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)

Tops may bring gas stations to CNY

For anyone who follows this blog, sorry I hadn't put anything up in three months' time. There hasn't been anything to report that hasn't already been done. Also, I just have my own life to deal with.
I heard on NBC 3 for a second that Tops Markets may be building their own gas stations in Central New York as part of their comeback campaign. I can't find anything on the TV station, chain's, or any sites about this.
Right now, the closest Tops petrol station to me is at the pre-existing Auburn location. Most of them are around Rochester and Buffalo (see below).
The scheme is one used by many chains and a few indies in the States where you earn points for every certain amount that you spend. Price Chopper and select Sunocos were the first to bring it my way, and I try to get to them when I can. Their programme is the best so far that I know of, where you save 10¢ a gallon for every $50, where most others make you spend $100 like Tops, ex-sister chains BI-LO and Stop & Shop, Giant Eagle, and indie promotional discounters GasBusters.
Back to Tops, I'm not sure which locations will get the gas stations. They have to be right nearby. They can't be on every corner. A lot of digging and council approval is needed for this to happen. Camillus, Baldwinsville, North Syracuse, Fayetteville, Cortland (NY 281), and Seneca Falls are more likely candidates for this. Other CNY communities like Syracuse (Shop City), Westvale (unless the old Pep Boys two doors down gets destroyed), and Watertown, as well as small towns such as Cazenovia, Canastota, Skaneateles, and Pulaski don't really have the room or infrastructure to accommodate the gasbars.
However, you can earn the points at locations or areas that don't have Tops gas yet. I was told by HQ that I could once the new placards were erected. Also, you have to use the BonusCard, not the Wild Card which is still in use at the ex-P&Cs (Quality and Bi-Lo/Riverside are largely converted by now in the Finger Lakes, Western and Central New York, and Pennsylvania). You can bet your last litre of petrol that almost no one east of Skaneaatles realises that GasPoints even exist at Tops.
Because Price Chopper isn't convenient for everyone this half of the state, Tops may be an alternative despite being half as good as the other, but it can still help families save on gas as prices fluctuate over time. Not many majors in the Northeast offer this kind of deal. Keep an eye out in the coming months as this story unfolds.

Current locations:

Alden
Amherst (Transit Road)
Arcade
Auburn
Baldwinsville
Batavia
Bath (309 W Morris St)
Bradford, PA
Buffalo (Sheridan & Delaware, Niagara St., and S. Park Ave.)
Dansville
Depew
Derby
DeWitt
Dunkirk
Elmira (S. Main St.)
Erie, PA (W. 26th St.)
Gates (Rochester subrub; NY 33 off I-490)
Grand Island
Hamburg (S. Park Ave.)
Ithaca (S. Meadow St.)
Jamestown
Lansing
Leroy
Lockport (S. Transit Rd. and Wrights Corners)
Medina
Niagara Falls (2, not Town of Niagara or ONT)
North Syracuse (on the way)
North Tonawanda
Olean
Orchard Park
Rochester
Spencerport
Tonawanada (2)
West Seneca

This section wasn't working on their site when I first wrote this, so I copied the list from the brochure. To save time, just match up the one closest to you on both sites. Restrictions do apply.

Tops name to return to Syracuse and beyond

Looks like the Tops name will replace those of P&C, Quality, and BiLo/Riverside after all, according to the Watertown Daily Times, which reported on three stores in the North Country specifically being spared from giving pink slips to employees and displacing shoppers, which was the case with a dozen stores between four states.
Tops in my area was '86ed in '86 for any given reason, being downsizing, or too much competition. Then C-store division Wilson Farms would be their foothold in most of the 315 area code east and northeast of the Finger Lakes Region for another two decades before they too broke away with the help of Wall Street and Madison Avenue. Tops have come full circle.
Renovations and façade changes may be underway in the coming weeks, along with the obligatory grand opening celebrations. Let's say right now, it's one long soft opening! A hotel in Miami didn't have their grand re-opening until seven months time after changing hands, but that's another story!
I'm still waiting to see if the Wild Card will go the way of the P&C Plus, Peter's Preferred Customer and Grand Union Grand Savings cards. I hope Tops can encourage all the doubting Thomases and Wild Card customers alike to sign up for the Bonuscard. I collect these loyalty cards from around this side of the Mississippi, so I was ready to go.
Most locations still have to pass muster with the FTC ministry, which should be with flying colours. The company have analysed and evaluated all the stores they took on. I think we're ready for the next arc of the transition.
Even though the old names have history as I said before, in recent years, the former Penn Traffic chains have been slated in recent years for not being in league with other supermarkets in many respects. Others may be sad to say goodbye to the old guard. Either way, nobody's perfect, but I think the future looks bright for anyone involved with Tops, be it a consumer or employee.