AutoNation

AutoNation Toyota.

AutoNation are a different animal from CarMax yet also have no footprint yet in CNY.  They could go where other car dealers used to be that no one else has bothered with since:

Fayetteville - Former Jays Village Chevrolet, NY 5
Fulton - Former Davidson/Fred Raynor/Reymore Ford, NY 3
Baldwinsville - Former Burdick Toyota, NY 31 and CR 57
Syracuse - Former Lewis Goodman Chrysler Plymouth, NY 5
Lakeland - Former Vals Dodge, State Fair Blvd
Central Square - Burdick Ford, NY 49 (only if they ever their sister dealerships at Drivers Village [née Penn Can Mall] in Cicero similar to how Davidson Ford moved to Liverpool; then Burdick Ford can go in the former Burlington or merge with the Lincoln Mercury Mazda division)
Utica - former Paolozzi Mazda, former NY 49

Tim Hortons

Calgary, ALB store at nights.

It's been a couple years since Tim Hortons' US office decided to close shops in CNY except those inside Delta Sonic or Mirabito, leaving Rochester with the closest stand-alone locations to Syracuse (I sometimes go there or in the border community).  Only a few have become other things to date (will be indicated).

North Syracuse (Sweetheart Corners) - US 11
Downtown Syracuse - now Original Grain
Syracuse (Nob Hill) - NY 173 (now Dunkin' Donuts)
Weedsport - NY 31 & 34
Fulton - NY 481 (now Arbys only)
Oswego - NY 481 & W Utica St (Aspen Dental coming soon)
East Syracuse - NY 290
Oneida - NY 5 (now Arbys)
Syracuse (Skunk City)
Cicero (US 11) - briefly Mighty Taco
Auburn - NY 5
Cortland - NY 13
Baldwinsville (Moyers Corners) - NY 31 & CR 57 (formerly Hardees and Dougs Fish Fry)
Niagara Falls, ONT - Niagara Square in food court (mall being converted to power centre; existing one up the road)
East Syracuse (between NY 298 and I-481) - Northern Blvd & E Taft Road
Liverpool - 7th North St & Buckley Rd.
Baldwinsville (TBD) - NY 31 & 370 or Downer St.

Blaze Pizza

Fremont, CA location (Krispy Kreme can wait!)

NBA superstar leBron James is spokestar and investor of LA-area pizza chain Blaze but it's more the idea of another multinational chain not yet in these parts rather him than being on the Cuyahoga County team that warrants a post.  A local place that has quick brick oven fire-baked pizza will have to compete if Blaze comes to town.  I may next look into CPK at a later date.



Mattydale - US 11, former Sweet Basil (pictured)
Canastota - NY 5 & 13, former Family Dollar
Liverpool - CR 57, former Canales
Syracuse (north side) - Destiny USA, former Unos or Ruby Tuesdays
Westvale - NY 5, former Dance Centre
deWitt - NY 5, Shoppingtown
East Syracuse - former Carmellas
Clay - NY 31, former Ruby Tuesdays (Blazes sister chain Wetzels Pretzels are in the food court)
Cicero - former Cicis or McDonalds
Canandaigua - US 20 & NY 5, former Ponderosa
Oswego - NY 481 & 104, former Eckerd/Fays/Rite Aid
Fulton - NY 481, former Eckerd/Fays
Syracuse (SU Hill) - former Copy Centers
New Hartford - NY 5 & 5A, Sangertown Square
Chittenango - NY 5 & 13, former Kinney Pharmacy
Auburn - US 20 & NY 5, Fingerlakes Mall
Syracuse (downtown) - Armory Square
Rochester - NY 15, former CVS/pharmacy
Cortland - NY 13, former Tim Hortons
Irondequoit - Skyview on the Ridge (formerly Medley Ctr)
Camillus - former Friendlys
Watertown - NY 3, former Titled Kilt
Syracuse (east side) - NY 5 & 635, former Tilted Kilt

Lidl USA

Greater Manchester store

Lidl have finally arrived in the US, but only in the mid-Atlantic right now.  I posted on them five years ago, but decided to start from scratch instead of just updating an old article.  They will now have to compete with Aldi here in America as they do Europe (neither are in Canada yet, but similar chains exist there).  As usual, CNY will be the main focus as that's what I know best, but I know I can try elsewhere too:



Jordan - 9 Mechanic St (former Tops and Big M)
Canandaigua - vacancy on US 20/NY 5 and 332
Fulton - former Fays/Eckerd or kmart on NY 481 (arch-rival yet to be built up or down the street)
Cortland - former P&C on NY 41 and US 11
Oswego - former Price Chopper near Fort Ontario and Port of Oswego or Rite Aid/Eckerd/Fays on NY 104 & 481
Chittenango - former Kinney Drugs on NY 5 and 13
Syracuse - former Nojaim Bros on Gifford and S West Sts.
Bridgeport - former Kinney or Victory on NY 31 and/or 298
Cicero - former Burlington Coat Factory near Drivers Village
New Hartford - former Price Chopper on NY 5A
Rochester - former CVS on NY 15
Irondequoit - Skyview on the Ridge (ex-Medley Ctr)
Liverpool - former kmart or Price Chopper on CR 57
deWitt - former Dicks on NY 5
East Syracuse - former CountryMax/Agway on NY 290
Henrietta - former Tops or other vacancy on NY 252
Auburn - former P&C
Geneva - former Tops on NY 5 and US 20
Baldwinsville - former Rite Aid
Oneida - former Herb Phillipsons downtown on NY 46
Rome - former car dealer on NY 49 and 365
Watervliet  - former Price Chopper on NY 32
Menands - former Save-a-Lot on NY 32
Palatine Bridge - former Ames on NY 5
Poughkeepsie - former ShopRite on NY 55 and US 44
North Syracuse - former Media Play on US 11
Elbridge - former Family Dollar on NY 5

Former Jreck Subs locations

Short-lived Eastern Ontario location.

Jreck Subs is a regional chain that may not go as far as Jersey Mikes or Schlotzskys (more on them another day) but they hold their own.  Like many places, they had to let some locations go:

Oswego - downtown, now Calios
Fulton - downtown, now Metro PCS
Fulton - NY 3, now Hometown Mobile
North Syracuse - US 11, Pitcher Hill, later an Italian eatery, now vacant
Syracuse - SU Hill, now The Pita Pit
Cortland*
Pulaski*
Kingston, ONT* (pictured)
Liverpool - 7th North St. & Buckley co-branded with Arthur Treachers, now Subway
deWitt - NY 5 and Orrick Road, now ExpressMart/Sunoco
Utica*
Rochester*
Geneva*



*TBD
 **former Tim Hortons



They ought to open here:



North Syracuse - reclaim old spot; closest one now is up the road in Cicero
Liverpool - across Buckley Road in **
Cortland - NY 13**
Oneida - 138 Madison St, downtown, former Scribners Variety
East Syracuse - NY 290 ** or former JDs Fish and Grill
Syracuse - downtown, Armory Square, S Franklin and Walton Sts.
Oswego - former Rite Aid/Eckerd/Fays on NY 481 & 104
Fayetteville - former Eastern Mountain Sports
Baldwinsville - Moyers Corners, NY 31 and CR 57, former Hardees/Dougs Fish Fry/**
Chittenango - former Kinney Drugs, NY 5 and 13

kmart

Ohio Capital Region closing

kmart along with their sister chain Sears have been in decline in recent years unable to compete with Walmart, Target, and amazon as other rivals like Caldor, Ames, Jamesway, Woolco and Hills have shut their doors.  kmart had several stores in CNY (Cortland, Liverpool and Mattydale remain for the time being) and beyond that lost their blue light:



deWitt - NY 5; now Dicks
Nedrow - US 11; later a flea market
Syracuse - Western Lights; later Herb Phillipsons
New Hartford - NY 5A; soon to be At Home Superstore
Fulton - NY 481
Auburn - NY 5; now Vineyard Church et al
Liverpool - CR 57 (on the way out)
Oswego - NY 104 (TBA)
Syracuse - downtown; later CVS; now a beauty supply
Colonie - NY 5
Reynoldsburg, OH (pictured)
Geneva - NY 5/US 20 (it's a small town and I saw a vacancy that would make sense)
Kingston - NY 32 and US 9W
Ithaca - NY 13/34/96
Watertown - NY 3 and Pioneer Plaza



All vacant or unknown unless otherwise indicated.

E85 in CNY

E85 at a pump in Wescoville, PA (Allentown/Bethlehem area)

E85 (ethanol) fuel has been elusive for those with FlexFuel vehicles in CNY (mainly GM and Chrysler).  The last place to have it was Fastrac on NY 3 & 481 in Fulton until a few years ago when they switched to the opposite (Ethanol Free 91) for boats, older and luxury cars.  Most regular fuel in North America now has 10% ethanol but it's not the same.  Sunoco (shown here) turned part of the old Miller plant a couple miles away into an ethanol plant yet there isn't an E85 pump like you see here in Lehigh Valley near Syracuse.  Rochester has the closest ones if not somewhere on the way on the Thruway.  A Mobil in Albany on US 20 has it too.  A place in Homer in Cortland County may have as well but even in a small town, I can't find much to go on.  Tops and ShopRite (also in the Capital Region) should offer this.  Existing Speedways in the Midwest do and should add it when they open original stores (as opposed to ex-Hess ones).  I'll do a post on just that later.  E85 also tends to cost less than normal 87 octane.  It varies across the country.  It only makes sense to get it out of town if you're staying there a period or need to fill up or there's no point.  There's also E10 and E15 in some areas and states, but E85 is the one that I know.  Wood chips and ag waste is also used to make E-fuels.  You can't even get leaded gas in the US anymore (vintage cars now use lead substitute here).
The corn crop is limited here as it is with the difficult spring having an effect on the harvest.  Maize is more of a priority for food than motorcars yet there must be fields that are only used by Big Oil.