Local Flavor: Say that again?

We have a lot of grocery stores in south eastern PA. I prefer some over others. I know that I can only find certain items at certain stores, whereas some stores give me a better deal for my money over all. I have been known to go out of my way just to shop at MY grocery store (my store of choice happens to be the Giant on Downingtown Pike in West Chester. You can print your own labels for produce AND they have a BULK AISLE. Oh, and they have a 2-aisle Organic section. WHAT UP.)

Have you ever thought about the NAMES of your grocery stores, though? This thought occurred to me this morning, as I was slowly waking up and the haze was clearing from my brain. Why this thought occurred to me at this point in time, I have no idea. Perhaps I was mentally listing the things I had to pick up from the grocery store. Or maybe I was grocery shopping in my sleep (so sick). I have no excuse: how my mind works is a mystery (just ask my husband).

I was musing over the thought that we in SE PA are accustomed to the names of our grocery stores. We've never questioned them. We don't find them odd. We have embraced them without even a thought in our minds. But if I were an out-of-towner, I wonder if I might happen upon a certain store, and be like, "Um, whaaaa?"

Case in Point: ACME.

I've grown up living around Acme's. There are at least 3 in my immediate grocery-shopping proximity. My parents regularly shopped there for food when I was growing up. The name flew around our household when I was at a young age, so I never questioned it. It's a good store, with pretty good prices. I love their 10 for $10 deals (our ACME in West Chester actually has an entire 10 for $10 aisle. No lie).

But what if I didn't live around here? What if I were from Maine or Wisconsin or...some other place not close to here where they don't have ACME's? Apart from potentially seeing the label "Acme" on a brand of dynamite per Wyle E. Coyote and the Roadrunner (it was Acme brand dynamite, right?), I would wonder if that word, name, grocery store title would come across as weird.

I know, I may be overthinking this. And now that the sleep haze has all but left my head, I can be sure this is a stupid post. I'm just saying if I were from out of town, I'm not even sure I would know how to pronounce it correctly.

Ack-me?

Ace-mmm?

Ack-a-me (this is a trick one, as my mom [who was born and raised here] STILL refers to ACME as "Ack-a-me)

Ack-Um?

Ace-my?

See? If you hadn't been hearing this word since birth, it might be confusing. So, as I was stumbling to wake up this morning, I tried to step out of my SE PA shoes, and slip into some Washington State shoes (or, insert any other long-distance non-Acme state here). I imagined myself pulling into the Acme parking lot and looking up at it's namesake sign. And I concluded that the word even looks funny. A-C-M-E, like it's some sort of anagram.

Always Considerate and Monetarily Efficient

A+ Choice Most Evenings

All Consumers Must Eat

A Conscientious Marketing Experience

Artisan Choices Mucho Eatery

I have no idea. I've seen names for grocery stores in different regions of the country, and have found their titles to be strange. So I think it's a legitimate thought. Maybe not productive one, but a thought nonetheless.

What can I say? It's the thought I woke up to...

And if anyone REALLY knows where the name "Acme" comes from, can you let me know? It'll bug me until I find out...