Friday, March 15, 2024

Former Price Chopper locations

Price Chopper on Erie Blvd. E.
My usual store on Syracuses east side before being done up

Here's where Price Chopper used to be (all NY unless indicated): 

Framingham, MA 
Schenectady (Sheridan Plaza) 
Watervliet*/** (NY 32, now Dollar Tree)
Albany*/** (earlier store)
Oneonta* (NY 7)
Albany (New Scotland Ave.; Mini Chopper only; main store now Market 32) 
Mechanicville*/*** 
Pittsfield, MA*/*** 
Glens Falls*/*** 
North Troy */**
Lansingburgh (US 4)
Green Island*/** 
Poughkeepsie (South Hills Mall) (US 9) (now ShopRite)
Shrewsbury, MA* Oneida - later Herb Phillipsons* 
Oswego (near Fort Ontario)* (now medical building)
Saratoga Springs* (earlier store)
Saratoga Springs (Price Chopper Limited downtown; now indie store)
Northampton, MA 
Baldwinsville? 
Fulton (NY 3)* 
deWitt (Hechinger Plaza) - NY 5; later Big Lots and Stickley Clearence Centre; now Spectrum* 
deWitt (kmart plaza) - NY 5; later OfficeMax, now Dicks* 
Liverpool* (CR 57, Seneca Mall)
West Boylston, MA 
Willowbrook 
Colonie* (original store; current Colonie Plaza store to close when Market 32 reopens in former ShopRite down NY 5)
Plattsburgh* 
Scranton, PA 
Syracuse (Western Lights)* (original store)
Liverpool, NY (NY 31 as of 19/4/24)
Taylor, PA (as of 19/4/24)
New Hartford* (NY 5A)
Albany (Westgate)* (current store to close when Market 32 reopens in former ShopRite down NY 5)
Camillus (became Hills in 1982, then Ames in 1999 until chains demise in 2002; building and most of old mall and plaza demolished; Walmart Superecnter opened in 2005) 

*moved
**As Public Service Market
***As Central Markets
More locations TBD

Thursday, February 15, 2024

Fingerlakes Mall

Bass Pro Shops (Fingerlakes Mall)
Bass Pro Shops, the last thing going at Fingerlakes Mall

 Fingerlakes Mall on NY 5 & US 20 in Auburn is a classic textbook example of a small town dead mall. The easternmost city of a wine-growing region which the city itself is best known for a prison, Harriet Tubman and John Walsh. The mall opened in 1980 and once had JCPenney, kmart, Sears, Radio Shack (one of the very last was across town, but that's for another day), CVS/pharmacy, Rex, Friendlys, Great Outdoors RV, FYE, TCBY and Chappells. Bass Pro Shops came in 2003 and was thought to be the catch of the day, but it is the one holdout as one of the few in Upstate NY; the one other in CNY being in Utica around the former Montgomery Ward in Riverside Mall in Deerfield off NY 8 & 12 in proximity to the Mohawk Valley, Adirondacks and Catskills. I used to go to the Auburn one now and again, but not in a few years since they had less of what I needed and is less convenient for me today.

In recent years, local events are held at the mall, but being the de facto event center for Cayuga County is not enough. It could be a real mall again. It could have Target, Ross Dress for Less, Barnes & Noble and Hobby Lobby. FYE could come back, and there could be a combination of local and national smaller stores in the hallway. Not everyone can go all the way to Syracuse or Rochester. The potential is right there in front of them, even with inflation and online shopping looming over all of us. Auburn isn't as tight a squeeze as other smaller communities. The sister plaza across the street could also have spots left. Auburn is not just another Rust Belt former factory town. Fingerlakes Mall is ready for a renaissance like their competitors in the next county.

Friday, February 2, 2024

BiLo Foods

Former Butler County store; was also kmart (montage)
    BiLo Foods, no relation to BILO in the Mid-Atlantic (Tops' former sister chain, which we covered already), were P&Cs sister chain in Pennsylvania (except the Northwest in the Erie and Bradford areas where Penn Traffic had Quality from WNY, or P&C in Sayre). Some are closer to Pittsburgh, while others were across the Keystone State in the Northeast, mainly in Twin Tiers. Three former locations became Tops, the Renovo store is now Lingles (previously A&P and Weis), and Kens BiLo in Northern Cambria and Patton just retired their use of the BiLo name. A few other BiLos don't have their own sites, nor is their one for all of them. There is also a BiLo in Iberia Parish in Louisiana unrelated to either chain. One former store in Centre Country is now an Ollies Bargain Outlet. Numerous examples are scattered around and it can take all day to list them all since I'm not as familiar with this chain or state myself, and it's only because of the former parent company's ties to my area that this counts here, as well as the events of the 2010s tying the two BiLos together somewhat with the Tops purchase or the Ahold Delhaize merger in the Benelux and US East Coast (the Carolinas one survives through ALDI)..

    The Pennsylvania BiLo are chiefly in small towns and are affiliated with Best Yet/C&S. I know I saw one off I-81 in Susquehanna Valley around Hallstead like the one I had a photo of in Canton with the '50s/'60s architecture. Maybe it was the one I saw. Anyway, BiLo and P&C are the last surviving remnants of Penn Traffic (not counting the Atlanta Big Bear or Krogers QFC for Quality). It's also another case of two or more things having the same name before the Internet was around to check (I just learned that bilo is a type of Filipino dish, and no I won't use that stupid catchphrase).

Wednesday, January 17, 2024

Charney's

The only remaining store in deWitt

 Charney's Menswear & Tuxedos in Syracuse is not just another mens big and tall store. They've been in business for over 70 years time. They have had several locations around town (a total of fourteen, according to co-founder Phyllis Charneys obituary in 2016). I haven't been in a couple years myself, since I can't afford much there anymore and it's not as convenient, yet like any local and/or small business, they would offer service and selection that few large stores ever would.


Syracuse (Eastwood) - NY 290, original store and flagship; demolished by 2006 for Walgreens

Syracuse (SU Hill) - 149 Marshall St; now Shirt World

deWitt (1) - NY 5, Shoppingtown Mall; closed by 2010s and moved to current location

deWitt (2) - NY 5, Empire Plaza, former Wheels Auto Supply?; present-day store (pictured)

Clay - NY 31 & 481 - Great Northern Mall; closed by 2009 and moved up the road

Syracuse (Fairmount) - Fairmount Fair; closed by 1980s and moved back to Camillus Mall

Camillus - Camillus Plaza/Mall; first store moved to Fairmount; second one closed by 2003

Cicero - Penn Can Mall; closed by 1994 and moved to Great Northern Mall

Syracuse (north side) - Carousel Center (later Destiny USA); now Green Mountain Sports

Liverpool - NY 31, COR Center; closed in 2017 and became a Spectrum store in 2021

Syracuse (Westvale) - NY 5, Westvale Plaza (you can get good tips on Facebook)

Tuesday, January 16, 2024

Dollar stores

D&D Dollar Store
Another Flickr grab.
Dollar stores are this generation's five and dimes. Who knows? A nickel or dime in Edwardian times is said to be worth just over a dollar in today's money when adjusted for inflation and the GDP. This ain't The Wall Street Journal, so I won't bore you with that! Dollar Tree are the Walmart of dollar stores in the States. Almost every market has at least one. Family Dollar and Dollar General aren't dollar stores per se. They're more in league with Woolworth USA and McCrory from the days of yore, but not quite as legendary! All for a Dollar and Everything's $1.00, my first dollar stores, as well as Owego-based Dollar Depot and Dollar Bazaar closed years ago. I'm trying to get Yankee One Dollar and/or Just a Buck into these locations: Shoppingtown Mall, DeWitt Great Northern Mall, Clay Fingerlakes Mall, Auburn Fairmount Fair, Syracuse Northern Lights Plaza, North Syracuse Homer Ave., Cortland Hyde Park Mall Former CVS, Delmar Former Coconut's in Stuyvesant Plaza, Albany Colonie Center, Albany Commercial Drive, New Hartford Former Rite Aid, Baldwinsville Waterloo Premium Outlets, Junius Former Smith's, Brewerton Former Smith's Plaza, Cicero Former Eckerd, Westvale Former ShopRite, Poughkeepsie Former Hackett's or Grand Union, Hamilton Former Caldor, Flushing I'm open to suggestions. When I have the money, I could open a JAB franchise, as they have that option. YOD don't even have a website.

One Dollar Zone!

Fantasy location in Cortlandville

 While looking up information on a store closing in Berks County, PA on Philadelphia indie station WFMZ 69, I found another in Easton of a chain called The Dollar Zone! (it's spelled that way). It seems like three chains (two co-owned) have a monopoly across the country, and I had to create a new tag since I have enough posts of this sort now. The real dollar store I grew up with is not dead and gone. It's the modern version of the five and dime of the early twentieth century like McCrorys and Ben Franklins. The closest one to me is downstate since the chain started in the Tri-State and is likely still based there and have stores across the Northeast. For this post, I simply copied the list from 99 Cents Only Store from the West Coast to save time, yet One Dollar Zone! from the East Coast is remotely more likely to expand inland.

Utica - Genesee St, former Eckerd/Rite Aid

Canastota - NY 5 & CR 25, former Family Dollar

Syracuse - NY 80 & 175, former Walgreens/Rite Aid

Auburn - NY 5, former Real Deals

Baldwinsville - Downer St, former Real Deals

Mattydale - US 11, former Fays/Dollar Tree

Cortlandville - NY 281, next to Grand Union (pictured) to extreme right

New Hartford - New Hartford Shopping Center, former Tuesday Morning

Albany - Wolf Rd, former Barnes & Noble

Liverpool - Electronics Pkwy & Old Liverpool Rd, former Carls/Fays/Thrifty Shopper

Cicero - NY 31, former Green Planet Grocery

Chittenango - Tuscarora Rd, former Dollar General (later in 2024)

Various - Closing Dollar Tree or Family Dollar stores

Friday, January 12, 2024

99 Cents Only Store

MacArthur Park, Los Angeles, CA, USA - panoramio (49)
MacArthur Park store in LA before dark, sweet green savings, prices going down!
Clotee Pridgen Alloc…, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

 With the dollar store market dominated by three chains, there is another primarily in the Southwest based in LA County called 99 Cents Only Store. With inflation, you'd think it'd be impossible for everything there to be that anymore, let alone from pricey California, when Dollar Tree has their base price at $1.25 (apart from select locations with Dollar Tree Plus or Family Dollar combos).  Back on this end of the country, regional chain Real Deals Dollar Store just went out of business as a result, so some of those could be available now (North Syracuse became Dollar General, however).

Canastota - NY 5 & CR 25, former Family Dollar

Syracuse - NY 80 & 175, former Walgreens/Rite Aid

Auburn - NY 5, former Real Deals

Baldwinsville - Downer St, former Real Deals

Mattydale - US 11, former Fays/Dollar Tree

Cortlandville - NY 281, next to Grand Union

New Hartford - New Hartford Shopping Center, former Tuesday Morning

Albany - Wolf Rd, former Barnes & Noble

Liverpool - Electronics Pkwy & Old Liverpool Rd, former Carls/Fays/Thrifty Shopper

Cicero - NY 31, former Green Planet Grocery

Chittenango - Tuscarora Rd, former Dollar General

Palmer Township, PA (Easton) - 785 S 25th St; former One Dollar Zone! (only non-NY one I can think of, and the next post sorted)