but it was later picked up as one of 75 stores to be acquired by ACME Markets in the final bankruptcy in 2015, and later remodeled the store.

Let's take a closer look at that Path to Savings Customer Services sign... along with some older, but definitely not ancient, self checkouts on either side here. 

In the days of those ridiculous 'produce charts' and 'item finders' on the new NCR self checkouts, I'm glad that this Fujitsu still uses the PLU codes for produce. They may seem like a hassle to some customers, but for those who do know it, like me and likely any former cashier or retail enthusiast, it is a dream. Bananas - 4011, Asparagus - 4080, Iceberg Lettuce - 4061, Orange Bell Peppers - 3121; the list goes on and on.

So long, Pathmark of Kirkwood Plaza. Thanks again to Catnapped Retail Central for these amazing photos! 

Stay tuned for more store tours and posts next week!

Pathmark of Kirkwood Plaza

4365 Kirkwood Hwy

Wilmington, DE

Pathmark > ACME Markets

Photographed 2014