Zara

Zara in Los Angeles. Mike Mozart made the trip for us so we don't have to!

 Someone on Facebook suggested Spanish chain Zara for Destiny USA. Makes sense since it's the sort you'd find there, and sister sites Walden Galleria in Cheektowaga (Buffalo) and Crossgates Mall in Guilderland (Albany) have the only Upstate ones right now, and downstate is a given. A rival from that country opened several years ago back in CNY. While this isn't my sort of place, I may be able to work with this in quickly since it's so-called fast fashion and I get carried away doing these posts, you know.

Syracuse - Destiny USA; former Forever 21/Bonwit Teller

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

Johnson City - Oakdale Commons; CR 56, 65 & 85 off NY 17/I-86; former Burlington?

Greece - Greece Ridge Mall, NY 104; former Sibleys/Kaufmanns/Macys

Poughkeepsie - Poughkeepsie Galleria, US 9; former Wards

Big Flats - Arnot Mall; former McCurdys/Iszards/The Bon-Ton

Watertown - Salmon Run Mall, NY 3 & CR 100; former Dicks Sporting Goods

Rebuilding Ovid

Main St (NY 96A & 414) in Ovid in happier times. Very special courtesy Jo Zimny. CC-by-NC-ND 2.0.

 21 January is a day no one in the small Finger Lakes village of Ovid shall forget when an electrical fire broke out in a flat upstairs from Big M on Main St (once an IGA, according to one local resident), taking out four other local businesses and several other apartments. I wanted to use my AI skills that I've picked up this past year and try to come up with new versions of all five of these mom and pop establishments, which also included Uptown Diner (which needed more attempts than the others combined), Eva's Laundry, Italian Kitchen and Seneca Coffee House. Most of these buildings seem to date back to the Victorian and Edwardian eras, although some like this can go as far back as Regency. There are priceless memories attached to these places, of course, and not even I.M. Pei himself could truly replace these if he were still alive. It's still early days right now, but rebuilding is on the agenda once the debris is cleared and the weather is cooperative for a building site. Another restaurant that had been around much longer closed several years ago on the outskirts of town, but the two from Main St probably either don't want to be away from the rest of the commercial district, or because of events from years past which we won't get into here. There had been another fire a decade earlier, however.
 Seniors are provided a bus twice a week to go to Walmart and Tops to go shopping for the time being, since many don't drive anymore or won't go all the way to Waterloo or Wegmans in Geneva themselves (you're on your own there or if you're younger). Of course, small business gets taken for granted and you just never know. It can be months if not years before all these are back in new homes. If buildings like the ones lost could be designed, then new apartments could also go on top, given the housing crisis. Several ways to donate are available to show your support. We'll have to check on Ovid down the road to see how they come on like other places big and small that suffered disaster in recent memory.

'50s dinerette which may be too small, even for Ovid

This may be a bit more possible than a standalone.

Switched to Grok on X and got a more outlying result.

Retro Uptown Diner that won't work in winter!

The little local launderette. Don't know if Eva is.

The local coffee shop, or at least the roastery.

Big M, in a design that should fit on the block.

Italian Kitchen, my kind of restaurant!

A more possible scenario for todays small town.

Wegmans in West Mifflin

Upper Providence Township store near Philadelphia and Patti laBelle. Courtesy Montgomery County Planning Commission.

 There is buzz about Wegmans opening their newest store in Cranberry Township in Butler County north of Pittsburgh, over by the UPMC Mario Lemieux facility (retired French Canadian Pittsburgh Penguins centre). Going the other way half as far within Alleghany County is the borough of West Mifflin, where Century III, once one of the biggest malls in the country, had been, which I heard of through a car dealership nearby. Steel and Steelers (that's as far as I go with teams!) country is dominated by Giant Eagle, Martins and Shop 'n Save, and I might like to go that way for an event in the summer. Wegmans are infamously stingey when it comes to opening new stores and only do no more than three a year, forgoing Upstate NY in recent years. They closed their store in a former JCPenney in Natick Mall outside Boston because it just didn't work, but instead, Wegmans will replace a mall. The land has been largely undeveloped since the mall closed several years ago after tenant after tenant left since the late '90s, including JCPenney, locally based Kaufmanns before the Macys merger, and a short-lived Wards. While it's normal for most areas to have a few Wegmans each, newer markets usually have less than a handful compared to legacy ones. Mixed reactions on Facebook would go from knowing the chain from out of state to it being new to them. The chains footprint in Pennsylvania would be concentrated on opposite sides of the state and Centre County. Altoona, Johnstown, York and Hanover would be overlooked. Back to West Mifflin, the new Wegmans would have to compete right across the road from Giant Eagle and Walmart. Located on PA 51 & 885. Washington Mall in South Strabane Township in Washington County would work too, since there's almost nothing left there either, while people in other parts of the northeast hold out for their own store, which one may take for granted until you have to move away (they rarely close any today). It may take until a third century before more areas ever get a Wegmans because of how picky they are, avoiding overkill and carefully planning. They're even looking at close to home, but that's for another day.

Big Lots! Part 2

Marion, OH store; February 2022.

JBTHEMILKER, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

 I may have done Big Lots! before, but now they're on the way out, and even if they're sold, the current economic climate doesn't hold well for them. The last post on Trader Joes led to this since some Big Lots! locations could be sold to them if it'll work. DFW-based rivals Tuesday Morning have already gone out of business. Rhode Islands Ocean State Job Lot would make sense in some of these.

Auburn - NY 5; outgoing Big Lots

Buffalo - S Ogden St; South Ogden Plaza

deWitt - NY 5; former Price Chopper; now Spectrum

Elmira - Lake St; outgoing Big Lots

Kingston - US 9W; outgoing Big Lots

Liverpool - CR 57; former Price Chopper, The Shops at Seneca Mall

Mattydale - US 11; former Tops/P&C

Middletown - NY 211; former Big Lots, Walkill Plaza

Oswego - NY 104; outgoing Big Lots

Plattsburgh - NY 3; former Big Lots

Poughkeepsie - Burnett Blvd; former Caldor

Syracuse - Onondaga Blvd; former Fays; now Goodwill

Utica - NY 5; former Chicago Markets/Great American/outgoing Big Lots

Watertown - NY 3; outgoing Big Lots

Trader Joe's

Fairfield County location, once again from Mike Mozart (who better?!).

 Let's take a break from department stores. Trader Joes may seem too easy, but even in Upstate NY, they certainly have plenty of room to grow. I first went in Chicago, then Rochester, and it finally came to deWitt, even though I don't go as much anymore. There are only five others Upstate and several in the Tri-State. The Capital Region has two (the only area in NY outside the city with more than one so far), and may get a third, despite recent events I won't get into here. Aldi North own the chain, which separated form Aldi South decades ago, who run the US and UK divisions, and are split in Germany and Europe. I may use former or outgoing Big Lots locations unless they're too close to competitors or where there's not a lot of money (you know how it is), although that will lead to another post for later, being a different animal. Trader Joes also don't need that much space.

Auburn - NY 5 & US 20; Fingerlakes Crossing or NY 5; outgoing Big Lots

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

Cortlandville - NY 281; former kmart

Elmira - Lake St; outgoing Big Lots

Glenmont - NY 32 & Fuera Bush Rd, Glenmont Plaza (TBC)

Kingston - US 9W; outgoing Big Lots

Liverpool - NY 31; former Price Chopper, COR Plaza

Middletown - NY 211; former Big Lots, Walkill Plaza

Oswego - NY 104; outgoing Big Lots

Plattsburgh - NY 3; former Big Lots

Poughkeepsie - US 9; former Natures Harvest; South Square Plaza

Schenectady - NY 5 & 7; former Grand Union/ALDI

Utica - NY 5; former Chicago Markets/Great American/outgoing Big Lots

West Nyack - NY 59, former ShopRite or Stop & Shop

Watertown - NY 3; outgoing Big Lots

Jordan Marsh

Peabody, MA store, Northway Mall, 1980s. Courtesy Salem State Archives.

 Jordan Marsh & Company were once New Englands largest department store, but may have only had no more than two locations in New York, as there is no paper trail of them being anywhere else in the state, which made this post a challenge, so I have to fill the vacuum with a few from out of state. They were yet another one from the past that I'd heard of when going shopping with Grandma in the Capital District, and I even had a box of theirs at my old place (I must have binned that too). They even made it to Florida, even though that had separate management. While Macys took over Jordan Marsh along with several other chains like Bambergers, Abraham & Strauss and Sterns, the Hudson Valley store went another way, even though the former G. Fox and Filene's didn't become Macys until 2006.

Albany (Guilderland) - Crossgates Mall, US 20; now Macys

Poughkeepsie - Poughkeepsie Galleria, US 9; later Sears; now vacant

Boston (downtown) - Downtown Crossing; flagship; now Macys

Peabody, MA - Northway Mall, MA 114 & 128; later Macys; now Nordstrom (pictured)

Natick, MA - Natick Mall; later JCPenney and Wegmans; now vacant (covered earlier)

Filene's and Filene's Basement

Manchester, NH store at Pondview Terrace. Courtesy John Blower. CC by NC ND 2.0.

 Boston-based Filene's were another chain I got to know in Albany County. Trailblazing subsidiary Filene's Basement were their closeout chain (then-rival Macys had Macys Closeout), but like Sears Outlet from the parent chain, it would be spun off into a separate company before going out of business themselves. Because Kaufmanns were already west of the Capital Region, Filenes proper were never in CNY, WNY, or Twin Tiers. The bulk of the main chain became Macys, although there is an exception or two, while the other one is more ambiguous since I only knew the one in my area down cellar from the onetime sister chain. Filenes Basement survives today as an e-tailer, but it's just not the same, of course. As for the original Filenes, I just have Upstate, a few downstate and one non-NY store to save time.

Albany (Guilderland) - Crossgates Mall, US 20; now Macys

Kingston - Hudson Valley Mall, US 9W; later Macys; now vacant

Manchester, NH - Pondview Terrace (pictured)

Poughkeepsie - Poughkeepsie Galleria, US 9; first store became Steinbach; later DSW and Dicks; now Best Buy and Target. Second store previously G. Fox; now Macys

Queens (Fresh Meadows) - Filenes Basement; TBD

Rotterdam - Rotterdam Square Mall (now Viaport), NY 337; previously Hess's; later Macys; now NYS Taxation call center

Syracuse - Carousel Center (now Destiny USA); Filenes Basement; now Finish Line?

Walkill - Galleria at Crystal Run; now Macys

West Nyack - Palisades Center, NY 303 & 59; now Macys

Former Macy's Locations

Macys in Sangertown Square Mall, New Hartford

 Macy's have been around since the Victorian era like so many other department store chains, but unfortunately, have had to close stores in recent and past years, and will have to do so this year. They have only expanded into Upstate when owner Federated merged with May Department Stores a decade ago, absorbing Filenes and Kaufmanns, as well as Marshall-Fields in the Midwest to widespread protest. Here are where Macys have been and gone.

CNY

Syracuse (downtown) - S Salina St (small early store); various

Cicero - Macys Closeout; Penn-Can Mall; now Drivers Village

deWitt - Shoppingtown Mall, NY 5; previously Addis & Deys, Sibleys and Kaufmanns; you-know-what will be covered later

Clay - Great Northern Mall, NY 31; previously Sibleys and Kaufmanns; now Dunk & Bright

New Hartford - Sangertown Square, NY 5 & 5A; previously Hess's and Kaufmanns; now vacant (pictured above)

Rochester

Irondequoit - Irondequoit Mall; previously Sibleys and Kaufmanns; now vacant (pictured below)

Henrietta - Marketplace Mall, NY 15 & 252; previously Sibleys and Kaufmanns; now vacant

Greece - The Mall at Greece Ridge, NY 104; previously Sibleys and Kaufmanns; only Upstate store scheduled to close

Irondequoit Mall outside Rochester, 2013. CC by 2.0.

Buffalo

Hamburg - McKinley Mall, NY 179; previously Sibleys and Kaufmanns; Macys Home Store was previously L.L. Berger and Kaufmanns Home Store; both stores now vacant or TBD

Wheatfield - Summit Park Mall (later The Summit; now the NISE Center); Macys Closeout; previously Hens & Kelly; now vacant

Harris Hill/Clarence - Eastern Hills Mall, NY 78; previously Hengerers, Sibleys and Kaufmanns; later Niagara Emporium; now under development (may get a separate post)

Hudson Valley/Capital Region/Downstate (due to the inherent long history and vast size of the chain and tri-state, only a mere selection will be listed here)

Rotterdam - Rotterdam Square Mall (now Viaport), NY 337; previously Hess's and Filenes; now NYS Taxation call center

Kingston - Hudson Valley Mall, US 9W; previously Hess's and Filenes; TBD

White Plains - Galleria at White Plains, NY 119; previously Abraham & Strauss and Sterns; now vacant

New York - 6th Ave and 13th & 14th Sts; first area store; long gone (original store in Haverhill, MA)

Hengerer's

A Hengerer-on: AI store with double fixed logo.

 W.M. Hengerer Co. were yet another in WNYs long line of lost luxury department store chains that couldn't catch up by the latter half of the 20th century. From cookery classes to restaurants, they were more than a store, ahead of their time and once claiming to be the biggest between downstate and Cook County (several tried to be in those days). Sibleys took over in 1987, only for them to go as well a couple years later. Wikipedia only mentions the downtown Hengerer's and one suburban store. The Department Store Museum managed to get the "Heng" of it (even they can't always find everything).

Buffalo (downtown) (1) - 259 Main St; original store; long gone (dates back to Victorian era)

Buffalo (downtown) (2) - 268 Main St; now The Salty Dog Barbershop and Crowley Web ad agency

Buffalo (downtown) (3) - 469 Main St; now laFayette Court

Amherst - NY 5 & Eggert Rd; now offices

Tonawanda - Pool Plaza, NY 324 & Delaware Rd; now Planet Fitness?

West Seneca - Seneca Mall (now The Shops at Seneca Mall), NY 240; likely Sibleys for a couple years before it moved to Cheektowaga for another brief stint (see earlier post); mall demolished

Clarence/Harris Hill - Eastern Hills Mall, NY 78; later Sibleys, Kaufmanns, Macys and Niagara Emporium; mall under redevelopment

L.L. Berger

AI store with real logo (couldn't fix another fake one)

 On a roll with WNY chains, and L.L. Berger are the latest. They were on the posh end, and had covered the area from the Edwardian era until the early '90s. Some things Wikipedia just can't do. Finally decided to launch a WNY tag because of the recent focus there.

Buffalo (downtown) (1) - 500 Main St; original store; now Buffalo Cigars

Buffalo (downtown) (2) - 514 Main St; now The Belasario

Cheektowaga (1) - Thruway Plaza (later Mall)

Cheektowaga (2) - Walden Galleria

Tonawanda - Sheridan Plaza, US 62

West Seneca - Seneca Mall (now The Shops at West Seneca), CR 137 & 91; old mall demolished

Amherst - Northtown Plaza, US 62 & NY 333; Station 12

Lockport - Lockport Mall, NY 78

Clarence - Transitowne Plaza, NY 5 & 78

Buffalo - 510 Elmwood Ave, now Mythos Restaurant

Hamburg - McKinley Mall, NY 179; later Kaufmanns Home Store and likely Macys outpost; now vacant

Jenss

Jenss through AI lens. Courtesy Meta Platforms, Inc.

 Back to WNY, going from Hens to Jenss! This started in Niagara County rather than Erie County. While the chain existed all the way to the start of the millennium, it would go the way of its local competitors. I just wish I got to know that area more in those days.

 

AI fantasy mall location. Even the bins are well made.

Amherst - Boulevard Mall, US 62; flagship; later Kaufmanns and Macys Mens Store; supposed to become Boulevard Place after JCPenney gives up eminent domain struggle (unlike their old rivals)

Harris Hill/Clarence - Eastern Hills Mall, NY 78; becoming a lifestyle center

Wheatfield - Summit Place Mall; now the Summit/NISE Center

Niagara Falls - NY 378

Tonawanda - Main & Niagara Sts; Jenss Twin Ton; previously Zuckmaier Bros.; long gone

Hens & Kelly

Well-done AI Hens & Kelly. Courtesy Meta Platforms, Inc.

 WNY have had a plethora of department store chains of their own, and Hens & Kelly were one of them. While this just laid an egg in my nest, they were only in Erie County for nine decades. They were one of the first stores in the region to offer S&H Green Stamps. Here's where they roosted (of course, this had nothing to do with chickens! This wasn't in St Olaf, mind!):

Buffalo (downtown) - 478 Main St; flagship; now Social Security

South Buffalo - NY 16; now Trocaire on Seneca

Lackawanna - Abbott Rd; L.B. Smith Plaza; previously Edwards; now Rent-A-Center?

Buffalo (1) - US 62 & NY 33; long since demolished

Clarence/Williamsville - Transitowne Plaza, NY 78 & 5; now Planet Fitness?

Hamburg - South Shore Plaza, US 20; now Walmart

Amherst - Northtown Plaza, US 62 & NY 324; now Station 12, the areas answer to District East

West Seneca - Southgate Plaza, NY 277

Cheektowaga - Como Mall, NY 277; now Appletree Business Park

East Aurora - Aurora Village Shopping Center, US 20A; now T.J. Maxx?

Wheatfield - Summit Park Mall; later Macys Closeout; now The Summit/NISE Center

Buffalo (2) - US 62, Langley Plaza; previously Edwards

Mid-Hudson Memories

Gnax the red fox; his species are Marists mascot

 From 1997 to 2000, I lived in Dutchess County while away at school. While I won't go into the personal aspects of that too much here, it had to be done. This year would be the 25th anniversary of when I graduated from there, but a Smiths reunion is more likely now than one with my former colleagues (one person from that time knows what I mean). I even wrote to one recently, but that ship has sailed. There is an annual do with those of every vintage up to that time, but I don't know.

    As for what to put here, I finally got to go to ShopRite after only knowing it from then-UPN 9 and WB 11 (more on them on our sister blog). Grand Union provided some familiarity, yet I only went to Price Chopper rarely since that was one of many chains in town that we had back home. I discovered Stop & Shop, which was then sister to Tops, the latter bought some of the others stores that overlapped with Hannaford after the Ahold Delhaize merger. I went to Walgreens for the first time since they did not return to CNY until 2006. There was a dollar store called Just-a-Buck, which we covered years earlier. Rhino Records, which spun off of the label after it was sold to Time Warner, had locations in Poughkeepsie and New Paltz close to college campuses. After Caldor left CNY after two years' time, I had just as long before the whole chain closed. I can't recall if I ever went to Adams Fairacre Farms, the premier local chain in the Hudson Valley.  There were Poughkeepsie Galleria (Destiny USAs sister mall), South Hills Mall and Hudson Valley Mall. My stablemates and I would shop in Ulster and Dutchess Counties and had the minibus. I would take the chartered coach or railway home to visit.
    There was an indie video store across US 9 from where I was and they would sometimes have what I wanted. Even a couple delis were close by. Discovered Chinese buffet down the road. Saw Revco get absorbed by CVS and the last leg of Fays as Eckerd opened. Went to IGA and for the last time A&P. Got ice creams at Dairy Queen (not near home then) or Holy Cow in Red Hook (better off there). Only heard of G. Fox in recent years, and Filenes had been back for some time once I got to the mall. The furry fox I used for this post is in the one for G. Fox and also represents the mascot for Marist College, one of the three private schools in town, and an alum turned staff member of that place worked nights where I lived to boot. It'd be too easy to put a photo of a business or even landscape of the river itself.

   Despite the area being a bedroom community, I only got to take the MetroNorth Hudson Line twice to New York City since it wasn't that simple in those days, and it's not an everyday thing for everyone there; some not going down river for months or even years at a time. I only went once before with my family and three times this century to date, twice to see Paul McCartney, but that's for "Another Day"!
    Mid-Hudson Memories was going to be the name used for a segment on a short-lived user feature on the site for the Poughkeepsie Journal site after a rare visit in 2010 to see Yes at Mid-Hudson Civic Center (on the music blog), but I had to get on to the life I had in that day, and the feature became dated and obscure anyway. I just know I was still running riot with retail when I was in town. It has come on even more since like anywhere, despite all the stagnation and stagflation across the country these days.
    Because of my limitations, I doubt I'll ever get a hundred miles of there again. Haven't even made it to the tri-state proper since 2009, several months before halfway north to Albany, which I'm lucky to even get to once a year as it is. Just as people from my hometown or local alums who live elsewhere now can't all make it over yet once any time of year because of the costs and/or current routines. Maybe someday, I'll make it back. If I do go to events in the NYC region, I could stop along the way once I have my driving licence and own car, although I'd have to sort out the city itself (you know how it is).

Wells & Coverly's

Wells & Coverly's Wells-made AI. Courtesy Meta Platforms, Inc.

    Wells & Coverly's were a mens department store dating back to the Victorian period which had been in downtown Syracuse since the Edwardian one, yet I only just learned that they were actually from Rensselaer County in the Capital District, despite my family's decades-long ties to that area (they may have known this). Near home, the painted sign remains as a reminder of when people dressed posh to go into town to shop (especially around the festive period). In and even more so outside Onondaga County, there is little information if the stores closed generations ago and/or I haven't been to those areas in some time, although Wells & Coverly still existed in my lifetime, details don't always get preserved by posterity or I'd really have to become the Lucy Worsley of retail (she finds everything)!

Syracuse (downtown) - S Salina St; now Sky Armory (top two floors) and Champs and Scholars (lower floor)

Syracuse (Fairmount) - W Genesee St, Fairmount Fair Mall; now several chains

deWitt - NY 5, Shoppingtown Mall; TBD (you know the rest)

Oswego (1) - W 1st St?

Oswego (2) - US (now NY) 104?

Troy (1) - 336-338 River St and 13-17 4th St (now US 4 South and North); flagship store; various

Troy (2) - 70-72 State St; TBD

Hoosick Falls - NY 22

Walkill - The Galleria at Crystal Run

Worcester, MA - Ware-Pratt

E.W. Edwards & Son

AI Edwards after some editing. Courtesy Meta.

 It's a new year and month, yet there's another department store chain that didn't stick around here for me to get to that was right in my backyard. E.W. Edwards & Son had but a few stores in CNY, and I've heard about them here and there. They would branch out to WNY, so now we're getting somewhere. The local stores would close in 1973, with the original downtown Syracuse flagship being demolished. The Monroe County stores were sold and the Edwards name survived until around 1982.

Syracuse (1) - S Salina & W Jefferson Sts; hard to pinpoint because of Deys, Sibleys, RKO Keith, Whelans, Kresge (kmart) and Loews State (Landmark Theatre) being competitors and/or neighbours

Syracuse (2) - S Salina & W Washington Sts, Clinton Square, Syracuse Mall; later the Atrium with Goldome (bank that closed in the early '90s) and state offices; now SUNY Oswego Metro Center with CH Insurance and skating rink entrance during the winter

deWitt - NY 5, Shoppingtown Mall; later JCPenney; now vacant (don't say the D word!)

Camillus - W Genesee St; Camillus Plaza/Mall; later JCPenney; now Walmart

Rochester - NY 96; Midtown Plaza?

Pittsford - NY 31, Pittsford Plaza

Greece - Ridgemont Plaza, US (now NY) 104

Buffalo (1) - Genesee & Pearl Sts; streets no longer meet as store existed a century ago; now Genesee Building (most likely)

Buffalo (2) - US 62, Langley Plaza; later Hens & Kelly

Lackawanna - Abbott Rd, L.B. Smith/Abbott Rd Plaza; later Hens & Kelly; now Rent-A-Center