Birney Plaza

 

        At first glance, the Birney Plaza would appear to be a normal shopping center. However, it actually is an enclosed strip center- technically making this another mall for the Wyoming Valley. The center was completely overhauled in recent years after Kmart closed its doors. The remodeling likely helped to attract tenants for the vacant Kmart as the space would be subdivided between Shop-Rite and Ace Hardware. 

A Dollar Store with History

 

    When one thinks of a dollar store, you generally expect to see a typical box style storefront. That is not the case for this Dollar Tree in De Witt, NY. As you can evidently tell by the photos, this location features some unique architecture. This building started life as a burger restaurant named Mandy's Drive-In with a counter service, hence the unique design. The building would later be expanded with the more typical box addition when a toy store took over the property. Finally, Dollar Tree would move in.

    Besides the unique architecture, this location also has an actionway making it almost feel like a mini discount store. If this were my local Dollar Tree, I'd love shopping here. 

Double the Dollar at Family Dollar Tree

 

    In an effort to expand to more rural areas, Dollar Tree has opted to open locations that use both the Dollar Tree and Family Dollar branding. A location actually opened up nearby using this format, so of course I had to check it out. 

As you can see from the following pictures, the store is basically a Family Dollar with a Dollar Tree department consisting of 3 and a half aisles in the front right corner. In retrospect, this makes a lot of sense as there is a significant product overlap between the two different brands. For example, the snacks and candy that Dollar Tree would sell at its standalone locations are put into Family Dollar's pantry area here. In addition to the 3 1/2 aisles, there may have been a little section in the pantry department though that does offer some pantry items that Family Dollar wouldn't normally sell.