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Doggy is asking for your donations! |

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Doggy is asking for your donations! |
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Cortland store last year |
Auburn - US 20 & NY 38A; now FlynnStoned
Cortland - N Main St/US 11 & NY 41
Liverpool (1) - Morgan & Buckley Rds
Amherst - Eggert Rd
Lackawanna - Ridge Rd
Jamestown - NY 60 & 394
Dunkirk - Central Ave; now Dollar General
Elmira - College Ave
Lancaster - NY 21
Lockport - NY 31
Niagara Falls (1) - US 62 (Niagara Falls Blvd)
Niagara Falls (2) - US 62 West (Pine Ave)
North Chili - NY 33
Orchard Park - NY 277
Rome - N James St
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If a bowling alley were in downtown Syracuse today |
Syracuse (Eastwood) (1) - NY 290, Eastwood Plaza; later a dance studio; now Yesteryear Antiques & Collectibles
Syracuse (Eastwood) (2) - NY 290 & now 598; Eastwood Sport Center; now Kinney Pharmacy; parking lot now Dunkin' and Papa Johns (previously ToGos)*
Syracuse (east side) (1) - NY 5 & 635; later Tilted Kilt; now KPot*
Syracuse (east side) (2) - NY 5; now Express Bottle Return
Syracuse (west side) - NY 5; now ALDI*
Auburn (1) - Pulaski St, Falcons Lanes
Auburn (2) - NY 5 & US 20, Starlite Lanes (as of April 2025)
Skaneateles - US 20, Cedar House Bowling Lanes; being rebuilt
North Syracuse - US 11, Bowling Green Lanes
Liverpool - Old Liverpool Rd, Lakeview Bowling Center
Central Square - NY 49, Green Acres Lanes
East Syracuse - Bowl-Mor Lanes, Highland Ave
*Demolished
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If Service Merchandise were open now. Courtesy Meta AI. |
deWitt/Fayetteville - Wegmans Plaza, NY 5 & 92; demolished for current Wegmans in 1994 and/or later Chase-Pitkin, American Signature Furniture, and Value City Furniture; now Hobby Lobby
Cicero - Marketplace Plaza/Mall, US 11 & E Circle Dr; demolished by 2002 for current plaza
Huntington
Massapequa - Sunrise Mall
Montgomery - NY 208; now Staples
Lawrence
Nanuet
Woodhaven
Lake Grove
Albany - Northway Mall, NY 5 (most likely; demolished by 2004; now Target et al)
Schenectady - NY 5
Wilton - Saratoga Mall, NY 50 & CR 102
Yorktown Heights - Jefferson Valley Mall, US 6 & NY 6N; now H&M
Henrietta - NY 252
Irondequoit - US/NY 104
Greece - US/NY 104
Kenmore - NY 384
Plattsburgh - Champlain Centre, CR 26
Fishkill - Dutchess Mall, US 9; closed 1995; now vacant
Kingston - US 9W
Poughkeepsie - South Hills Mall, US 9
New Hartford - NY 5A
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Small and pokey CVS in Glastonbury, CT from none other than Mike Mozart |
CVS/pharmacy have been struggling to regain relevance, much like their two main competitors. They've launched a new tactic by launching a dozen new locations that are just pharmacies and not much else. In CNY, they haven't had the best history and are sporadic in the region. In contrast, there have been stores without pharmacies (even Rite Aid had one in downtown Syracuse a block from a regular store [ex-Woolworth/now-DGX] and CVS/sans pharmacy [ex-kmart] in the old days). What CVS could do is have these truncated pharmacies in certain spots. One would be on SU Hill, where they have one last non-Rx location, which stuns newcomers to the area, who would have to go to Target or Manlius if they wish to have their scripts stay with CVS. Walgreens turned a former bank at Moyers Corners in Baldwinsville into a smaller store instead of converting the old Fays turned Rite Aid to cut costs, which is now Planet Fitness, so maybe CVS could do the same thing, and there'd even be a drive-thru at the ready that can be converted for pharmacy use. These mini-pharmacies could open where there isn't one nearby, which would help seniors and others without transport since the mail and even Amazon aren't always reliable. On Syracuses near west side, CVS briefly took over an indie, which was small by current standards for a regular store, yet Walgreens closed a few blocks away, leaving another local place to fill the vacuum. On the east side, Fays Cornerdrug were in the Madison Irving medical building at the foot of the hill, which I think had a pharmacy and just a few things, yet we covered them earlier already, since they also bought out mom and pop stores, mostly in small towns.
They say less is more, and it'll be a little more challenging to come up with austere express locations for CVS since I tried for the usual, but events of the past several years have made growth difficult. They just can't be near Target or other pharmacy chains, of course. Maybe this could work. Just think smaller.
Syracuse (east side) - former Marine Midland/Key Bank; E Adams St
Syracuse (downtown) - former Sibleys/RKO Keith; S Salina St
Syracuse (north side) - Destiny USA; one of various hallway vacancies
Syracuse (south side) - former Acme/Carls/Fays/Dollar Tree; Turnpike Centre; NY 173 & 80
Canastota - former Family Dollar; NY 5 & 13 and CR 25 (since they won't open a full-fledged store in the former Rite Aid/Walgreens across the street)
Liverpool - former Café 407; Tulip St (no pharmacy in village since indie on CR 57 closed in the '90s)
Auburn - Fingerlakes Mall; NY 5 & US 20 (past location, with or without pharmacy)
deWitt - former Party City (part); Marshalls Homegoods Plaza; NY 5 (full-fledged store was in Shoppingtown until late '70s when replaced by Fays)
Westvale - former Tops/P&C (part); Westvale Plaza; NY 5 (Target up W Genesee St in Fairmount, yet no pharmacy in plaza since Fays closed in 1997 and store became Family Dollar)
Brewerton - US 11 (vacant property listed on Facebook Marketplace)
Mattydale - former Eckerd/Rite Aid/Walgreens; US 11 & Malden Rd (even though it could be a full-sized store; this part of town has been weak in retail in recent years, but more on that another day)
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Classic red mansard roof design in Saratoga County in the Capital Region, 2014. |
Pizza Hut aren't as big as they once were. So many have closed over the past few decades in CNY alone. I have to dig through my mental archive again for this one. They remain in East Syracuse, Liverpool, Cicero, Auburn, and an express location in Niagara Falls, ONT (the boys' side) for that matter. Here's where they "panned" out (to think Craig Robinson, who used to do the adverts, did one with Shaq for the General, since the NBA icon has a Papa Johns franchise and specialty pizza to boot):
Syracuse (Eastwood) (1) - Shop City Plaza, Swansea Dr & Lea La; later Antonios and a barbecue (Salt City BBQ?); now City Laundromat; was truncated in late '90s before closing
Syracuse (Eastwood) (2) - NY 290; later Papa Johns; now Liberty Tax*
Fayetteville - Highbridge St; now Twin Trees*
deWitt - NY 5; demolished; now Calibre Collision
Mattydale - US 11; demolished
Oneida - NY 5; now vacant
Syracuse (Fairmount) - W Genesee St; later Pudgies; now Stellas Diner
Chittenango - NY 5 & 13; now Chittenango Pizza
Cortland - NY 13; now Hydes Diner
Syracuse (south side/Valley) - US 11, Valley Plaza*
Nedrow - US 11; now vacant
Baldwinsville - Downer St, River Mall; becoming TJs Cannabis (never thought I'd be putting that on)
*Pizza Hut Delivery