Stein Mart in CNY and Beyond

Existing store in Hattiesburg, MS.

Heres something different. The other week, I went to Stein Mart in Rochester suburb Pittsford and thought we could use this near me. I predict these locations:

Albany - Wolf Road (ex-Borders)
Syracuse - Western Lights Plaza*
Fairmount - Fairmount Fair
North Syracuse - Northern Lights (former TJ Maxx, Staples or Burlington*****)
DeWitt - former Macys, Dicks or JCPenney in Shoppingtown or Michaels up NY 5
Clay - Great Northern Mall
Liverpool - The Shops at Seneca Mall**
Syracuse - Destiny USA
New Hartford**
Clifton Park - former OfficeMax if still vacant
Liverpool - Co Rt 57***
Latham - former Latham Circle Mall
Cortlandville***
Palatine Bridge***
Oswego - TBD
Fulton - NY 481 (former kmart)
Syracuse - Onondaga Blvd (Western Lights; ex-Valu)
Cicero - former Burlington at Drivers Village

* ex-kmart/Herb Phillipsons
** ex-Price Chopper
*** ex-Ames
**** ex-P&C
***** ex-Media Play

These could also be IKEAs.

CNY ShurFine affiliates

Store in Seattle suburb in the early 20th Century.

ShurFine is a brand seen in many independent supermarkets across the US, Canada, and even in Jamaica! It can be easily found in CNY. Here are the places you can go:

Syracuse (West Side) - Nojaim Bros (now Brady Market)
Syracuse - Dominick's Neighborhood Market (not the former Safeway division)
Across Upstate - Byrne Dairy (select products)
Farmington - Wades (becoming Tops)
Marcellus - Nojaim Bros, NY 174
Fulton - Strupplers, NY 48 (former Big M; later Tops; now vacant)
Syracuse (Onondaga Hill) - Hill Top Market (now Family Dollar)
Liverpool - Nichols
North Rose - North Rose Midstate
Sodus Point - Shirtz

Webster - Former Hegedorns (as of June 2023), NY 404 (former IGA; later Best Yet)
Pulaski - Al's Big Hometown Corner Market, NY 13 (now closed)

More on the Western Family site. Just learnt that they'll tell you where to find their brands in your area. They didn't before.
Now if I could just get a concise list of retailers that carry sister brands from Topco (even if chains like Wegmans and Price Chopper just have Top Care health and beauty products).

Hiatus

Due to lack of interest on my part and the world's, this blog will go on indefinite hiatus until further notice. There hasn't been anything to report already covered by the pros. I am also focused more on my other blog which I consider my main one. Getting larger retailers to break ground in New York State or anywhere in the world right now is a lot to bear in this economy. Someday, things will change, but now we wait and wonder. Sorry it has to end this way, but it's not the end all. If it's meant to be, I'll return.

ShopRite in the Capital Region

Actual Colonie store on NY 5 (now Market 32)

The first hiatus has ended! I for now have material to work with.
I read that ShopRite will re-enter the Capital Region. I heard that it was there in the '60s and '70s, until the late '80s. I'm all for this either way, as I've only been to ShopRite in the NYC tri-state area. I've heard of it initially from what are now My 9 WWOR and CW 11 WPIX from downstate when they were indie TV superstations on cable. When I lived in the Hudson Valley, I went all the time.
One issue is that no-frills O&O sister store PriceRite have an existing store in Schenectady which I go to on occassion, and may come to my back yard (see earlier article). They try not to be in the same area as ShopRite, even though those are usually franchised.
Possible locations could be:

East Greenbush
Menands (ex-Save a Lot)
Glenville
Hudson Falls
Palatine Bridge
Saratoga Springs
Troy
Colonie (Wolf Road, ex-Barnes & Noble)
Loudonville
Schodack
Waterford
Cohoes
Niskayuna (coming soon!)
Rensselaer
Clifton Park

Its early days right now, so nothing is for sure yet. Watch this space!

Adopt-a-Platoon

Green Hills Market, an indie grocery on the south side of Syracuse, have adopted the Alpha Troop 1st Platoon 1-71 of 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum who are deployed in Afghanistan and need items that are easily found back in the West. I saw a brochure at Imagine That in Skaneateles and was intrigued. I could buy a few things that only cost a few dollars here. I started with Best Buy brand snack crackers (compare to Wheat Thins), but there's a whole plethora to choose from:

Wet Wipes

Hand Sanitizer

Canned Goods

Soup Mix

Sunflower Seeds

Newspapers

Air Fresheners

Stress Relief Balls

Notepads of Paper

Word Puzzles/Crosswords

Vitamins

Tissues

Microwave-safe plates (i.e. Chinet)

Altoids or other mints

Deodorant/anti-perspirant

Jelly beans

Crispy rice treats (pre-made)

Video games for Sony PlayStation

Chewing Gum

Hard Candy

Dominoes

Squeeze Spread

Tinned Sardines

Spices, Salt & Pepper

Microwave Popcorn

Macaroni cheese

Beef Jerky

Batteries

Hot Cocoa

DVDs (NTSC or PAL/SECAM)

Paperbacks

Magazines

Pringles

Razors for Shaving and Cream

Pens

Icy Hot patches

Foot Powder

Eye Drops

Paper Plates/Cups

Little Debbies

Inflatable Seat Cushions

Body Powder

Disposable Cameras

Snack Mixes

Music CDs (also see my other blog)

Nuts

Playing Cards

Cookies

Dice

Pasta and Sauce

Smoked Oysters

Licorice

Ramen Noodles

Cereal Bars

Sewing Kit

Microwave Pasta that doesn't need to be refrigerated (Nutri-System has some)

Disposable Shower Towels

Gatorade or Kool-Aid powder

Powder Laundry Detergent and Color-Safe Bleach (Liquid is a risk en route)

Condiments in Plastic or Single Packs

Cigarettes/Tobacco (used to barter)

Plastic Knives/Forks/Spoons

Air-Activated Heat Wraps for Sore Muscles

Canned Air to Blow Dust out of Electronics

AT&T or other Long Distance Phone Cards

Koozies



What not to send:

Liquor/Beer

Anything in Glass

Pornography

Chocolate (it melts)



You can also donate money for S&H. I doubt this can be written off your taxes due to the open nature of this appeal. Any money left goes to the families or more things.



Donation Centers:

Green Hills Market, Syracuse/Nedrow

Onondaga Free Library, Onondaga Hill

Bob's True Value

Key Bank, NY 173, OH

Purcell's Paints

Imagine That, Skaneateles

Betts Branch Library

Meachem Elementary School

Curves, Green Hills Plaza

Encore Video, Tully

Greeley's Auto

ECK

M&T Bank, Green Hills Plaza



Some items can be mailed to me if you're outside Onondaga County in Upstate NY. Address by request only.

Gananoque, ONT

Sorry for the latest delay, but I haven't had anything new to put up for a while, so this time, I decided to go across the 49th parallel to Gananoque, ONT, Canada, where I'm going to the casino shown above. What gets to me is the limited retail. Should it be like Skaneateles back near me, or should it be more like the suburbs? Gananoque is a suburb of Kingston, ONT, yet it's not like Vancouver or Montréal. Gananoque is a seaside tourist town, which goes into dormancy during the winter like Alexandria Bay a boat ride away.
While Gan has Metro, Shoppers Drug Mart, a flea market, a variety store, McDonalds, BMO, Dairy Queen, and some indie eateries, the town is lacking big box and chain retail such as Walmart, Dollarama, Mr Sub, HBC, Future Shop, HMV, and other retailers typical in larger areas. Another thing lacking is enough public transport. This seems like the kind of place where you have to know how to drive to get to Kingston and Cataraqui. There's a VIA Railway station, or you can take a cab. What do the local over-60s without cars do? The ones on my side of the Great Lakes Seaway are coming into town on a chartered bus and I'm coming with them!
All of Canada deal with the winter when it's there, and there's more happening in the big cities and suburban Québec (skiing and a winter festival) than at the seaside. There must not be enough incentive for development. Maybe it's better that Gan stays small. Maybe the casino is better off small as it doesn't have to be Vegas or Atlantic City. Also, everything's within a 5 kilometre radius. The point I'm trying to make is that I'm on the fence whether Gan is fine the way it is or could use gentrification. Then again, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Possible PriceRite locations

Cromwell, CT store near Hartford.

PriceRite are ShopRite USAs sister chain. This is another one of those smaller markets that mostly carry own brands with a few nationals, all at everyday low prices. They're often in less-affluent neighbourhooods where there isn't a lot of money. While ShopRites are mostly franchises, PriceRites are almost all O&Os except the West coast in the giant LA area. They usually try not to be in the same area to avoid self competition for owner Wakefern. They compete with the big boxes and indies, but more with Aldi or Save-a-Lot to put it that way.
What I'm putting here is a list of towns where PriceRite should open in Upstate and even Downstate NY as well as PA:

Poughkeepsie - former Natures Harvest, US 9

Horseheads - former Aldi
Canandaigua - former Walmart, NY 332
Lancaster - former Save a Lot
North Adams, MA - former Price Chopper if not something else already
Fulton - former kmart on NY 481; split with Planet Fitness
Oswego - former Peebles/Gordmans, NY 104
Cortland (US 11 & NY 41/Homer Ave.) - former Dollar Bazaar or Cortlandville (NY 281) - former Big Lots/Real Deals or (NY 222) - former Save-a-Lot
Palatine Bridge - NY 5S; former Ames

Napanoch - TBD
Geneva - former Tops/CherriBundi, NY 14A
Pulaski - former Als Big Corner Market off US 11 and NY 13
Milford, PA - former Grand Union unless taken
Matamoras, PA - same as above
North Syracuse (US 11 & S Bay Rd) - former Media Play/Burlington (Northern Lights)

Binghamton (Nimmonsburg) - former Giant/Weis/Grand Union, US 11

Binghamton (east side) - former Giant/Weis, NY 7

Oneida - former FoodTown, NY 365A

Vestal - former JoAnn Fabrics, NY 434

Gloversville - former Price Chopper (as of 10/1/26)