Former Kmart #9392
We finish the tours of the Buffalo area Kmart stores by taking a look at what was the newest store in the entire region. Along with the neighboring Tops, this Kmart opened on the site of what had previously been the Thruway Mall. Because it was a rare store that opened only a few years before the 2002 bankruptcy, this location was only one of a handful of regular Kmart stores to have had belt-driven checkout lanes and a more unique store layout. Even the former KCafe was set up differently. The location also featured a pharmacy.
I found it odd they knocked this down, probably the newest K-mart, to so far do nothing with it. So now you have the footprint of this store next to the footprint of the former mall.
ReplyDeleteWhile this wasn't the newest Kmart store, it was among the last handful to open in the years leading to bankruptcy. From my understanding, this location opened in 2000. The last store to open was Somers Point, NJ in 2002.
DeleteI know there were plans to turn the site into a new mix-used center while Kmart was still open. So it is kind of funny to me that even with Kmart now gone, nothing has happened. Tops must be quite lonely nowadays.
I had to go out to Hamburg in February and that Tops seemed lonely compared to Wegmans, which was a zoo at 6pm on a Saturday. (I planned to eat at a restaurant only to find it closed permanently, so I went to Tops to save a couple bucks on a rotisserie chicken)
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