Life Without the Bryn Mawr Acme: Week Three

When I agreed to start a Patch.com blog, I did not intend to spend so much time talking about the closing of the Bryn Mawr Acme.  However, food acquisition is important to me and to many, if not most, people, and I’m still adjusting almost three weeks later.

I’ve experimented a bit myself and I’ve heard from others that they’re roaming the neighboring towns  --  especially those who have no transportation of their own and are dependent on friends for rides.  One woman I met on the street has gone to Media because of her volunteer driver’s preference!

My husband and I and a neighbor found the Narberth Acme welcoming and well-stocked at the time of our first visit.  The larger size means additional shelf space for items not carried in Bryn Mawr.  One drawback is the additional travel time (at least 1/2 hour we could have spent pursuing other activities had we been able to shop in Bryn Mawr), especially if items we seek are out of stock.  They were out of a favorite item on our last trip and we ended up taking a side trip to Super Fresh in Wynnewood on our way back to Bryn Mawr from Narberth.  Another drawback is the difficulty of traveling 15 minutes in summer heat with ice cream!  We forgot our cooler and ice packs on our second trip and ended up paying $20 for a cooler we didn’t need.  Ice packs have proved inadequate to their task and on our third trip we spent $2 for a bag of ice which we then had to throw out once we got home.  This is getting expensive!

The Food Source in Bryn Mawr reported only four days after the Acme closing that they had seen an immediate increase in customer volume.  They have limited shelf space and tend not to carry mainstream products.  For instance, they carry egg whites but not Egg Beaters, soy patties but not Boca Burgers.  A request to their manager for expansion of their existing Skinny Cow ice cream selection was denied due to lack of shelf space but the good news is the requested items have been spied in the freezer from time to time in the last week!  At least some of the produce at the Food Source is near the same price as supermarkets so you need not worry about potatoes, onions, celery and lettuce.  If you have no alternative, you will manage by shopping at the Food Source until the new Acme opens.  It may cost you a little more, but you can’t beat the convenience.

Entirely by accident, I chanced upon Wegmans in Malvern. I met a friend there to chat in their food court because it is approximately 1/2 way between her house in Chester Springs and mine in Bryn Mawr.  I took a tour while there and was gobsmacked by the low low prices.  My Skinny Cow 5.8 oz. caramel cone ice cream containers were only $ .99 on sale (usually $1.49 instead of $1.79 at Acme) and my Skinny Cow caramel truffle popsicles were only $4.39 for 6 instead of $6.39.  I wouldn’t want to travel 35 minutes (13 - 19 miles from Bryn Mawr depending on the route), pay for the gas and deal with the refrigeration issues too often, but my husband can swing by there on the way home from a meeting in Hershey’s Mill once/month and it may be worth the extra effort.

I discovered that Genuardi’s in Wynnewood delivers orders placed online.  The first order over $50 is free and for the most part the more you buy, the less delivery costs.  There are lots of coupons available that decrease delivery cost as well.  This could be especially handy for several apartment dwellers without transportation who join together for a large order.  Arrangements for receiving the delivery vary.  The more slack you allow (a four-hour window rather than a one-hour window, for instance) the cheaper the delivery [http://local.genuardis.com/pa/wynnewood-3038.html].

In addition, I also learned that MainLineDelivery.com will pick up your order from a long list of local restaurants and deliver it to your home for a fee ranging from $2.99 for Tiffin to $6.99 for Gullifty’s.  Not intended to replace shopping for your own groceries, but nice to have available if you’re starving, the weather is bad and you have no transportation or friends to give you a ride!

What are YOU doing to cope?