Hallmark Store in Upstate NY

Hallmark Store in Edmonton, ALB, Prairie Canada

Rowanlovescars, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

 It's that time of year again when people buy cards, and Hallmark lead the way. CNY, the Capital Region, Finger Lakes, WNY, Southern Tier, North Country, Hudson and Mohawk Valleys have all had the Hallmark store over the decades, but the stores themselves have been handed their cards. Only the one in Destiny USA is left in Syracuse today. Changing consumer needs and the economy has closed what have been mainly franchises. Some I can remember near home anyway, others I have to dig up. The company are based over by Taylor and Travis (send them a card for the wedding), and even don't get me started on those TV films, mind! Here's where the cards were sold. Only a few I know are other things today.

Syracuse (Lyncourt) - Shop City Plaza, was likely in mini-mall; demolished by mid-'90s

deWitt - NY 5, Shoppingtown Mall, The Gift Horse; closed by 2010s

Liverpool - W Taft Rd, Tracys Gift Shop, Wegmans Plaza; now Upstate Nails Spa

Westvale - NY 5, Westvale Plaza; Annies Hallmark Shop; now iSmash

Clay - NY 31 & 481, Great Northern Mall, Matthews Gift Shop; closed by 2010s

Syracuse (downtown) - S Salina St?; closed decades ago

Syracuse (north side) - Destiny USA (formerly Carousel Center), Matthews Gift Shop, closed and replaced by current store down the hall (Christmas Treasures)

Cortland - N Main St; Jodis Hallmark

New Hartford (1) - Genesee St, Tracys Hallmark Shop, New Hartford Shopping Ctr

New Hartford (2) - NY 5 & 5A, Sangertown Square, Matthews Gift Shop

Rome - E Chestnut St w/Hummels Office Plus

Watertown - NY 3, Salmon Run Mall, Matthews Gift Shop

Ithaca - NY 13, 34 & 96; Tracys Gift Shop

Johnson City - NY 201 & Harry L Dr, Oakdale Commons

Kingston - US 9W, Tracys Gift Shop

Rotterdam - Altamont Ave, Tracys Gift Shop

Schenectady - NY 337, Viaport, Matthews Gift Shop

Delmar - NY 443, Delaware Plaza, Hallmark Gold Crown

JoAnn Fabrics: Former Locations in NYS

JoAnn etc store in Connecticut courtesy Mike Mozart

 JoAnn Fabrics closed this past spring, leaving Michaels and Hobby Lobby the last chains of their sort left in the country. AC Moore had previously gone out of business years ago. Michaels did acquire some of JoAnns stores in areas where they did not overlap, which makes sense, and perhaps, Hobby Lobby got some of the others. I'll just focus on the ones in the regions that I know.

Syracuse - Destiny USA (then Carousel Center); now Burlington (closed long before recent events)

Fayetteville - Towne Centre, NY 5 & Towne Dr; now vacant

Clay - Marketfair North, NY 31; now vacant (should become Michaels with Micron coming and not right near existing store)

Cortland - Riverside Mall, NY 13; now Area 51

Vestal - Parkway Plaza, NY 434; now vacant

Big Flats - CR 35 & 75; becoming Burlington in 2026

Ithaca/Lansing - Cayuga Shopping Ctr, N Triphammer Rd

Auburn - Fingerlakes Mall; US 20 & NY 5

New Hartford - New Hartford Shopping Ctr, Genesee St

Henrietta - South Town Plaza; NY 252 & 15

Watertown - NY 3

Colonie - Northway Mall, NY 5

Clifton Park - Clifton Park Ctr, NY 146

Kingston - US 9W

Poughkeepsie - Poughkeepsie Plaza, US 9

Middletown - Dunning Rd

Malone - US 11

West Babylon - NY 27A

Commack - Garet Pl

Bohemia - NY 27

Amherst - US 62

Blasdell - NY 179

Williamsville - NY 78

Williams Grocery & Meat Fair: 70 Years On

Near-accurate AI rendering of Williams back in the '90s

 After covering Sweetheart Market, I decided to cover close competitor Williams Grocery & Meat Fair a block or two away. The original store was on the city's north side, yet moved to North Syracuse in 1955 as part of postwar move to the suburbs. By 1986, the store expanded and was the largest indie this part of the state. I don't remember what private labels they carried in those days, which can vary with the mom and pops, since they were in Hometown Markets whenever Sweetheart weren't. There were some farm animal motifs inside that could be found at Stew Leonards today in the Tri-State. They also had a farm stand in Cicero Center that is still open, and even has the parking garage. The bakery section also continues the legacy up the street from the old store back in North Syracuse over at Marios Bakery.
 In 1996, Peters bought Williams, which was not well received by the community. The other place left the co-op as a result, which fell apart several years later. Even worse, the store was replaced by the plaza that's there now. Peters was only there for about a decade before that closed. Williams became the casualty of another indie rather than of a chain, even though P&C opened in the former Channel Home Center in Airport Plaza in 1994 that is Tops today, which gave both standalone stores a run for their money after moving up the road from Mattydale. As for Williams, their road sign was changed and later binned for all we know, being the antithesis of their neighbor. I suppose Chanatrys in Utica has some of the aura of Williams and other family run stores of the old days since they're even older, while there are still a few back in Onondaga County, but it's still happening to this very day how small business is struggling as much now if not more than it did thirty years ago. I only went to Williams once in a great while since I was young myself when it was still open, and didn't live on that side of town. It is still missed by many Central New Yorkers.

Sweetheart Market: 80 Years On

 

AI of original store with real signs added

    While trying to find inspiration for this months post, I thought I would find it at Drivers Village in Cicero, which was Penn-Can Mall in the old days. I didn't see anything new to go on there, but I did see a restored photo of Sweetheart Market from a few miles away on the corner of US 11 and West Taft Road in North Syracuse. From fruit and veg stand with their own ice cream to a large corner shop. It was in 1979 that the store I remember had been built in order to compete with Williams across the street, as well as big names like Wegmans, Price Chopper, the old Tops, and P&C. It was part of the Hometown Markets co-op by 1985 when Williams weren't, but left when the latter were sold to Peters in 1996. By 2003, neither Sweetheart nor Peters could survive in the new century. Eckerd opened at the site and the corner sign remains to this day. Rite Aid is now empty, but could a new Sweetheart Market open inside since getting CVS in there is a longshot at this rate? Now that a large Walmart and ALDI are also now in the picture, it would be more uphill for Sweetheart to stand out in the current climate, even though a few remaining rivals of the same stature still do.

I recently came across a Sweetheart cart earlier this year on Burnet Ave in Eastwood. Not sure how it got all the way over there or stayed intact for over two decades. This was down the street from where Burnet Market, Big M turned onetime fellow Hometown Market and later indie health food store that was also demolished. I even found a Peters cart across from Wegmans in East Syracuse of all places.

If I were shopping at Sweetheart today.

The sign is not the only thing that made it.