Ruby Tuesday

Typical Ruby Tuesday, likely in Connecticut. Another Mike Mozart masterpiece.

 Ruby Tuesday are a restaurant chain named after a Rolling Stones hit, and unlike Keith Richards, they have had locations that didn't last forever. CNY, WNY, the Capital Region, Southern Tier, Hudson Valley, downstate (I'll just put a couple because it'll take too long) and North Country have all had over a dozen out of hundreds nationwide close, and only the East Syracuse one is still in operation in CNY. I can still picture the pumpernickel croutons in the salad bar. Goodbye, Ruby Tuesdays. Who can hang another name on them? When they change with every new day. Still, we're gonna miss them.

Syracuse - Destiny USA (formerly Carousel Center); now Aloha Krab

deWitt - NY 5; later Stones Steakhouse; now CopperTop Tavern

Clay - NY 31 & 481, Great Northern Mall; now vacant

New Hartford - NY 5 & 5A, Sangertown Square

Watertown - NY 3

Greece - NY 104

Cheektowaga - Walden Ave

Blasdell - McKinley Pkwy & NY 179

Johnson City - Oakdale Commons

Poughkeepsie - US 9

Kingston - US 9W

Westbury - Old Country Rd

New York - 7th Ave

Guilderland - US 20, Crossgates Mall

Wilton - NY 50, Wilton Mall

Ruby Tuesday written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. Published by ABKCO Music, Ltd. Parody lyrics by John Sposato (I'm no Weird Al myself, so there's no need to get permission).

The UPS Store in CNY

Fantasy Eastwood store in Syracuse

 The UPS Store are the shipping giants retail arm and successor to Mail Boxes, Etc. in North America. They provide direct UPS services and rates, and most Amazon.com and other online returns. When you can't get to the post office, much but not all of what they do is available for a bit more. However, some locations in CNY have closed over the years, while new ones should be opened. The latest is downtown or the north side of Syracuse. I'll just have to reach into the memory vault or look up old and new spots as always. Here's what the brown lorry delivered:

Past locations:

Syracuse (Eastwood) - Shop City; now Appliance Parts

Syracuse (downtown) - S Warren & E Jefferson Sts; now boutique shop/CommonSpace

East Syracuse - NY 290; now RISE medical cannabis dispensary

Baldwinsville (Moyers Corners) - CR 57 & NY 31, Kimbrook Plaza; TBA (current store across CR 57)

Syracuse (east side) - Nottingham Rd, Julian Pl & E Colvin St; now Café Kubal (moved up Nottingham Rd next to Kinney Drugs)

Auburn - Genesee St (only just closed)

Penfield - NY 441, Bay Towne Plaza (also closed for now, but found while looking up locations)*

Pittsford - NY 31, Pittsford Plaza*

*Rochester area

Future locations:

Syracuse (Eastwood) - NY 290 & North Ave; former PostNet/Daws Drugs/Walgreens (20th Century) (AI pictured)

Liverpool - Electronics Pkwy & Old Liverpool Rd; former Big M/Carls Drugs/Fays Drugs/Thrifty Shopper/Palm Market; Liverpool Plaza (there'd be room for sorting packages)

Syracuse (Fairmount) - Fairmount Fair

New Hartford - NY 5A; former similar business

Media Play/On Cue

Former Media Play in South Hills Mall in Dutchess County (now demolished)

 Media Play were part of the Musicland conglomerate that included Sam Goody and On Cue. Napster, iTunes and illegal downloading brought an end to the chain by 2006. At first, I could only dig up a handful of stores, including a few in CNY, one in the Hudson Valley, and another in Ohio Valley. I managed to find them all, but of course will mainly stick to those that were on New York soil because that's the point of this blog.

deWitt - NY 5, Shoppingtown Mall; previously Woolworths and Kallet Theatres; later Black Mamba; closed 2003 (District East on hold again, go figure)

North Syracuse - US 11 & S Bay Rd, Northern Lights Plaza; previously Burlington; closed 2003

Auburn - NY 5, On Cue, Auburn Plaza; now ALDI (honorable mention since they were a sister chain, essentially a truncated version of Media Play for smaller markets like Cayuga County. Some remaining locations in other areas later became Sam Goody after Best Buy took over before those were closed.)

Poughkeepsie - US 9, South Hills Mall; now the Shoppes at South Hills (pictured)

Cincinnati, OH - Cincinnati Mills Mall; now demolished (only non-NY one I'm putting here)

Amherst - NY 79; later FYE; now Hobby Lobby

Albany (Guilderland) - Washington Ave Ext, Crossgates Commons; TBD

Niagara Falls - US 62 & NY 265, Milpine Plaza

Hamburg - NY 179, McKinley Mall

Middletown - off NY 17/I-86 & 84, Dunning Farms Shopping Center; now Ollies Bargain Outlet?

Henrietta - NY 252 & 15, South Town Plaza

Niskayuna - NY 5, Mohawk Mall

Greece - NY 104, Ridgemont Plaza

Cheektowaga - Walden Place; now Ollies Bargain Outlet

Former Burlington locations

Former Henrietta store; soon to be Dunk & Bright Furnitures first outside CNY

 Burlington may sound boring, but in CNY alone, there are a few spots where they used to be. I feel like I did this before, but it just turns out I put in other posts what could go and went into them. I've gathered enough from Syracuse, Rochester, the North Country, Capital Region and Twin Tiers to make this one. The current Syracuse (city) store in Destiny USA was where the Rx Place and Comp USA were. The deWitt store in the former kmart had an accident and will reopen in January. I'm sticking to Upstate because some things are just too downstate-centric. They've come a long way from just a coat factory.

Fayetteville - NY 5 & N Burdick St, Fayetteville Mall; demolished in 2001; now Towne Centre with Tops, Target and several others

Cicero - E Circle Dr, Drivers Village (formerly Penn-Can Mall); previously Sears and Steinbach; now vacant

North Syracuse - US 11 & S Bay Rd, Northern Lights Plaza; later Media Play (closed 2003); moved to above; now vacant (plaza acquired by Raymour & Flanigan)

Henrietta - NY 252 & 15, South Town Plaza; previously kmart?; soon to be Dunk & Bright Furniture (first store outside Onondaga County, as they have acquired plaza)

Watertown - NY 3 & CR 100, Salmon Run Mall; previously Montgomery Ward; now Bob Johnson Auto Group? (I haven't been here since 2011, but it's a small town, and he's one of the biggest names in the motor trade, coming out of Monroe County)

Latham - NY 2, 7 & 9, Latham Circle Mall; previously The Boston Store; closed May 2012; current store at the Shoppes at Latham Circle, coming full circle

Big Flats - CR 35 & 75, Arnot Mall; moving to former JoAnn Fabrics by late Spring 2026

Dutch Bros Coffee

Multnomah County location in August in the Pacific Northwest

Another Believer, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

 I know there are a tonne of coffee places big and small these days, but Dutch Bros are a chain that haven't reached the Northeast just yet. The only part of the east coast they've gotten to thus far is the Orlando area between Floridas coasts, yet some of their competitors weren't always that widespread themselves. They all prefer to build from scratch like the photo shows rather than try to do up another chains building. I can just go to ones that are too much a state to save or won't sell or let so Dutch Bros can bring their courage (even though that term means Heineken, mind).

Oneida - NY 5, former KFC?

Syracuse (east side) - NY 5, former Arthur Treachers

North Syracuse - US 11 & S Bay Rd, Northern Lights Plaza; former Hofmann Hot Haus/Salt City Dogs

Mattydale - US 11 & Malden Rd, former Eckerd/Rite Aid/Walgreens (instead of above)

Liverpool - Old Liverpool Rd, former Eckerd/Rite Aid/Family Dollar

East Syracuse - NY 298, former Starbucks/Jimmy Johns

Ithaca - NY 13/34/96, former Burger King

Cortland - NY 281 & 222, former Eckerd/Rite Aid

Baldwinsville (Moyers Corners) - NY 31 & CR 57, former KeyBank/Walgreens

Baldwinsville (Tri-County Mall) - Downer St, former Eckerd/Rite Aid

Fulton - NY 3, former Rite Aid/Walgreens

Oswego - NY 104, former Ponderosa

Rome - NY 46 & 49, former Rite Aid

Ace Hardware

Fratellones Ace Hardware in New Hope, MN (Twin Cities area). Courtesy Chad Davis.

 Ace Hardware may seem just as easy as their big box competitors, but even they have some pockets in CNY they could still fill. They're likely to take over franchises from rival co-op True Value after they were sold to Do It Best where those two overlap, but not where Ace already have an affiliate. Ace have gotten several former True Value stores in CNY alone in recent years, and opened a few more. The one in Liverpool Plaza, the center my late father over saw in later days, had that personal service that the big chains mostly lack, given that all Ace stores are separately and locally owned and operated. I had a coupon and bought a few things, even though I didn't get all his DIY knowhow (he went to "the other place" mostly). I did get my lawn mower fixed there by David, which Goliath doesn't do, if you like. Here are where Ace should have a base (see what I did there?!):

Syracuse (Lyncourt) - Shop City Plaza; former Ames/Eckerd/Rite Aid

Syracuse (Westvale) - Westvale Plaza, NY 5; former P&C/Tops (Sears Hardware used to be up the block in current Thrifty Shopper, so this would bring DIY back to this part of town)

Canastota - NY 5 & 13 and CR 25; former Family Dollar or former Rite Aid/Walgreens

Chittenango - NY 5; former Rite Aid/Walgreens

Utica - Genesee St; former Carls/Fays/Eckerd/Rite Aid or Rite Aid only (across from Market 32)

New Hartford - Kellogg Mall, Washington Mills, CR 26; former Fays/Eckerd/Rite Aid and/or New Hartford Shopping Center; former Tuesday Morning or Herb Phillipsons

Cortland - Riverside Plaza, NY 13; former flea market or NY 222; former Valu Home Center

Gloversville - N Main St; former Rite Aid (Noble are in Johnstown)

Mattress Firm: 40 Years On

Future deWitt store on this Erie Blvd E

Future store in Rome on that Erie Blvd E

    With Metro Mattress, Resnicks, and Sleepys all put to bed, if you like, Mattress Firm are the next chain that are late to the party in CNY, since they're in WNY in Cheektowaga for a start. The first chain based in Liverpool had just gone out of business, so the one from Houston are perfect for the empty stores, as well as others around the region. We'll sleep on it. This makes the Sleepys post obsolete.

deWitt - NY 5 (pictured above)*

Liverpool - CR 57, Bayberry Plaza (pictured below)*

Lakeland - John Glenn Blvd & Farrell Rd*

Syracuse (Fairmount) - W Genesee St*

Cicero - US 11*

Fulton - NY 481 & CR 57, former kmart; River Glen Plaza

Oswego - NY 104, former Big Lots

Watertown - NY 3, former Sears or Christmas Tree Shops; Salmon Run Mall

Cortland - NY 13, former flea market; Riverside Mall

Rome - NY 46 & 49, former rue21; Freedom Plaza (pictured above)

New Hartford - former Herb Phillipsons; New Hartford Shopping Center

Binghamton - US 11, former Grand Union/Giant/Weis

Big Flats - CR 35, former Sears; Arnot Mall

Ithaca - NY 13/34/96, former Hobby Lobby

Auburn - NY 5 & US 20, former JCPenney; Fingerlakes Mall

Colonie - Wolf Rd, former Barnes & Noble

Canastota - NY 5 & 13 and CR 25, former Family Dollar or Rite Aid/Walgreens

*former Metro Mattress

Logo used to edit on the phone and free use with just text

Can't really be in Shop City with Factory Direct next door

Mattress Firm in Bayberry Plaza in Liverpool