Switz's: 30 Years On

Switz's sometime between 1987-92 (no free image, but has no copyright)

 Every year around this time, people in and/or from my area and generation remember Switz's, a variety store that was located in North Syracuse. It was originally founded in 1947 on Syracuses south side, and in 1954 across town, it was relocated to North Plaza up US 11 at Lawrence and S Bay Roads. Then in 1984, it moved to the building you see here that most CNYers reminisce about in the fall around the corner, a mock Tudor/Bavarian style building overlooking I-81 a mile from the airport. It was the place to go each Halloween for eight years' time. Tour buses would get off in Mattydale or E Taft Road depending on which direction they were heading. The owner purchased a .8 tonne, 5 yards tall ogre in then-West Germany named Oscar, who was more than a Grouch! There was a display of a graveyard and a band of skeletons. Switzs stocked the widest selection of costumes, makeup and accessories in the area. The last Saturday before the big day was like their Black Friday. The festive season also brought business to the store, but that gets overshadowed. By the early '90s, it was a textbook case of David and Goliath where Switzs became a statistic of another mom and pop that couldn't compete with the chains and malls. In this case, Walmart finally arrived in the Northeast (like we never missed), Shoppingtown had a store, and Carousel Center (now Destiny USA) opened in 1990 (can't recall if they had anything fancy dress in early days). The final nail in the vampires coffin lid was when the store moved to Penn Can Mall in Cicero a few miles away, but closed by summer 1993.  Meanwhile, Oscars whereabouts remain a mystery to this day.  Cablexpress (later CSX) moved into the S Bay Rd store, and have only used some of the property, and the inside is said to resemble little of what my age group know from childhood.  Younger people who work there or those who aren't from Onondaga County may or will not know firsthand the legacy of this small business.  Now CSX will move downtown to the former Sibleys/RKO Keiths (cinema from studio system/Old Hollywood era that closed during the postwar period). I'm sure one would like to bring Switzs back (had less trouble with something else that used to be around here, but that's different). You could even restore the Renaissance inspired façade or build a replica of Oscar and the "Touch of Grey" wannabes (one for you Deadheads!). It would be like rebuilding these local historic figures' homes on the city's east side from Victorian times that were demolished that could have been in the National Trust if the blueprints survive. It can never be the same.  On top of that, Switzs might not make it in todays environment, despite the grassroots movement to support local so this doesn't happen to another neighborhood business because of amazon and other online sales, pop-ups and boring big box. I have trouble finding anything at the name places, and small ones can have something unique, which Switzs did. I was young when it was around, so my own take can be vague and even secondhand, but I know my family have gone there once or twice a year in those days, and perhaps yours as well.

UPDATE: Crouse Health have acquired the building from current owner Bill Pomeroy, who donated the property to the hospital group in memory of his wife Sandra, who was his carer when he was taken ill. Crouse will convert it into a new multi-faceted health facility primarily targeting that part of Onondaga County. It will even have an event center that could host a few things I could come up with (story for another day). Maybe this is better anyway, as this is far more important, and it'd be impossible to recapture all of the magic of a long gone time and make it work in todays economy.