Sears in CNY and Beyond

Typical mall Sears in happier times. Forgot where exactly, however.

 Sears once ruled the retail landscape, but had also taken a downturn thanks to Walmart and amazon in that order. They had several locations in CNY and beyond that are all but gone. Few if any are left. Vacant unless otherwise indicated. The last three are the Capital Region since I grew up going there, and Grandma, may she rest in peace brought us there, and had the catalogue, as well along with the other place. I could throw in the rest of the state, but I don't want to get carried away, so I'll stick to these now.

Syracuse (south side) - US 11; closed in 1974; will become semiconductor workforce training hub through ON-RAMP state programme in the wake of neighbour JMA and Micron opening in Clay

Fayetteville - NY 5, Fayetteville Mall; 1974-95; replaced by P&C at Towne Center, now Tops

deWitt - NY 5, Shoppingtown Mall; 1995-2018; previously Deys; don't ask!

Cicero - Penn Can Mall (now Drivers Village); closed by 1988; later Steinbach and Burlington; now vacant

Clay - NY 31, Great Northern Mall, closed after thirty years

Fairmount - Fairmount Fair, closed 1987; replaced by numerous retailers since such as Marshalls Homegoods and Old Navy

Auburn - NY 5 & US 20, Fingerlakes Mall

New Hartford - NY 5 & 5A, Sangertown Square, now Boscovs

Henrietta - NY 252, Marketplace Mall; now URMC office

Cortland (1) - NY 13, Riverside Plaza, Sears Hometown Outlet

Cortland (2) - NY 281; Cortlandville Mall

Cortland (3) - Downtown; US 11 and NY 41 & 222

Syracuse (north side) - Destiny USA, Sears Outlet (spun off from Sears proper); various

Westvale - NY 5, Westvale Plaza, Sears Hardware; now Thrifty Shopper

Liverpool - CR 57, Sears Hardware; now American Red Cross

Watertown (1) - NY 3, Salmon Run Mall

Watertown (2) - NY 12?, Downtown

Ithaca (Lansing) - NY 34, The Shops at Ithaca Mall, now Cayuga Health (along with former Bon-Ton)

Camillus - Camillus Mall, 1987-2001; now Lowes

Colonie - NY 5, Colonie Center; now Whole Foods (amazon-owned) and Floor & Décor

Albany - NY 32?, Downtown

Wilton - NY 50, Wilton Mall; now Saratoga Hospital office

Family Dollar in Eastwood

Not quite done yet.

 It has been confirmed that Family Dollar will move from Shop City to 3120 James St in Syracuse in what had been Loblaws, Peters IGA, Foodland, Carls Drugs, Fays, Eckerd and Rite Aid.  Nothing special really, with a bunch of them in the area. It could be that now that it's sister to Dollar Tree, it shouldn't be in the same plaza as Family Dollar, which has been looking to get out of strip malls and into their own buildings by buying vacancies of other chains, as has their competitor Dollar General have done in other parts of the region.  Family Dollar has renovated the building inside and out and even did landscaping.  Some may feel these stores are too easy to open, especially in food deserts, as low income residents rely on these places more than ever.  It will be more convenient for those without cars, including seniors and disabled, and in the elements.  Even Jordan got one a couple years ago in the former Big M/Tops, as it can be just as necessary in the rural community.  Back in town, at least somebody got in there since it's hard to get someone to buy or lease a commercial property, in the city or suburbs, anymore.

Once there's another empty spot in Shop City, we must decide what can go in there, but even the one on Old Liverpool Road is still available after Family Dollar moved across the street to that former Rite Aid and Eckerd, which was a successor to Fays, which had held Thrifty Shopper until that moved to CR 57.

kmart in CNY

Former Philadelphia County store, 2010

 Attention kmart Shoppers! There are only enough kmart stores left in the country to count on one hand (closest one now is in the Tri-State). Here are where they were in this area. Now vacant unless indicated.

Syracuse (downtown) - S.Salina & E. Jefferson Sts..; originally Kresge, later CVS and a beauty supply

Syracuse - Western Lights; later Herb Phillipsons; now Valu Home Center

Fulton - NY 481, River Glen Plaza

Auburn - NY 5, now Vineyard Church

deWitt - NY 5, now Dicks at Erie Canal Centre

Liverpool - CR 57, Seneca Mall; now U-Haul

Cortland - NY 13, Cortland Crossing, Munsons Corners, Cortlandville; now Marshalls

Syracuse/Nedrow - US 11 and Southland Dr., Green Hills Plaza; later a flea market; previously Grants

Geneva - NY 5 & US 20; TBD

New Hartford - NY 5A, now At Home

Mattydale - US 11

Herkimer - NY 5 & S Washington St.

Camillus - Camillus Plaza/Mall, closed by late '90s; now Lowes

Ithaca - NY 13, 34 & 96; now Five Below and Trader Joes

Grand Union vs Tops: The honeymoon's over?

Rome store on NY 46 & 49

 All eleven Grand Union stores are now open.  Only four were Grand Union before, switching to Tops more than once before going back.  However, not everyone is embracing the change, complaining about the prices and selection, although this is nothing new, although recent events come into play as well. To younger people, the chain is new to them, being too young or even not yet born when it was last in business locally or at all except for the few coming full circle again, or for those of use who are older, it can be a reminder of the old guard, or come to find it's a different animal.  If my grandma lived to see this, she'd probably be surprised as it was no longer in the immediate area two decades ago in the Capital Region where she lived when she was still alive, and she had to go to Price Chopper or Hannaford instead.  Back in CNY today, some people say they'll drive to the nearest Tops if that's an option.  Some miss the gas points and some even have gift cards to finish.  Because Washington, Albany, and Montpelier (for Rutland, VT) made this happen, it's almost ironic that both Price Chopper and Tops are still both convenient in Onondaga County, while spaced out enough in up to a dozen other counties.  Tops and Grand Union also belong to UFCW Local One, so those employees also need to be considered since it's hard to keep them around right now. We may wonder if it was a good idea last year to even merge.  It always comes with a price, if you look at other companies when they join forces.

In Cortland, one problem was that both Grand Union and P&C have Best Yet, being on opposite sides of a small college town.  When I went, I could find just a few things unavailable at the two indies back home that usually carry the trailblazing private label.  The former stores had more varieties of ice cream (not practical on the road without your own car and an insulated bag, plus air-con in the warmer months to boot) and my fizzy water (that was more doable for me), while one of the later has no Best Yet Ice Cream and the other has a few as these are small local places battling David and Goliath Syndrome.

Grand Union uses Red Dot Savings with phone numbers, having had cards in the past, which not everyone wants to deal with.  They have points to add up and redeem in their own way, and I'm already close to halfway, even for someone who may only go once in a great while (people would do the same for Wegmans if they don't have one nearby, but that's a story for another day).  I last went in Hamilton, another one-horse uni town, but Price Chopper opened there later and Grand Union couldn't compete.

The supermarket industry is low-profit as it is and I hope this wasn't a mistake where history doesn't repeat itself (like it may have elsewhere).  It'd be nice if there were more.  Maybe near me where there's a food desert or two, although the one that truly is may be up the road from one of the local places Grand Union competed with until maybe the early '80s (going thirty miles away now doesn't count).  Many who don't get out of town much if ever or go to certain area may even realise that the chain is alive and well (P&C too in some form).  It's just not the Grand Union we grew up with.

Ocean State Job Lot

Former A&P location

 Ocean State Job Lot is another chain first introduced to me in the Capital Region. I may have gone to the one off NY 7 in Schenectady. They went into the former Grand Unions in Valatie and Ballston Spa. Maybe it could work its way west up the Thruway corridor to CNY if not WNY.

Utica - former Rite Aid/Eckerd/Fays, Genesee St (near Munson and St Lukes) and/or NY 5; former Chicago Markets/Great American* (Deerfield/North Utica)

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

Westvale - former P&C/Tops, NY 5

Cortland - former flea market, Riverside Plaza, NY 13

Syracuse/Nedrow - former kmart/flea market/Grants, US 11 & Southland Dr

New Hartford - former Tuesday Morning, New Hartford Shopping Center

Fulton - former kmart, River Glen Plaza, NY 481

Williamsville - former Best Buy, NY 78

Henrietta - former At Home or *, NY 252

Mattydale - US 11; former Tops/P&C*

Oswego - NY 104; former Fays?/*

Auburn - NY 5; former kmart*

Liverpool - CR 57; The Shops at Seneca Mall; former Price Chopper* (confirmed)

Cortlandville - NY 281; TBD* (instead of other side of town)

Oneida - NY 5 & 46; Glenwood Shopping Center; former Price Chopper* (instead of Canastota)

Rochester area - TBD*

Buffalo - S Ogden St; South Ogden Plaza*

Elmira - Lake St*

Watertown - NY 3*

*former Big Lots as of 2025 (OCJL will take over several locations in the Northeast)

Nordstrom

Typical mall location

 Nordström don't have many stores in the Northeast, and even closed some because of the pandemic, but maybe now could open new ones.  We only have Nordström Rack in Syracuse, just like we had Macys Closeout before we had the full-sized parent store (there used to be a small one downtown), and Filenes Basement, but never the main chain (only went in Albany).  Nordström proper is mainly downstate, but it's long overdue Upstate.

Syracuse - former JCPenney or Lord & Taylor, Destiny USA

New Hartford - former Macys, Sangertown Square, NY 5 & 5A

Cheektowaga - former Lord & Taylor, Walden Galleria

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

Rochester - former Macys, NY 252

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

Ithaca - former Bon-Ton, The Shops at Ithaca Mall, NY 34

Johnson City - former Sears, Macys or Bon-Ton; Oakdale Mall, NY 201 & CR 85

Neiman Marcus

Bay Area store

 Now that Neiman Marcus have exited administration, they could look into new stores again.  I've been meaning to do this one, but wanted to wait until they were on solid ground once more.

Syracuse - former JCPenney or Lord & Taylor, Destiny USA

Albany - former Best Buy, Crossgates Mall, US 20

New Hartford - former Macys or Dicks, Sangertown Square, NY 5 & 5A

Cheektowaga - former Lord & Taylor, NY 277

Victor - former Lord & Taylor, NY 96

Henrietta - former Macys, Marketplace Mall, NY 252

West Nyack - former JCPenney or Lord & Taylor, Palisades Centre, NY 303 & 59

Poughkeepsie - former JCPenney, Poughkeepsie Galleria, US 9