Toppers Pizza

Milwaukee County location

Toppers Pizza are mainly in the Midwest, but should work their way to the Northeast:

Manlius - former Kinney Drugs, NY 92
Baldwinsville/Weedsport/Auburn - former Tim Hortons
Utica - former Nicky Doodles or Parkway Pizza
Ithaca - former Starbucks

Fairmount - former Pies Guys, NY 297
Cicero - former Buffalo Wild Wings, US 11; Jimmy Johns; or former Marks Pizzeria, NY 31
Liverpool - former Marks Pizzeria, CR 57
Rochester - former Calios, NY 252 (Henrietta)
Watertown - former Tilted Kilt, NY 3
East Syracuse - former Carmellas (Bridge St.)
Cortland - former Naples Italian Eatery, Riverside Plaza, NY 13
Auburn - former Family Dollar, Dennys, or Tim Hortons, NY 5
North Syracuse - former Salt City Dogs, Northern Lights or former Pies Guys (village), US 11
Oswego - former Pizza Hut, NY 104
Canandaigua - former Ponderosa, NY 5 & US 20
Albany - former D.P. Dough, Western Ave. and Quail St. or I Love NY Pizza, US 9

Shoppingtown

JCPenney has since left.

As more people shop online and the economy can be uneasy it seems dead malls are becoming more common in the US and Canada. Shoppingtown in deWitt is a blatant example of such a lost cause. In my day it had almost everything but as the years went by society changed but the developers' mindsets didn't so it became a modern day Tumbleweed Connection! TGI Fridays and JCPenney (in the back above) have just closed shop. The library will go next year. Trying to fill it all up at this point would be fruitless so maybe once the row between the town council and Moonbeam is sorted perhaps the wrecking ball could swing like Miley and they could cut their losses. A lifestyle center like Township 5 across town in Camillus or Legacy Place in Boston suburb Dedham, MA could be the next step. Whole Foods, IKEA, Ross Stores, 99 Pub and Toppers Pizza just to name a few could take over returning the place to its roots as a plaza bringing it full circle. There are several other centers in CNY alone and across North America that make Pompeii look like Hong Kong but this could be part of the solution. I might look into Niagara Square in Niagara Falls, ONT next (also made a strip centre in recent years).
Kohan, the company that bought former sister mall Great Northern Mall could buy Shoppingtown as well as they know how to flip malls like that show on HGTV on the west coast can flip houses. However, Moonbeam insist that it's not for sale and that they shall reformat in the months to come.  CarMax could go there (see later post). I now tend to call the mall Shoppingnowt!

Former IGA locations

Former Hannibal store

Cook County-based chain IGA are a network of indie grocers across the country (they're also in Australia and Canada in the Commonwealth). They've left bigger areas in recent decades and are seen more in small towns like Potsdam and Old Forge (until 2025-26). They blazed a trail when Grand Union and A&P started out in tea before competing. Here's an assorted selection from around Upstate and the Tri-State of what some older folks may assume is all but long gone.

Hannibal (NY 3; previously Big M; now Tops; pictured)
Syracuse/Fayetteville/North Syracuse/East Syracuse - Peters (now Tops, Kohls, Family Dollar, Thrifty Shopper, cornershops, etc.; see other article)

East Syracuse/Chittenango/Baldwinsville/Cazenovia/Minoa/Fayetteville - Smiths (ended affiliation by the '80s; chain closed by 2001-02; see later article)

Syracuse/Marcellus - Nojaim Bros. (became part of Hometown Markets with above two [refer to other post] by '80s; near West Side store closed in 2017, later Brady Market and now Meals on Wheels Syracuse; NY 174 now Stewarts Shops as of Spring 2024)

Genoa - Smiths IGA, NY 90 (no relation to above; dated back to late Victorian era; vacant by 2011)
Liverpool - Nichols (later ShurFine; now a Best Yet affiliate)
laFayette - US 11 (last store in Onondaga County; now Dollar General)
Homer - Foodliner, US 11 & NY 41 (now Village Food Market)

Camillus - ex-NY 5 (later indie; closed by '80s)

Ovid - NY 96A & 414 (later Big M; burned down in 2025 and will be rebuilt when it's the right time)
Corfu - NY 77 (now vacant)

Old Forge - diOrios Supermarket; NY 28 (now indie outright as of 15/9/25)

Postdam - laVignes IGA of Potsdam; US 11 (closed as of 1/9/26)
Clifton - now indie
Bridgeton, NJ - now C-Town
Akwesasne - NY 37 (now St Regis Mohawk First Nation gaming and entertainment complex)
Red Hook - US 9 (now Hannaford or CVS/pharmacy?)
Malone - now Country Market
Greenwich - NY 29 (now a farmers market)

Webster - former Hegedorns (as of June 2023), NY 404; later ShurFine and BestYet affiliated
Brushton - now Country Store
Star Lake - Padgetts, NY 3 (later Great American; now Dollar General)
Stephentown - now vacant
Bingham Park - Hawley (now vacant)
The Bronx - now Scavellos City Island

Tops in Hannibal

Made with Microsoft Paint, poor mans Photoshop!

Tops' latest location on NY 3 just past NY 104 in Hannibal is now open.  I went just a few days before as the old guard IGA were clearing out as much as possible.  It's listed on Tops' site but no article there or the local papers about the soft opening has been released yet.  Previously a Big M to boot, the family who owned it were now in their fourth or fifth generation in this country and were ready to move on.  I have yet to see the place so the façade may have changed or like some former Shurfine or Grand Unions they bought out in recent memory they just retrofit the old sign instead like my cheap rendering shows (gotta make do!).  Now I hope the old Price Chopper in Oswego by Fort Ontario halfway across the county is store #600 (IRS regulations make them count former stores too) but some towards and in New England acquired from ex-sister chain Stop & Shop and their new one Hannaford are next in line.  As for the other Great Lakes chain, you have to go to Potsdam or Old Forge now but it's just not the same.  A post about them is next.

Eyemart Express

AI fantasy version because still no free image

Now to switch gears, Eyemart Express I only just heard of the other week in Rochester with a couple new locations in the suburbs.  One in the DFW is where this chain are based and there will always be a market for eyewear.  Here's where they should look into so to speak:

deWitt - NY 5, former Pearle Vision or Shoppingtown
Syracuse (Eastwood/Lyncourt) - former Blockbuster Video (even though rival Visionworks are already nearby)
Clay - NY 31, Great Northern Mall
Fairmount - Fairmount Fair
Oswego - NY 104
Fulton - NY 481, former Fay's Drugs
Cortland - NY 13, Riverside Plaza or NY 281, Cortlandville
Syracuse (north side) - Destiny USA
Auburn - former Walgreens
Syracuse (west side) - NY 5, Genesee Plaza, former Sam Dell Dodge site

Former Tops locations

East Aurora location

    Tops, like any longtime chain, have had stores come and go. While it'd take all week to list them all (Groceteria will have the ones that were in the more sizeable areas), here's what I could get on my own. Some had closed in 2018 when the chain was under Chapter 11 Bankruptcy.

Syracuse (Eastwood) - Burnet Ave near NY 635; original Tops stores left Onondaga County in 1986; later P&C until 2004 and is now Bill Rapp Nissan
Syracuse (south side) - 4141 S Salina St (US 11, Valley Plaza; previously P&C twice, Acme, and A&P); will become Super Imperial Market in Autumn 2026
Mattydale - US 11; later P&C until 1994 and Big Lots until 2025

deWitt - NY 92; previously P&C; closed as of 25/4/25 (below). Tops Xpress on NY 5 & 92 remains. Becoming Goodwill in Autumn 2026 (legal case pending).
New Hartford (CR 24, Kellogg Mall in Washington Mills, and NY 5A [Commercial Drive], Tehan Plaza) - both now Hannaford
Utica (east side) - now Hannaford
Whitehall - Grand Union became Tops in 2001, then closed; now Dollar General
Oneida - NY 5; now Price Chopper
Geneva - NY 14A, Pyramid Plaza; later Cherribundi and RealEats, now vacant
Oswego - NY 104; now Price Chopper
Bolton Landing, Elizabethtown, Corinth, West Coxsackie, Hoosick Falls et al (mainly Adirondack Park and one closer to the Catskills) - NY 9N, US 9, NY 81 & US 9W, NY 22 respectively; were GU at first, then Tops, then back to GU and Tops once again (see earlier GU post for more details)
Fulton - NY 48 & CR 3; now Price Chopper; with Tops later in former Strupplers Big M/Shurfine down NY 48; now River View Paediatrics
Hamilton - NY 12A; was Grand Union, then Tops, then back to GU, but is now Hacketts
Cleveland, OH area - were briefly in Cuyahoga County after absorbing then-sister chain Finast (First National Stores) under Ahold; Erie, PA have the closest ones to them now
Buffalo area - Tops' backyard; given the nature of the business, many have come and gone over the decades. The current count is over 140, yet they count almost 400 total, as they include all past locations for tax purposes, as one of the smaller stores ultimately absorbed into Tops told me when they still existed (another blog called Buffalo Stories has some original Tops, HyTop Pharmacy, and B-Kwik stores from the '60s and '70s).
North Syracuse - US 11 in village; later Salvation Army; now an estate agent
Henrietta - NY 252/Jefferson Road, now At Home (moved around the corner)

Lyons - NY 31, now vacant

Rochester - N Winton Rd; now ALDI and TBD; Tops Xpress remains

Warrensburg - US 9, later Grand Union again; closing in 2026

Sherrill - NY 5, later Grand Union; closing 2026

Rome - NY 46 & 49, Freedom Plaza; later Grand Union (closed March 2026); previously P&C for several years

Irondequoit - NY 104

Cortland (1) - NY 281 & 222, later Grand Union (closing December 2026)

Cortland (2) - NY 222, now vacant; closed by 1994 when new store opened around the corner

Watertown (Pamelia) - US 11, now Piggly Wiggly

Watertown (Seaway/south) - US 11, later Grand Union; closed 2026

Rutland, VT - US 4 & 7, now Grand Union again

Cooperstown - NY 28, later Grand Union; closing in 2026

Peru - US 9, now Grand Union again

Saranac Lake (1) - NY 3, now Grand Union yet again

Dansville

Elmira - becoming Rural King in Summer 2026

Saranac Lake (2) - now closed

Owego (1) - NY 17C; now Price Chopper

Owego (2) - NY 17C, previously P&C; later Grand Union; now closed

Norwich - NY 990L, later Grand Union; now closed

Wilson Farms, B-Kwik and Sugarcreek Stores were a division of Tops until they spun off into a separate company and were later sold to 7-Eleven (I discussed them before and some Wilson Farms became other things). Tops returned to Syracuse in 2010 when they purchased the lions share of Penn Traffic after their third and final administration (bankruptcy!).

deWitt store a few weeks before closing

Arthur Treachers

Newer Washington, DC location.

    I meant to put Arthur Treachers here earlier but it must have been the one that got away! They were formerly in Liverpool (Bayberry and Galeville) and Syracuse (east side). Monroe County have the closest ones to me right now, but I want to change all that:

Oswego - former Arbys (NY 104)

Fulton - former Jreck Subs (downtown)

Cortland - former Naples Italian Eatery (NY 13)

Auburn - former Tim Hortons (NY 5 and/or Genesee St)

Cicero - former Jimmy Johns (E Circle Dr) or Buffalo Wild Wings  (US 11)

Utica - former Tim Hortons (Genesee St)

Rome - TBD (NY 46 or 49)

Canastota - former Jreck Subs (NY 5 & 13)

Syracuse (east side) - former Jimmy Johns
New Hartford - same as above, Sangertown Square (NY 5 & 5A)
Wappinger Falls - former Sonic Drive-In (US 9)
Canandaigua - former Ponderosa, NY 5/US 20
New Hartford - former Dennys (NY 5)

For towns with more than one vacancy LJS can get the other.