Shake Shack

DC location courtesy Mike Mozart (he's the king of these kind of snaps!)

 Downstate based chain Shake Shack are coming Upstate, but mainly on the NYS Thruway, from the bedroom communities of Sloatsburg and Ramapo to the WNY small town Angola, replacing McDonalds and other chains, along with Chick-Fil-A, Applegreen and Starbucks.  While we have the GA Capital Region and King County (albeit fewer in recent years) chains in CNY, Shake Shack are new 200 miles northeast of NYC.  With my new crystal ball (I finally got one that seems to work, but it's not all like it is on TV), I asked it what will be in the food court at Destiny USA where Popeyes used to be, and I wrote it down in a semi-trance like I was drunk (and I'm a teetotaller, mind), and I got Shake Shack of all things.  I'm still just going to do this like I have been, since it's more creative and speculative than trying to be the Walter Mercado of retail! Back on I-87 & 90 meanwhile (switching off in Albany, like I've known forever), some are open now and being slated (heavily criticised), while others are being built and slated (planned) to open later this year or next year.  Henrietta in Monroe County is confirmed so far.  I'm focussing on malls, plazas, and other run-of-the-mill locations in town.

Syracuse - Destiny USA; former Cantina Loredo

New Hartford - Sangertown Square, NY 5 & 5A or former Boil Shack

Auburn - Fingerlakes Mall, NY 5 & US 20

Watertown - Salmon Run Mall, NY 3 & CR 100; former Titled Kilt

Camillus - former Firehouse Subs, W Genesee St

deWitt - NY 5 & Bridge St; former Friendlys (confirmed for 2025; Rachels Mediterranean Grill deal cancelled)

Amherst - NY 78; former restaurant (name TBD)

Oneida - NY 5; former fast food chain (name TBD; perhaps KFC)

Whealthy Fusion Stir Fry

Fantasy location in North Syracuse

 West coast based Whealthy Fusion Stir Fry have been on the back burner for some time because of the lack of free images, so once again, I had to make my own, cutting and pasting (I just used a location near Atlanta).  Most of their restaurants are near LA, yet one is coming to Crossgates in our Capital Region this year, so it could work its way further around the state and ultimately rest of the northeast, but I'll just try spots that I know. CoreLife have competition if they get close to one another.

Syracuse (north side) - Destiny USA; former Cantina Laredo

North Syracuse - Northern Lights Plaza, US 11; former Michaels/various (pictured)

Auburn - Fingerlakes Mall, US 20 & NY 5

New Hartford - Sangertown Square, NY 5 & 5A

Cortland - Riverside Plaza, NY 13; former Naples Pizza

Ithaca - NY 13/34/96; former CoreLife

Syracuse (east side) - NY 5; former Red Lobster

Amherst - NY 78; former restaurant (name TBD)

Henrietta - NY 252; former Calios

Watertown - Salmon Run Mall, NY 3; former Tilted Kilt

Camillus - former Firehouse Subs, W Genesee St

Ames: 20 Years On

Twin Tiers location in Chemung County

 If you thought Grand Union coming back from retail heaven was unexpected, now Ames are reportedly returning from the dead.  I can list selected past locations that I remember in CNY and beyond, and possible new ones.  A real article suggested Syracuse, so that's a good sign. The chain closed in 2002 unable to compete with Walmart (Target had yet to grow in the Northeast, and Connecticut competitor Caldor had closed a few years before).  I still have one of the last things I ever bought there.  Writing this before the window closes on the anniversary.  The new owners have also bought Bradlees, which I never got to visit.  Not associated with the Ames in Cumberland County in the PA Capital Region.

Past locations:

Syracuse (Lyncourt) - Shop City; later Chinese buffet, Eckerd (after former Fays closed), Rite Aid (vacant as of July 2025) and Powerhouse Gym; now Dollar Tree (since 2002)

Syracuse (north side) - Destiny USA; previously Hills; later Sports Authority and At Home; now IKEA

North Syracuse - Northern Lights, US 11; previously Zayre, later Staples, now Floor & Decor

Chittenango - Chittenango Plaza, NY 5; later Name Brand Deals, now YBR Casino

deWitt - Marshalls Plaza, NY 5; previously Hills, became Marshalls Homegoods by 2003

Cicero - Penn Can Mall; previously Hills, now Roger Burdicks Drivers Village Used Car Warehouse

Baldwinsville - Downer St.; now Thrifty Shopper and later Family Dollar, now closed

Auburn - NY 5; closed mid-'80s, later Nichols (no relation to Liverpool store)

West Seneca - South Gate Plaza, NY 277; previously Brand Names and Grants

Cheektowaga - Garden View Plaza, NY 277; previously Hills (not as familiar with WNY)

Pulaski - NY 13; previously Zayre, now demolished?

Rome - NY 46 (& 49, Freedom Plaza or Black River Blvd.?)

Glenmont - US 9W & Fuera Bush Rd; now Marshalls and other stores (the one Capital Region location that I can remember)

Kingston - Kingston Plaza, US 9W; previously Jamesway (just not going to put all of the Hudson Valley ones up)

New Paltz - US 9W & NY 299 (I haven't been to Ulster County myself since 2000)

Hyde Park - US 9; previously Jamesway, vacant for years (may have gone to this one when I lived up the road and even tried getting a job there); demolished for Stop & Shop

Palatine Bridge - Dutchtown Plaza, NY 5 & 10; vacant (visible from Thruway in small town)

Fairmount - Fairmount Fair; closed when chain acquired Hills in 1998 and absorbed Camillus store, now various stores like Five Below, Famous Footwear and Ulta Beauty

Camillus - Camillus Plaza; previously Hills, demolished in 2006 for Walmart Supercenter

Cortland - NY 281 and/or NY 13, Riverside Mall; later flea market; soon to be Goodwill

Ithaca - The Shops at Ithaca Mall, NY 34; previously Hills; now Regal Cinemas

Horseheads - Lake Rd (old NY 17?) & CR 51; now vacant (pictured)

Future locations:

Syracuse - Destiny USA; former JCPenney 2nd Level, Bon-Ton or Lord & Taylor (a source said that the new chain wanted a two-storey flagship anchor there, and one of these is fish in a barrel)

New Hartford - Sangertown Square, NY 5 & 5A; former Macys/Hess's/Kaufmanns (even though Target are there) or New Hartford Shopping Center; former Herb Phillipsons

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

Albany - Crossgates Mall, US 20.; former Caldor/Best Buy

Victor - Eastview Mall, NY 96; former Lord & Taylor

Amherst/Williamsville/Clarence - Shops at Main (and) Transit, NY 78; former Best Buy

Watertown - Salmon Run Mall, NY 3; former Bon-Ton/Chappells/Hess's

Massena - St Lawrence Centre, NY 37; former Sears

Johnson City - Oakdale Mall, NY 201; former Burlington

Ithaca - NY 13/34/96; former Hobby Lobby

Fulton - River Glen Plaza, NY 481; former kmart

Cortland - Riverside Plaza, NY 13; former flea market

Herkimer - former kmart

Horseheads - see above

Palatine Bridge - see above

North Syracuse - see above

Newbury Comics

Boston location (may have even been here)

 When it comes to finding chains for malls, smaller stores are more of a challenge than anchors and restaurants. One I went to on my two trips to Boston, Newbury Comics, are opening in Crossgates Mall in Albany County, given the Capital Region's proximity to New England, yet it could work its way around.  Since it could fill almost any spot in the hallway, it's hard to pick one in the malls that I know.

Syracuse - Destiny USA (Confirmed)

Auburn - Fingerlakes Mall, NY 5 & US 20

Ithaca - The Shops at Ithaca Mall, NY 34

New Hartford - Sangertown Square, NY 5 & 5A

Henrietta - Marketplace Mall, NY 252 & 15

Cheektowaga - Walden Galleria

Watertown - Salmon Run Mall, NY 3 & CR 100

Kingston - Hudson Valley Mall, US 9W

Poughkeepsie - Poughkeepsie Galleria, US 9

Victor (Fishers) - Eastview Mall, NY 96

Plattsburgh - Champlain Centre

Johnson City - Oakdale Mall, NY 201

Primark

Dutch location

 Primark are a chain I heard of in the UK that are actually from Ireland, yet they call themselves Penneys at home (not to be confused with JCPenney). They are in the US, but the closest ones are in the Tri-state in Fairfield County and downstate (go figure), yet worked their way up the Hudson to Albany, so the rest of Upstate are primed to get Primark, despite being slated by labour groups back across the pond (we won't get into that, 'cos who hasn't been under the microscope?). Walden Galleria in Cheektowaga in Western New York is even getting one, so Primark should work their way in between at this rate. Might get to most of the other malls here in Upstate!

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

Kingston - former Macys, Hudson Valley Mall, US 9W

Poughkeepsie - former Jordan Marsh/Sears, Poughkeepsie Galleria, US 9

Syracuse - former Lord & Taylor, Destiny USA (half of JCPenney is taken and a whole anchor is needed)

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

Henrietta - former Sibley's/Kaufmanns/Macys, Marketplace Mall, NY 252 & 15

Greece - former Sibley's/Kaufmanns/Macys, The Mall at Greece Ridge, NY 104

Watertown - former Chappells/Bon-Ton, Salmon Run Mall, NY 3 & CR 100

Plattsburgh - former Best Buy, Champlain Centre, NY 3

Johnson City - former Burlington, Oakdale Mall, NY 201

Massena - former Bon-Ton, St Lawrence Centre, NY 37

Big Flats - former Sears or Macys/Bon-Ton, Arnot Mall, CR 35

Lansing - former Dicks, The Shops at Ithaca Mall, NY 13 & 34

Glens Falls - former Sears, Aviation Mall, NY 254 

Schlotzskys

Clark County location (las Vegas area)

 Meant to do this one sooner.  Schlotzskys are another chain from the south I know from telly, which started in the Texas Capital Region and are now based in the Georgia one, and are working their way up north, so they could replace some of their competitors and others' old spotskys!

Cicero - former Jimmy Johns, E Circle Dr

E Syracuse - former Jimmy Johns/Starbucks, NY 298 & Weighlock Dr

Syracuse (east side) - former Jimmy Johns, Marshall St (SU Hill) and/or former Red Lobster, NY 5

Syracuse (north side) - former Margaritaville or Cantina Laredo, Destiny USA

Syracuse (south side) - former Subway, US 11 & NY 173

Syracuse (Lyncourt) - space next to new Fish Cove, Swansea Dr, Shop City

Syracuse (downtown) - former Jimmy Johns/indie restaurant

Cortland - former Naples Pizza, Riverside Plaza, NY 13

Camillus - former Firehouse Subs, W Genesee St

Syracuse (south side)/Nedrow - Green Hills Plaza, US 11 & Southland Dr

Rochester (downtown) - former Subway, E Main St

Rochester (east side) - former Subway, NY 96

Utica - former Subway or Popeyes, Genesee St

Canastota - former Jreck Subs, CR 25

Auburn - Fingerlakes Mall, US 20 & NY 5

Ithaca - former Starbucks, Collegetown

Rensselaer - former Burger King, US 9 & 20

Albany - former I Love NY Pizza, US 9

Delmar - former I Love NY Pizza, NY 443 & 140 (Four Corners)

Clay - former Subway, NY 31

Grocery Outlet

Typical design Eugene, OR location in the Pacific Northwest. Courtesy flickr.

 With so many people having to squeeze pennies these days, Bay Area-based Grocery Outlet could help save hundreds of dollars. They have yet to open here in New York State (shock, horror). There is an indie store in Lyncourt in the former Pfaltzgraff/Syracuse China outlet store, but while there's a number of lesser known brands and surplus goods from out-of-town/state chains, they carry too many expired (even though the "best by" date can confuse people and works differently for each kind of product) items like some cornershop, despite a recent article saying how some can still be alright while others should be binned. The chain are a different animal to the type that ALDI and PriceRite are, but nonetheless keep money in your pocket. I can mainly just come up with Upstate spots that I know, even though there are likely tonnes of them downstate (I could only snag a few on the outskirts of the region so it doesn't go too far), with Hamilton Township, NJ being even the closest one to the Tri-State right now. Off we go then.

Henrietta - Former PriceRite, SouthTown Plaza, NY 252 (plans for Hylan Dr store fell through)

Wayne, NJ - Former ShopRite

West Nyack - Former Grand Union/Stop & Shop or ShopRite, NY 59

Troy - Former Price Chopper, Lansingburgh, US 4

West Babylon - Former ShopRite, NY 109

Auburn - Former Real Deals, NY 5

Cortland - Former Save-a-Lot, NY 281 & 222

Albany (Delaware Area) - Former Save-A-Lot, US 9W & NY 443

Albany (Uptown) - Former Price Chopper, Westgate Shopping Center, NY 5

New Hartford - Former Herb Phillipsons

Ithaca - Former Hobby Lobby, NY 13/34/96

Fulton - Former kmart, River Glen Plaza, NY 481

Gloversville - Former Price Chopper (as of 10/1/26), N Main St

Westvale - Former P&C/Tops, Westvale Plaza, NY 5

Mattydale - Former kmart, US 11

Cicero - Former Green Planet Grocery, NY 31

deWitt - Former Bed, Bath and Beyond; Marshalls Homegoods Plaza; NY 5 (former P&C/Tops is taken and couldn't be another grocery store)

Greene - Former Great American BK5

Sidney - Former Great American BK5

Rensselaer - Former ALDI, US 9 & 20

Poughkeepsie - Former Natures Harvest, US 9

Binghamton - Former Weis/Giant (as of 3/3/24), NY 7

Buffalo - Former Save-a-Lot, 999 Broadway

Lancaster - Former Save-a-Lot; Aurora St

Syracuse (north side) - Former Save-a-Lot/Chicago Markets/Peters; Butternut St

Fantasy deWitt location in former P&C/Tops

Might be in Pennsylvania (composite)