Great American

Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

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nysw3636
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Re: Great American

Post by nysw3636 »

Can anyone confirm Vestal, NY and Endicott, NY stores??
maynesG
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Re: Great American

Post by maynesG »

Hi, Yes Endicot I can confirm as a Great American. The other town, I don!t know.
TW-Upstate NY
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Re: Great American

Post by TW-Upstate NY »

Cooperstown actually closed either the end of April or May this year and was reopened as a Price Chopper by 4th. of July weekend. And getting back to the Big V stores, there was one in Colonie right across from Colonie Center mall that is now a Bed, Bath and Beyond. And this one is for BillyGr: wasn't there one on Western Avenue in Albany as well? I went to college in the Utica area in the early-mid '80's and remember locations in Ilion (open as late as 1999) and Whitesboro.
BillyGr
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Re: Great American

Post by BillyGr »

maynesG wrote:Hi, Idon!t think that that store was converted to Price Chopper. It was very small and had produce hanging on racks from the wall in the first aisle.
It may or may not be - I just saw that there is a Price Chopper and no GU market in Lake George currently.

Also, Price Chopper has (unlike so many chains around the country) kept open older smaller stores where they have them - there are at least a 1/2 dozen in the city areas in Albany (and surroundings like Menands, Watervliet, Cohoes, Troy) that are probably 1/2 the size (or less) of a current "new" store. In addition, they have just recently sold their store in the downtown area of Saratoga Springs (and are currently leasing it back) with plans that the purchaser will re-develop the site into a multi use building and Price Chopper would re-open with a 15,000 sq ft store (which is smaller than the current store) - basically using it as a convenience for those living in the area who can't or don't want to have to go out of the city to shop. Perhaps they have done the same in Lake George (keeping a small store for locals or travellers to pick up a few needed items without having to go to the Queensbury area - interesting also it's open 7-10 or 7-9 in the winter but 6:30-11 over the summer which seems to aim toward those vacationing in the village).

Not sure if you know where the store was - the current Price Chopper location is listed as Amherst & Iroquois Streets, which appears to be about a block or two off the main street (Canada Street) right in the village.
TW-Upstate NY wrote:And getting back to the Big V stores, there was one in Colonie right across from Colonie Center mall that is now a Bed, Bath and Beyond. And this one is for BillyGr: wasn't there one on Western Avenue in Albany as well?
I know that both the Wolf Road location and one on Western (just a block or two below the SUNY entrance, which is now a strip plaza with a Rite Aid (via Eckerd/Fays), Boston Market, pet shop, coffee shop, liquor store and a closed video store and maybe one other that I'm forgetting - amazing how many things they managed to fit into a grocery store with maybe a tiny bit of addition but not much - guess it just worked as it was a long but not terribly deep grocery due to the lot it was on) were both ShopRite stores - I just wasn't sure if they both made it to the Great American stage (since they didn't stick around too long in any of this area after they took over).
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nysw3636
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Re: Great American

Post by nysw3636 »

Excellent info coming in. I want to add Cortland,NY, Corning,NY, Johnson City,NY, Binghamton,NY, and Colonie,NY (Albany area). With Endicott confirmed by maynesG, that should put us at 52 locations. I can't figure out Vestal,NY.
Last edited by nysw3636 on 10 Dec 2010 17:03, edited 1 time in total.
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nysw3636
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Re: Great American

Post by nysw3636 »

TW-Upstate NY wrote:I went to college in the Utica area in the early-mid '80's and remember locations in Ilion (open as late as 1999) and Whitesboro.
Ilion,NY and Whitesboro,NY make it 54 and counting. Thank you.
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nysw3636
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Re: Great American

Post by nysw3636 »

I did some homework and found this info on the seven former ShopRites in the Albany area that Victory Markets Inc. bought back in 1988. The stores were...

1235 Western Avenue Guilderland,NY
20 Wolf Road Colonie,NY
Routes 9 and 20 East Greenbush,NY
Mayfair Shopping Center Glenville,NY
Broadway Menands,NY
Altamont Avenue Rotterdam,NY
Upper Glen Road Glens Falls,NY

Colonie, Glenville, Glens Falls, and East Greenbush are already on the list. So take off Albany from the list, but add Rotterdam, Guilderland, and Menands. Should be 56 now. Also, anyone heard of Hensonville,NY Great American (near Windham)??
BillyGr
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Re: Great American

Post by BillyGr »

nysw3636 wrote: 1235 Western Avenue Guilderland,NY
20 Wolf Road Colonie,NY
Routes 9 and 20 East Greenbush,NY
Mayfair Shopping Center Glenville,NY
Broadway Menands,NY
Altamont Avenue Rotterdam,NY
Upper Glen Road Glens Falls,NY
Thank you for finding that list - I knew there had to be more, but just wasn't sure where.

- According to Riteaid.com, their Western Ave store (the former Eckerd/Fays) is 1225 Western, so that works in terms of subdiving the building and giving each part a different # (the SR being listed as 1235 originally).
- As you noted Wolf Road is the BBB.
- The East Greenbush later was a Bingo Hall for a short time (until the owner tried to keep more of the proceeds than was legal) and sat empty for quite a while - now the whole plaza (the SR, Ames and several small shops) has turned into an office space - one company has the whole building.
- Glenville I'm not sure but I think it's either the Hannaford or Price Chopper plaza.
- Menands was taken over by Price Chopper (they moved from a store further up Broadway by a Woolworth at the time) and is still open as Price Chopper (and as far as I know has NOT been expanded, though there is space they could do so.
- Rotterdam I am not sure which spot is was in - there are several plazas and most have been remodeled and had builidngs taken down and replaced.
- Glens Falls I am also not sure - Uper Glen Rd is AKA Route 9 in that area. They DO have a Price Rite in that vicinity in a plaza accessed off Route 9, so it might be possible that was the ShopRite and then Great American?

Anyhow, for easier viewing, here's the list so far from the above posts, with # of stores in each town (all are NY except as listed otherwise):

Afton 1
Amsterdam 1
Bainbridge 1
Binghamton 1
Boonville 1
Bridgeport 1
Cairo 1
Canajoharie 1
Catskill 1
Colonie (Wolf Rd) 1
Cooperstown 1
Corning 1
Cortland 1
Delhi 1
East Greenbush 1
East Stroudsburg PA 1
Ellenville 1
Elmira 2
Endicott 1
Fonda 1
Glens Falls 1
Glenville 1
Gloversville 1
Greene 1
Guilderland 1
Hancock 1
Herkimer 1
Ilion 1
Jeffersonville 1
Johnson City 1
Lake George 1
Liberty 2
Little Falls 1
Lyons Falls 1
Margaretville 1
Menands 1
Monticello 1
New Hartford 1
New Paltz 1
Norwich 1
Oneonta 1
Oxford 1
Painted Post 1
Port Jervis 1
Prattsville 1
Richfield Springs 1
Roscoe 1
Rotterdam 1
Saugerties 1
Schoharie 1
Sherburne 1
Sydney 1
Tully 1
Unadilla 1
Utica 1
Watertown 1
West Winfield 1
Whitesboro 1

TOTAL 60
Last edited by BillyGr on 11 Dec 2010 21:35, edited 1 time in total.
paysh
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Re: Great American

Post by paysh »

Until at least the mid 1980s, there were two Great American grocery stores in Elmira, NY. One was on Lake St., the other on Erie St. (I think) on Elmira's southside. This store, located next to a closed store called Elmira Discount, was demolished some time ago.

The southside store was small and kind of worn out; the Lake St. store was fairly large and modern. Oddly enough, the Lake St. store closed in the mid to late 80s, then reopened and closed again. The Lake St. bukding has been repurposed.
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nysw3636
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Re: Great American

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paysh wrote:Until at least the mid 1980s, there were two Great American grocery stores in Elmira, NY. One was on Lake St., the other on Erie St. (I think) on Elmira's southside. This store, located next to a closed store called Elmira Discount, was demolished some time ago.

The southside store was small and kind of worn out; the Lake St. store was fairly large and modern. Oddly enough, the Lake St. store closed in the mid to late 80s, then reopened and closed again. The Lake St. bukding has been repurposed.
Thanks for the info. Did Horseheads, NY have a Great American where the now Arnot Mall is? I remember seeing that somewhere last night, but forgot to save the link.
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nysw3636
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Re: Great American

Post by nysw3636 »

I want to add New Hartford, NY (New Hartford Shopping Center) and Utica, NY (Genesee Street). I cannot confirm Horseheads,NY yet.
TW-Upstate NY
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Re: Great American

Post by TW-Upstate NY »

Are you sure about the New Hartford Shopping Center one? Unless it was converted later on, that store was a Grand Union in the early-mid 80's. The company bought a small Utica-based chain called Chicago Markets I'm going to say maybe in the '85-'87 range and converted a lot of those to Great American in that area. I recall a store in a moderate sized strip center on Kellogg Road a little ways up from this location that was a Chicago Market at one time so maybe this is the one you're thinking of. That store was later a Tops and is now Hannaford. As for Genesee St., I can only recall a very old A+P closer to downtown which was gone by late 1985 (converted to either a Fay's Drugs and/or Wheels Discount Auto Supply) and a Grand Union much further up. Now that I'm thinking of it, can anyone confirm a North Utica location which was a Chicago Market but I'm not sure if it was ever converted to Great American? It was along NY Route 5 just down from the North Utica Shopping Center. Amazing what your memory can dig up when it's jogged a bit.
paysh
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Re: Great American

Post by paysh »

Thanks for the info. Did Horseheads, NY have a Great American where the now Arnot Mall is? I remember seeing that somewhere last night, but forgot to save the link.

Yes, you are correct. There was a Great American in the Arnot Mall until it was expanded - I would say about 1980
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nysw3636
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Re: Great American

Post by nysw3636 »

TW-Upstate NY wrote:Are you sure about the New Hartford Shopping Center one? Unless it was converted later on, that store was a Grand Union in the early-mid 80's. The company bought a small Utica-based chain called Chicago Markets I'm going to say maybe in the '85-'87 range and converted a lot of those to Great American in that area. I recall a store in a moderate sized strip center on Kellogg Road a little ways up from this location that was a Chicago Market at one time so maybe this is the one you're thinking of. That store was later a Tops and is now Hannaford. As for Genesee St., I can only recall a very old A+P closer to downtown which was gone by late 1985 (converted to either a Fay's Drugs and/or Wheels Discount Auto Supply) and a Grand Union much further up. Now that I'm thinking of it, can anyone confirm a North Utica location which was a Chicago Market but I'm not sure if it was ever converted to Great American? It was along NY Route 5 just down from the North Utica Shopping Center. Amazing what your memory can dig up when it's jogged a bit.
I may be wrong, but I found these two links. The second link shows that at the time of the bankruptcy in 1995, Victory Markets had 57 stores in operation. Thanks again for all the help.

First the Genesee Street Utica, NY...

http://www.uticaod.com/news/x863074579/ ... r-16-years

Second, the New Hartford Shopping Center...

http://www.nywb.uscourts.gov/files/2309 ... ts_Inc.pdf
drpep
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Re: Great American

Post by drpep »

Painted Post, NY had two Great Americans, a small one in the Village Square and a larger one in the former A&P on Victory Highway just outside the village limits. A Valu Home Center resides there now.

Corning had two, one on Denison Parkway (former Route 17), formerly Harris Food Lines and Grand Union, which is now a medical office and one on Pultney Street which was a former Loblaws and now a Salvation Army Thrift Store.

Of the four the Victory Highway location held on the longest.
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