Ponderosa Steakhouse

Ponderosa in West Branch, MI (Grok xAI enhanced)

 I thought I had done this one already, but I guess not. Ponderosa had several locations in CNY, the Finger Lakes, Mohawk Valley, North Country, Southern Tier/Twin Tiers, and the Capital Region (I'm just an Upstate girl, you know). The sister chain Bonanza were more out west. Here are where they were (she finds everything!): TBD unless indicated

deWitt - NY 5; now Kudos Medical (formerly American Medwell and Visage [unrelated to band])

Syracuse (Westvale) - Onondaga Blvd; demolished, soon to be Byrne Dairy

Liverpool - Oswego St/Old Liverpool Rd; now Francescas

North Syracuse - US 11; now the Daily Diner

Oswego - NY 104; now demolished

Auburn - NY 5

Oneida - NY 5

Geneva - NY 5 & US 20

Cortlandville/Virgil - NY 13

Watertown - NY 3

Bath - NY 415 (Steuben County is both Finger Lakes and Twin Tiers)

Johnson City - NY 201

New Hartford - NY 5

Herkimer - NY 5 & 28; now Costello Eye Physicians & Surgeons

Johnstown - NY 30A; now Sams Seafood & Steakhouse

Guilderland - US 20; now Hana Japanese restaurant

East Greenbush - US 9 & 20; now Chinese buffet

Colonie - Wolf Rd

Latham - US 9

Rotterdam - NY 5 & Eastern Pkwy

Schenectady - Altamont Ave

The end of the blog?

Allied moving lorry

 I have decided to leave Syracuse when I have the money, and possibly New York State. I just have no true connections here anymore. I just feel if I make a fresh start in a new city, I could start over. It may be just as hard to establish relationships with people who have their people as it is back home, but I won't have the baggage there, just the literal kind I have to unpack. The last time I moved house outside CNY, it wasn't my choice. Decades later, I would have to change doctors, pharmacies, and everything. It would be easier to get a job since they won't look at my past the same way they would here. I'm not getting younger and I'm not ready for an analyst. If I do leave the state, it would be hard to do the blog anymore unless I learn something second hand, but it would be the least of my problems since I have to get away from the cold weather one third of the year to a city and state with no real future, and people unwilling to take me seriously. I would like to come up with a doable new home and start buying new things before the next cold snap. My niece would have to tidy up and take in a lodger that can get on with our cats, who I will miss terribly, but I will have my own to take care of. This hasn't been an easy decade, century, or lifetime. I've thought about Florida, even if just for the winter like a pensioner, but I'm not even that old, mind, and I have to find a job that would let me go up and down the east coast. There are pros and cons to both states that we won't get into here. I've never flown only because of the cost and not aviophobia in my family. I also don't want the only way I'll ever fly is to have my ashes attached to a drone because that's too morbid, and cremation is for Hindus and Buddhists. I just don't want to wait until the next lifetime to have a better life, and these blogs have kept me busy, but behind every one of these sites is a real person with the same hang-ups as everyone else. Maybe this will pass and I won't go anywhere, or I will be ringing Allied, Mayflower or Sams and filling up moving boxes.

Weis Gas Rewards in Southern Tier

 

Former Giant store in Binghamton (AI edit; CVS now closed)

    With the loss of Price Chopper and Market 32's FuelAdvantage after nearly two decades, Sunoco stations in the Southern Tier and Northeast Pennsylvania will have less business unless they are willing to switch to a competitors own version, and one that is more dominant in the area anyway. Weis Markets have had a monopoly in Broome County alone since buying Giant Markets from the Axel family in 2009. So now it only makes sense if these franchises are willing to participate in Weis Gas Rewards. Even when I last went to the area over the festive period, I saw that two stations had one or the other and were just several miles apart, but never thought that the one that I know could be gone months later. The Elmira store further into Twin Tiers was opened before the Giant deal, and is the only one in the state today not part of that lot or to have its own Gas-'n'-Go station. If Weis bought the former P&C/Tops/Grand Union in Owego, then the Sunoco at the Onvo service station off of I-86 & NY 17 in Nichols would likely join the programme. In Weis's home state, it's a bit more sporadic until you get further towards Susquehanna Valley, where the chain are based. Price Chopper have stores all the way to Lackawanna and Wyoming Valleys and the Poconos, even though one in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre suburb of Taylor had closed recently, since Price Chopper aren't as mega in Pennsylvania, I guess.
    Here are where Sunoco should accept Weis Gas Rewards (if an area Sunoco isn't listed, they either have it already or it's just not right near Binghamton):

Binghamton (east side) - NY 7

Binghamton (near downtown) - NY 17C

Endwell/Endicott - 3225 E Main St

Friendsville, PA - PA 267 (although Weis aren't even in Susquehanna County)

Nichols - Onvo, CR 509 (only if Weis open in Owego, although this is technically between the two)

Homesense

HomeSense store in Willimantic, CT

JJBers from Willimantic, Connecticut, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

 HomeSense are part of the TJX conglomerate, even though they're originally from the boys' area. They have yet to come to mine. They are a bit different from US sister chain HomeGoods, which either stand alone or are in a combo with Marshalls. Also had to even out the number of posts again and I've been meaning to do this one for a period, so time to make some sense of this and bring it closer to home without too much overlap with TJ Maxx either. I'm still waiting on Sierra, but we've covered them earlier. Might just be mainly CNY or North Country as usual, but I can always just add on, of course.

Fayetteville - NY 5 & N Burdick St, Towne Center; former JoAnn Fabrics

Clay - NY 31, Marketfair North; former JoAnn Fabrics

Cortland - NY 281; former Big Lots or kmart

Syracuse - Destiny USA; former JCPenney, second floor

New Hartford - NY 5 & 5A, Sangertown Square; former Hess's/Kaufmanns/Macys

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

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

Leader Drugs

Church Leader Drugs in East Syracuse (AI replica)

 Leader Drugs is a brand found at and consortium of indie drug stores. I remember it from the old days, yet I just discovered that they are alive and well today at a few thousand mom and pop pharmacies across the country. This may be a bit tricky to find past or present affiliates in New York or any other state, yet it was and to this day is what you'd find at a local chemist when their national competitors are struggling (David and Goliath again, you know). I'll just show you a number of yesterday and todays* Leader Drug Stores in CNY and WNY that I can remember (near me anyway) or dig up (just need enough to post).

Oswego - Wayne Drugs; NY 104 (still going strong, and where I learnt that Leader lives)*

Fulton - Wayne Drugs; E 1st St; sold to Kinney, which opened new store around the corner; now vacant

Syracuse (downtown) - Harrison Center Pharmacy/G&L/Kress (successor to classic north side store); Almond, Harrison & E Adams Sts; later sold to Kinney; now Upstate Medical Offices

Syracuse (south side) - Figs & Olives Pharmacy; NY 173 & E Brighton Ave; sold to Kinney, which opened new store across the street; demolished for Tim Hortons, which is now Dunkin'

North Syracuse - US 11; now Sammys NYC Deli and Grill

Manlius - Harveys Pharmacy; NY 92 (later Eckerd and Rite Aid, then Unplugged Gaming, now Dollar General)

Syracuse (east side/foot of SU Hill) - Harveys Drugs; NY 92 (same owners as above; now cornershop)

Syracuse (east side/near SU southeast campus) - Drumlins Pharmacy?; Skytop Plaza (later switched to Fays Cornerdrug; became Eckerd and Rite Aid; now Walgreens)

Henrietta - NY 15; now Brighton Health Center (Strong Ties URMC)

Liverpool/Bridgeport/Phoenix/Tully - Tri-R Drugs? (see previous post)

Buffalo (present) - Kents Leader Drug; NY 354*

Buffalo (past) - Bergs Leader Drug; 1540 Genesee St (now vacant lot)

Depew - Save Rite; NY 78 & US 20 ? (later Fays; TBD since I just don't know Erie County that well myself)

Syracuse (north side) - Kress Drugs; Butternut & Park Sts; late Victorian building survived well into 1990s; business moved to site off I-81 (soon to be BL-81); now demolished

New York (Midtown Manhattan) - 235 E 22nd St (even found a downstate one)*

*Leaders own site doesn't list their locations at this time, making it a wild goose chase to find them.

Tri-R Drugs

Screenshot from old commercial from the '80s

 Tri-R Drugs were a small local chain serving three counties. Kinney Drugs bought them out by the '90s and only one of these is still in business at its original location. Not sure if they were Rexall like Kinney were, Good Neighbor, or even Leader (that will be the next post). You never know what you can find.

Liverpool - CR 57; now Kinney Drugs

Phoenix - CR 57 & 57A; TBD

Bridgeport - NY 31 & 298; TBD

Tully - US 11 & NY 80; now vacant

Price Chopper and Market 32 Bonus Points Retired?

Early Price Chopper store back in the mid-'70s

Delaware Ave store in Albany in the late '70s

 I have discovered in the past few weeks that Price Chopper and Market 32 seemed to have phased out their Bonus Points scheme. You can still earn FuelAdvantedge points with online offers, the occasional game, buying organic, or double points now and then. I usually only go to Price Chopper when Tops pause their own points for two weeks' time every other month. Even though they're sister stores now, both programmes started separately under different ownership; Tops when they were owned by Ahold, and it remained after they spun off. Theirs is easier to earn by comparison, yet the Centro pass deal is exclusive to Syracuse, and gift cards with four different chains is used where Tops Xpress is currently  unavailable. Meanwhile, Price Chopper and Market 32 have their points for redemption at participating Sunocos (even those not right near a store, while others have closed or just become other chains or indie since). One may even consider the bonus points deals or the whole promotion another example of so-called "spaving", where you're spending more than you're saving. Even if other chains without such a plan or even a card get more people, it may seem like a drop in the ocean these days as recent events have affected prices at the pump and beyond. Before all of this, I couldn't always get others to use these points, yet I would think they'd kill for it if they don't go to either Northeast chain. It's also not always convenient for me to go to Price Chopper on either side of town, while Tops are just around the corner or right in the suburbs. The mid-Hudson Valley also has both within driving distance, which was already covered here. I would just stick to Tops if they didn't take off earning for a period. Not everyone can go to more than one place. Most are lucky to have the one. Every place does has its advantages.
 If Market 32 and Price Chopper have decided to sunset Bonus Points or just have them on occasion, I'll still continue to come as well as look for the latest deals each month on the app. All is not lost. It'll just take a little longer again to get to a minimum number of points that will shave off a few pennies at the pump for whomever takes up the offer, even if it totals up to just over a dollar, which they may think is twopence in this economy, but at least I tried. At least I can usually keep the other places points for my own, and when I ever get my driving licence in future, I shall have both places at my disposal, or will I?

UPDATE (23/6/26): I go to Western Lights to see if any bonus points items still exist, and the only two things that come up are tubs of cream cheese and a large one of dishwasher detergent. They may just be phased out gradually or something for the diehards to find. Also, a bit less variety on some certain other things I was looking for, but I didn't have time to make two stops and wanted to get home before I got carried away again. Also can't let the side down, like I always say. I could always go again later.
  So not to have to start a whole new post and have too much on this chain, Market Bistro in Latham is now just Market 32. It was supposed to emulate that other chain (so not to get ones hopes up), but they decided to just have it under the name more common in the home territory. It's still uncertain if all Price Choppers will convert to the Market 32 name, even with an unrelated chain in the nations midsection and the economy the way that it is right now. No one else could ever be called Market 32, of course.

UPDATE (24/7/26): The plot thickens. If not getting bonus points isn't bad enough, it's where to use them. After two decades, Price Chopper and Market 32 have decided not to renew their contract with Sunoco anymore. FuelAdvantedge is over as of 1 August, unless they decide to partner with another chain, but there aren't one of the same calibre that could offer the same not already doing something of their own or with another chain. Even with all the rises these days, customers preferred to redeem their points at the till instead, including myself, since I couldn't get anyone to use them anymore anyway (the last person I asked has an electric car and slated Big Oil to put it that way). Just as well. You can also donate, get gift cards or magazine subscriptions. All is not lost. Tops' programme is a separate animal and staying put. This is a game changer. In the Southern Tier and Northeast Pennsylvania, it'll be Weis Markets that have the deal with Sunoco (if not their own stations). Once I drive myself, when I am going to Market 32 if it ever has that name west of Rome, I wonder if I'd even go to Sunoco now that the incentive is gone. I can get picky, and we'll just have to find other ways to save at the pump in these trying times.