Could the Former Acme Get a New Tenant Soon?

The former Acme store in Limerick Crossing has stood empty for two years, since its closure in January 2011. The 58,000-square-foot store sits in a prime location for shopping, but due to issues with its parent company, Supervalu, the current landlords couldn't pursue new tenants. 

The March sale of five of Supervalu's grocery store chains will hopefully allow the process of finding a tenant to start moving again, said Brandolini Companies president Fred Snow during Tuesday's Limerick Township Board of Supervisors meeting. 

"For the last two years, we didn't have legal control of the place," Snow said. "Now we can pursue some new tenants."

Supervalu didn't want other grocery store chains to be able to compete in ertain markets, and, according to Snow, that resulted in a failed deal to put a Shop-Rite in the former Collegeville Acme.

Snow said Supervalu sold the five chains, which include Acme, Albertson's, Jewel-Osco, Star Market and Shaw's, to a New York investment group called Cerberus Capital Management. 

According to a Yahoo! Business article, the deal was for $100 million cash and Cerberus will assume $3.2 billion in debt from Supervalu.

Supervisor Thomas Neafcy mentioned Trader Joe's, which is a popular choice whenever empty storefronts are mentioned. 

Snow said that unfortunately Trader Joe's only looks for spaces that are between eight and ten thousand square feet, and the former Acme is much larger. 

Whole Foods was also brought up, and Snow said that Whole Foods is a company they would like to pursue. 

"The 422 corridor isn't a place they're looking at right now," Snow said, but added that Brandolini already has a relationship with Whole Foods via their store in Jenkintown and they do plan to approach them.

Now that the Brandolini Companies are able to work on getting a new tenant , hopefully the township will see a new business move into the shopping center soon.