Shell

Bethel, CT location

 Shell may be a multinational big oil conglomerate with a reputation, but they pulled out of CNY by the time I was born.  Lately, Planet Fitness has a promotion for 25¢ off a gallon for members, but the closest US locations are in Ulster and Susquehanna Counties, so the deal is as useless for most members in Upstate NY as the Tops one would be in Yates, Rennselaer and Greene counties, which don't have Tops Xpress (for Price Chopper's, there would have to at least be a participating Sunoco somewhere in the vicinity).  I haven't been to Kingston, NY since 2000 when I lived across the river, and the only other Shell I've seen in recent memory is in Niagara Falls, ONT.  Maybe now is the time for a return to the region.  With Speedway locations overlapping Sunoco/7 Eleven/A Plus locations as the merger plays out (some have become Mobil already), there are spots they could open.  Just hope the promotion isn't expired by the time one of these exists (Advance Auto Parts has their own as well).

Manlius - former Mobil, NY 92

North Syracuse/Cicero - former Mobil, US 11

Syracuse (east side) - NY 5

Marcellus - former AOK, NY 174

Fairmount/Westvale  - former Sunoco, NY 5

Syracuse (Eastwood) - former Valero/Conoco/Seniora, NY 635

Chittenango - former Sunrise, NY 5 & 13

Fulton - former Wilson Farms/7-Eleven, NY 3

Cazenovia - US 20

Lyncourt - Speedway if that closes with Sunoco nearby, NY 298 & Teall Ave

Just-A-Buck

Fantasy location in North Syracuse

 Just-A-Buck is another dollar store chain, largely located in the Hudson Valley and sporadically across the country.  I heard of them when I lived down that way.  We need more competition in that category.

North Syracuse - Northern Lights (pictured) or former Haskins Oldsmobile-GMC/Salvation Army Family Store, US 11

Canastota - former Family Dollar, NY 5 & 13 and CR 25

Elbridge - former Family Dollar, NY 5

Liverpool - former Family Dollar, Old Liverpool Road

East Syracuse - former Sacks/tattoo studio, NY 290

Baldwinsville (Moyers Corners) - former Fays/Eckerd/Rite Aid, NY 31 & CR 57

Baldwinsville (Downer St.) - former Rite Aid

Manlius - former Kinney Pharmacy, NY 92

Cicero - former Green Planet Grocery, NY 31

Auburn - former Family Dollar, NY 5, former Walgreens, or Fingerlakes Mall, NY 5 & US 20

Oswego - former Peebles/Gordmans, NY 104

Utica - former Rite Aid

New Hartford - former Tuesday Morning

Hyde Park - former Grand Union/Amish Market, US 9

Cortland - former Verizon or Salvation Army store, NY 281

Family Dollar

Fargo, ND location (just needed a typical location on Creative Commons)

 Family Dollar may seem too easy being in most of the country, but even they could use a few new locations in Central New York alone, even after merging with Dollar Tree a few years ago.  A few of these would be rural as opposed to in town within miles of each other. It can't be near a Dollar Tree anymore if they're considering selling Family Dollar (see later post) and the former on the north side of Syracuse closed (which used to be Fays, while Family Dollar just down the street was the old Rite Aid). Family Dollar have been closing locations across the country, yet can open some more here in CNY.

Hyde Park - former Grand Union/Amish Market, US 9**

Elbridge - NY 5*

Canastota - NY 5 & 13 and CR 25*

Manlius - former Kinney Pharmacy, NY 92

Oswego - former Peebles/Gordmans, NY 104

Cicero - former Green Planet Grocery, NY 31

Camillus - former Chappells/the Bon-Ton (vacant section), Camillus Commons

Albany - former Save-a-Lot/Fays, NY 443 & 9W**

Bridgeport - former Kinney Pharmacy or Victory/Great American, NY 31 & 298

Alaska, Hawaii, Washington State and Oregon - various/TBD**

*Past store

**Non-CNY

Former locations

Syracuse (Onondaga Hill) - NY 175 & Grolier Hill; previously Big M; Big O, and Hill Top Market

Syracuse (south side) - NY 175; now Dollar General (first Family Dollar I can remember)

Syracuse (Lyncourt) - Shop City Plaza; previously McCrorys?; now Hair Land

Canastota - see previous list

Elbridge - see previous list

Mattydale - US 11 & E Molloy Rd; now Dollar General

Liverpool - Electronics Pkwy & Old Liverpool Rd; Liverpool Plaza; now Ace Hardware

Rochester (downtown) - W Main St**

Caldor: 70 Years On

Former Newington, CT store. Now has a Stew Leonards.

    Caldor was one of those discount department store chains that has disappeared over the years. They were only in CNY for a couple years in the mid-'90s. Before and after that, I only knew them from visiting relatives or going away to school out of town until 1999 when it was no more. Walmart stole Caldors thunder, while Target didn't even come to Syracuse and Albany until the mid-2000s. CNY and the NY Capital Region I know best, and the mid-Hudson Valley to a lesser extent, as they're the last ones I ever went to. Here are a select few in Upstate, Downstate and Connecticut (last two).

Fayetteville - 1994-96; demolished, Fayetteville Mall (now Towne Center); Target close to former site, which is the parking lot now.

Fairmount - 1994-96; demolished; Fairmount Fair; became Walmart until 2006 (moved up the road to Camillus Commons), replaced by Target

Cicero - 1994-96; previously Chappells; partially demolished and repurposed; Penn-Can Mall (now Roger Burdicks Drivers Village); became Burdick Chevrolet Buick GMC. Walmart and Target are now nearby on US 11.

Guilderland - Crossgates Mall, US 20; later Best Buy, now vacant

Clifton Park - Clifton Country Mall; demolished 2016

Henrietta - NY 252

Victor - NY 96

Greece - NY 104

Gates - NY 31?

Irondequoit - NY 104

Poughkeepsie - 43 Burnett Blvd; later Big Lots; now closed

Kingston - US 9W

Flushing - Glen Oaks; now an upscale mall

Newington (pictured) - US 5 & CT 15; now Stew Leonards

Hartford County - TBD (besides Newington)

Mt. Kisco - TBD

The Branding Source: Milton Glaser and Grand Union

Former Bolton Landing store (now a Tops)

The Branding Source: Milton Glaser and Grand Union: Grand Union was once a national supermarket chain in the United States with stores all over the country. Several decades later if had gon...

Floor & Décor

Fantasy location at Northern Lights Plaza, North Syracuse

 Once again, there's a commercial for another chain we don't have in this state yet.  This time, it's Floor & Décor.  The closest location is the Capital Region.  Time to get creative and bring them to other regions at long last:

North Syracuse - former Media Play/Burlington Coat Factory, Northern Light Plaza, US 11 (pictured)

Syracuse - former JCPenney, Destiny USA

deWitt - former Bed, Bath & Beyond; Marshalls Homegoods Plaza, NY 5

Williamsville - former Best Buy, NY 78

New Hartford - former Macys, Sangertown Square, NY 5 & 5A

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

Henrietta - former Sears, Marketplace Mall, NY 252

Cortland - former flea market, Riverside Plaza, NY 13

Liverpool - former Price Chopper, CR 57

Fulton - former kmart, River Glen Plaza, NY 481

Watertown - former Sears or Christmas Tree Shops, Salmon Run Mall, NY 3 & CR 100

Ithaca - former Tops; South Meadow Plaza, NY 13/34/96

Oswego - former Gordmans/Peebles, NY 104

The Return of Grand Union

Former Utica store back in the '60s!

 The merger of Tops and Price Chopper is a done deal, and things will look like they always have except for a dozen stores that have to be spun off.  Grand Union will resurface after a decade of dormancy.  A number of rural locations around the Catskills and Adirondacks were sold to Tops, while others like Hamilton closed just as Price Chopper opened nearby (it's a small college town).  C&S still own the name and will be a franchise, but will run differently than Big M, which has individual deals across Upstate New York and Northeast Pennsylvania in outlying communities such as the Finger Lakes and Twin Tiers.  As for Grand Union, some people in CNY think it died out four decades ago, and closer to Albany, two, as Corinth and West Coxsackie are more on the outskirts of the area.

GU Markets, LLC are registered in New Hartford (which is why I chose there to base the article), although there is currently no Tops there (Hannaford took over most of those locations since then), yet there is a Price Chopper that became one of the first with the Market 32 name outside the Capital Region/518 area code and New England.  Across Oneida County, the Rome and Sherrill stores will become Grand Union, the first since the early '90s.  Even the red dot I grew up with is coming back (not the kind kitty chases!).  I went to Grand Union when visiting family in Albany County, then when I was going to school down the Hudson in Dutchess County. Now a new generation will come to know a brand whose legacy dates as far as back as the Victorian age in Lackawanna Valley and celebrates its sesqui-centennial (Price Chopper and Tops have their own milestone anniversaries in 2022).  Now when I go to Rome and Cortland in the new year, I'll have to try and eke out a stop to go and see an old friend (the old Cortland store became P&C in 1990), although it means the loss of Tops in these and other smaller towns, while both Tops and Price Chopper remain in counties where they can be far enough apart (although they're both within a mile or two of each other in Clay on NY 31).  Meanwhile, Grand Union is just one reboot that almost no one had ever expected.

There could still be more stores opened while staying a small chain compared to the others:

Syracuse (Westvale) - former P&C/Tops, NY 5 (pictured below)

Syracuse (south side) - former P&C/Tops/A&P, Valley Plaza, US 11

Mattydale  - former kmart, US 11

Hyde Park - former store, later Amish Market, US 9

Schenectady - former store, later ALDI, NY 5 & 7

Ithaca - former Tops, NY 13/34/96

Troy - former Lansingburgh Price Chopper, US 4

Palatine Bridge - former Ames, NY 5

Cortlandt Manor - US 9*

Binghamton (Nimmonsburg) - former store/Giant (local chain, not Ahold Delhaize one)/Weis, US 11 (would also give UFCW Local #1 an outpost in Broome County)

Binghamton (Southside East) - former Weis/Giant (as of 3/3/24), NY 7

Greene - former BK5 Great American, old NY 12?

Sidney - former BK5 Great American, NY 23

Montague, NJ - NJ 23*

Wayne, NJ - CR 504* (tri-state town had Grand Unions former HQ)

Slingerlands - NY 85*

Albany - NY 5*

Colonie - NY 5*

It'd be the first in Syracuse since the early '80s.  A real one used to be near here.

*former ShopRite (last three in NY Capital Region which have closed late 2023 [chain left before in late '80s, which I didn't notice then, being loyal to Grand Union!])