Saturday, March 11, 2017

Woolworths

Fake Friends
Former Bakersfield, CA store

Since Family Dollar, Dollar General, Dollar Tree, Dollarama (Canada), Five Below, even Ben Franklin in some small towns, and several indie variety stores like 99¢ City and Real Deals are alive and well, then there's almost no reason why trailblazers Woolworths are not in this country anymore as it's been for these past two decades.  Many say Walmart and the like are to blame.  Foot Locker are the legal successor to the original chain.  Existing and defunct chains in the Commonwealth are not related (Canadian chains were replaced by The Bargain! Shop [some stores like Ft Erie and Gananoque, ONT closed] and Walmart [Woolco absorbed in 1994]).  FL could own the revived chain or at least licence the name if it came down to that.  Here's where Woolworths 2.0 could be today:

Manlius - former Kinney Pharmacy, NY 92
Elbridge - former Family Dollar, NY 5
Auburn - former Family Dollar, NY 5
Canastota - former Family Dollar, NY 5 & CR 25
Watertown - Paddock Arcade, NY 3 (not far from where early store was as it's a small town)
New Hartford - former Tuesday Morning, former NY 5/8/12
Fulton - TBD
Oswego - former Dollar Tree, NY 104
Cicero - former Green Planet Grocery, NY 31
North Syracuse, former Media Play, US 11
Cortland - next to Grand Union, NY 281
deWitt - Shoppingtown Mall (former site unavailable but many others are), NY 5
Rotterdam - Viaport, NY 337
Junius Ponds, Finger Lakes Premium Outlets, NY 318
Chittenango, former Dollar General, Tuscarora Rd
Bridgeport, former Kinney Drugs, NY 31
Liverpool, former Verizon Wireless, NY 31
Syracuse, former Bon Ton, Destiny USA (although Five Below are already in newer section)

Known former CNY and Capital Region locations:

Syracuse - downtown (later Rite Aid, now vacant, but could go in there again)
Colonie - Northway Mall, NY 5, probably where Target is now
deWitt - Shoppingtown, NY 5
Utica - downtown (first failed store located there; newer store opened when chain grew later)
Fulton - now Dollar General, final CNY location, NY 481

Former chemist division The Rx Place had stores in Carousel Ctr (now Destiny USA where Burlington is now), deWitt (where Marshalls HomeGoods are today) and Wappinger Falls (later PharmHouse and PharMor but may now be ShopRite).

2 comments:

  1. First, two notes:
    - You are probably close on the Colonie location. It was in the "back" of the mall as looking from Central Ave, so similar to the existing stores (the mall itself was deeper than the new building, but towards Central as the back is similar). Maybe a bit to the right (Jo Ann spot perhaps).
    - The Wappingers Falls Rx was (I think) the space just to the left of the current ShopRite (which was a Price Chopper prior to that, and both were there at the same time). Or is that actually Poughkeepsie? South Hills Mall (or it was called that), anyhow.

    Other locations for Albany area:

    - Albany - Central Ave - next to CVS (which is still there)
    - Albany - Westgate Plaza - Probably part of the current Price Chopper location, but that also has been totally rebuilt and sits back a bit further than it did.
    - Schenectady - Opposite side of State Street from Proctors (one of those spots - I think the left-most one before the street cut)
    - Latham Circle Mall - In the main hallway on the left as entered from the Rt. 9 side. This whole mall is now gone, so hard to explain, but just to the right of Lowe's would be a good spot to use.
    - Menands - The plaza to the left of Wards Lane (which is to the left of the former Wards building, for those knowing the area). 1/2 of it was Family $, but that may be gone.
    As of a few years back, the other 1/2 had NOT BEEN TOUCHED and you could still see Woolworth décor in the (dirty) windows!
    - Mohawk Mall - Just to the left of the "center" (which was Boston Store, Media Play, Marshalls depending on the time period) and on the back side, this one had a separate restaurant (as did Northway).
    - Cohoes - Remsen Street- This one was in an old building (with wooden doors and some old cases) until it closed at or very near the end. Not sure exactly what's there now.

    I'm sure I'm missing a few others in the greater area...

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  2. Hello. I am a set designer and have just been hired to recreate the Woolworth's Counter made famous by the Greensboro 4 and the Civil Rights Movement for an exhibit here in Rochester, NY. I would love to use a portion of any of the counters from upstate New York and am looking to purchase as soon as possible. Does anyone have any knowledge of where an original counter (or portion) is at this time? I can be reached at carademanuele@gmail.com or 585-802-8683. Thank you in advance!

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