Revco Drugs

Old school Revco in Civil War town of Lynchburg, VA in 1986

 Long gone Midwestern drugstore chain Revco were only in Upstate New York for a brief time in the early to mid-'90s until their sale to CVS/pharmacy in 1997 after four decades in business.  They initially reached CNY when they acquired NYS Brooks locations from Canadian chain Pharmacie Jean Coutu, which later bought Eckerd from JCPenney, until PJC sold it to Rite Aid in 2010, and many of those stores are now Walgreens (including some former Carls, Fays and indies, but more on those later).  Here's a selection of stores in CNY, the Capital Region, South (one I just heard of when writing this) and Hudson Valley recalled from memory.

Hyde Park - US 9; now CVS/pharmacy (older one down the road closed)

Delmar - NY 443, Delaware Plaza; now Dollar Tree (CVS/pharmacy are already up the street)

North Syracuse - US 11; later CVS/pharmacy, now Harbor Freight Tools

Skaneateles - Fennel St.; previously Brooks, now CVS/pharmacy (last converted one in CNY)

Lynchburg, VA - Main St.; now The Market at Main Restaurant (only non-NY one I'm doing; pictured)

Syracuse - NY 92; originally non-pharmacy CVS, now Dollar General

Liverpool - CR 57 & Wetzel Rd.; now Bryant & Stratton (previously local business)

Wilson Farms

Collegetown location in Tompkins County

 Wilson Farms was a chain of convenience stores located across CNY, WNY, Twin Tiers, and the North Country (later as Sugarcreek after buying those out).  Tops had started them in 1969 (they previously had B-Kwik, which were simply smaller stores).  When Tops left Onondaga County in 1986 (brought back in 2010 after buying most of P&C and Quality in WNY from Penn Traffic), Wilson Farms was the only way to get Tops brand products in Syracuse, and under Ahold ownership, then-sister brands Finast and Giant.  Tops Xpress began in 2001, and Wilson Farms were spun off, eventually sold to 7-Eleven.  Sadly, very few are still 7-Eleven in CNY.  Some are indie cornershops and others vacant or even demolished.  Price Chopper once had Mini Chopper in the Pine Hills section of Albany, but now pair up with select Sunocos (many are now 7-Elevens themselves).  Here's what I can dig up (I won't find them all because it's too painstaking, but you get the gist). Wilson Farms also operated stores under the name Sugarcreek in the North Country and Twin Tiers (especially after separating from Tops).

Syracuse (Eastwood) - NY 290 & Forest Hill Dr; now Foods 4 Less (pictured below)

Syracuse (north side) - US 11 (N. Salina St.); now NSC, once had gas station

Syracuse (north side) - US 11 (Wolf St.), previously Big M, later Dollar Tree, but not 7-11; now vacant

Syracuse (north side) - Grant Blvd; now indie

Syracuse (south side) - NY 175 & 80; now Ocean 11

North Syracuse - US 11 (only non-petrol 7-Eleven left in town)

Cortland - US 11 & NY 41 (only other gas-free location in region)

Auburn - NY 38, now Lucky 7 (may have closed as 7-Eleven due to merger with Speedway, which is down the street; not to be confused with indie cornershop in Lyncourt)

Fulton - NY 3; now vacant

Liverpool - CR 57; now demolished (never became 7-Eleven)

Ithaca - Collegetown (pictured above); TBD

Almond - NY 21; now 7-Eleven

Pavilion - NY 19; now closed

Dansville - NY 36; now 7-Eleven

Watertown - NY 12F; now closed (may have been Sugarcreek)

Elmira - 709 W Gray St.; now 7-Eleven

Niagara Falls - NY 384; now 7-Eleven (just one example in WNY)

Rochester (1) - NY 31 (Monroe Ave.); now 7-Eleven

Rochester (2) - Park St.; now 7-Eleven

Composite image in lieu of free one

PostNet

My local franchise around the corner

 PostNet are a chain of shipping centres started over thirty years ago in Clark County now based in the Colorado Capital Region.  They've been in my area for over a decade or so, just blocks from my house, and I've used them to ship packages and make copies.  They used to have a second location across town in Fairmount, but it closed some time ago.  Rivals The UPS Store and others shuttered even more stores in CNY.  Eastwood is now the only one in the whole state.  Finding smaller storefronts can be a challenge, even in small towns, but they could take over some spots around the region.

Cortland - Main St., downtown, former office supply or pawn shop

Ithaca - The Commons, downtown (over a dozen vacancies are available to choose from)

Syracuse - S Salina & E Washington Sts, downtown; former Copy Center

New Hartford - NY 5A; former shipping store in former Avenue Plaza

Auburn - Fingerlakes Mall, US 20 & NY 5 or downtown

Oswego - NY 104 or W 1st St; vacant store front

Fulton - E. 1st. St, downtown; former Wayne Pharmacy

Canastota - NY 5 & CR 25; former Family Dollar

Chittenango - NY 5 & 13; former business TBD

Central Square - 668 US 11; former Allstate/Disc-Connection

Rome - NY 46 & 49; Freedom Plaza

Hegedorn's Market: 70 Years On

Courtesy Webster on the Web (they also use Creative Commons)

 Indie grocery store Hegedorns on NY 404 (Ridge Road) in the Rochester suburb Webster will close in June due to increasing competition from Wegmans (based across town), ALDI, Tops, and Walmart (go figure). It was the prèmiere mom and pop supermarket in the region and sadly one of the last. I've never been myself, but I've known about it for a long time, and it's not unlike so many around the country, even though this is more in a bigger area as opposed to a small town, yet the loss is a blow to the community either way. Classic case, you know. Like its counterparts in CNY, WNY and beyond, they had things the big box didn't. Some shoppers drove over from nearby Wayne County, which is more rural and may have a chain here and small place there like anywhere in the industrialised world.

Hegedorns started as a franchise of IGA (originally as a dairy back in the Great Depression), but in later decades, carried ShurFine and Western Family, then Best Yet in more recent memory, like many other  independents. Several others, including a couple Big M's, will still have Best Yet in Monroe, Wayne, Genesee and Ontario Counties. As for the store, it can't just sit empty. I have a gut feeling it could become a Tops (all the closest ones are almost eight miles away, and they may be ready to expand again after last years merger with Price Chopper/Market 32). That seems like selling out, but it might work, since they bought similar properties down the NY 104/Lake Ontario corridor in the past decade.  In my usual lists, I also put in Lidl, Grocery Outlet and maybe one other, but those may not be appropriate for that type of place. Maybe Hegedorns could relocate to the city proper ten miles away, where they could use a store, since there was an article in local alt-monthly City Newspaper a couple years back about the inner city being a "food swamp" to vulnerable populations (same here in Syracuse and countless cities coast-to-coast for those of us who can't just drive somewhere else when the bus isn't as convenient, but more on that another day).  The owners still have local fast food chain Bill Grays/Tom Wahls and additional businesses to fall back on (Grays were once in CNY). Still, loyal shoppers are gutted to see Hegedorns become another textbook statistic of a changing economy and society. It just tells us to keep supporting local business that are still around or they won't be anymore. Long live Hegedorns.

UPDATE: The owners decided to delve up the property into thirds according to CBS 8, NBC 10, ABC 13, PBS 21, Fox 31 and the local paper. At least it won't lay to waste like so many others. Still, Webster is a community in its own right, not just a place outside Rochester.

Ziebart

A VitroPlus/Ziebart in the Montréal, Québec, Canada area.

 A member of my family works at Ziebart, a chain or auto repair shops in the northeast and mid-West of the US and Canada (my inner Professor told me they were across the Seaway as well, but now through Uniglass Plus), and travels for work for it, and it gave me an idea for todays post, especially as I found some parts of Upstate NY don't have one yet.  This will be a challenge not knowing where there'd be this kind of vacancy, even in small towns, albeit ones I don't get to often enough.  This is based in the Detroit/Windsor area, the bedrock of the motor trade in this country, so they are just up the road from Big Auto, basically.  There's one across from me already, so that's sorted, but I know there are gaps across the region.  Perhaps other chains or indies left spots (I had less trouble with Maaco, who Ziebart compete with in Albany and numerous other areas).  I found some downstate vacancies through an estate agent, but it's painstaking to scramble with ones 200 miles away when you haven't been half as far in donkeys years!  I like to make my own list with places I know.  Of course, one can always build from scratch, but it's trying to find the parcel to start a building site with the right zoning and location, location, location! (I learned a lot about properties over the years)  Just takes determination and perseverance, like anything in life, like when you take your car in and they try and get it fixed for you.

Cortland (Cortlandville) - NY 281, former NAPA

Auburn - E Genesee St, former Goodyear

Oswego - NY 48, former Shapiro/Burritt Motors Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram

Ithaca - NY 13/34/96?, TBD (even here, there's nothing to buy or let on every corner)

Valu Home Centers: 55 Years On

Hornell store

 Valu Home Centers are a DIY and another WNY chain just as easily found in CNY (maybe WNY should get its own tag since the T-word does). They're not as large as the big box, and have the convenience of the smaller hardware stores. Even they could open up some more. Not to be confused with True Value Hardware, even though both are now part of Do It Best.

Ithaca - NY 13, 34, & 96, former Hobby Lobby

New Hartford - New Hartford Shopping Center, former Herb Phillipsons

Auburn - NY 5; former Real Deals

Fulton - NY 481; former kmart, River Glen Plaza

Oswego - NY 104, former Big Lots

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

Herkimer - former kmart

Colonie - former Barnes & Noble

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

Troy - US 4; former Price Chopper, Lansingburgh

Former locations:

Syracuse - Shop City Plaza; previously Ames; now Factory Direct Furniture Outlet

Cortland - NY 222; former Tops

Owego - NY 17C

North Hornell - Seneca St

M&T Bank in CNY and NC

Eastern Hills branch in Amherst outside their native Buffalo

 Erie County based M&T Bank have been in CNY for twenty-five years time after acquiring OnBank (Onondaga Savings Bank, which itself bought Merchants Bank before that).  I had switched to them after being with a local credit union for over two decades.  It may seem like selling out to the big boys from Buffalo, but major changes in my life as of late just made it harder for me to go to the other place anymore, which is only in the suburbs around Syracuse (I don't own a car, buses don't reach these easily, and it's not always easy to get lifts).  M&T are mainly in the Northeast and Delmarva.

I have some family in North Carolina, and M&T have yet to open down there (just as I haven't visited myself).  While online banking makes it possible to stay with any bank from anywhere these days, even if they're not in your new area, some things can only be done in person.  Wells Fargo, Truist, Bank of America (who are also up north through buying other chains, but have fewer locations here these days), PNC, First National and First Citizens have closed locations throughout the state, as well as Hometown Bank and Mountain Credit Union in Asheville, where one family member is currently living.  M&T could buy any branches not already taken by anyone else.  Too much work to make a list for a place I don't know.  Just used Google to see if there was anything vacant around the past couple years.

Back in CNY, M&T should open in Chittenango, Fulton, Oswego, Phoenix, Solvay, Sylvan Beach, and possibly other communities and small towns (the former Bayberry branch on CR 57 went to an FCU from Cayuga County).  Unlike my old credit union, when it comes to ATMs, I'm confined to the banks own if I want to avoid those fees unless I pay more to upgrade, while my old place is in a vast network that reached a bit further.  I guess the honeymoon's over. Can't have my cake and eat it too.  Until I can afford to drive, I'd have to stop ahead of time if I go somewhere cash will be needed.  Still, M&T Bank will offer a new perspective on tracking my finances, which I'm trying to get a handle on.