A Price Chopper Tour

NOTE: This photo tour of the New Hartford, NY Price Chopper is technically out of the blog's coverage area.

Price Chopper's future is kind of uncertain at the moment. From what I understand the chain is not doing as well as it once had and has even been rumored to be for sale. Market32, Price Chopper's attempt at a more upscale grocery store, has not been giving the results that were expected. The plan was for all Price Chopper stores to eventually become Market32. Not sure if that is still the plan. Because of this uncertain future, I've decided to venture into a few different Price Chopper stores and take some pictures of the decor, just in case something does happen down the road. One store that I visited is this store just outside of Utica.

The exterior is generic for Price Chopper.

The first thing upon entering is the pharmacy straight ahead. The checkout lanes would be to the left.

To the right is pretty much all of the speciality departments which surround produce and sale displays.

Natural Foods has been placed behind the pharmacy.

I was quite impressed with the selection of toys here. I know many supermarkets don't carry much toys if any at all.

These triangular aisle signs are a really nice part of this store.

Now that speciality departments are done, the floor changes and more open ceilings come into play. (Transition picture above,)

This is an impressive setup for flowers.

I took this picture of the logo because of the uncertain future of the chain.

Price Chopper offers a thanks in different languages.

Cortlandville Mall to Crossings (Part 1)

Known for its apples, the city of Cortland, NY has more to offer than food, though I do have to admit that I always make a stop at the A&W in town....

One of the more interesting things found in this central New York city is this dinky JCPenney store which is a part of the Cortland Crossings plaza.1 The plaza was at one time a small mall with Grants (now Kmart) and Chappels as anchors.2 

Built by Pyramid Malls out of Syracuse in the late '60s or early '70s, this mall eventually fell victim to the newer Syracuse malls and especially the nearby Shops at Ithaca Mall. Ironically, Pyramid also built most, but not all, of the competition to this mall.

Please note that as of late 2015, Tractor Supply is no longer a part of this plaza. It relocated to a freestanding store further south on NY 13. Marshalls has replaced Tractor Supply at this plaza as seen below.

In the mall days, this was a Sears catalog store.

Originally Price Chopper, then a Lowbal's supermarket. Tractor Supply (at the time the picture was taken) and is now currently a Marshalls store as seen via the Google Maps view below:

Picture Credit to Google Maps.

The now Marshalls and attached plaza was not attached to the mall.

Former Chappels and Bon Ton.
Picture credit to Google Maps.

The former Grants is now a Kmart location. We'll take a closer look at this particular Kmart location in a future Kmart spotlight post.

The mall's original entrance has been turned into a Radioshack, which I do believe is still in operation today. Although I did not know this at the time, I've learned that the Radioshack has mall's old doors intact and carries the mall's 70s decor on its walls. I'll have to return to take a look as long as this Radioshack is still open.

Footnotes:
1. The dinky JCPenney store, which relocated from a downtown store, will be the focus of part 2.

2. Bon Ton briefly had a location in Cortland as a result of buying out Chappels. Apparently it only lasted a few months before closing. Price Chopper would eventually return to the same shopping center by taking over the former Chappels/Bon Ton space when the mall became a plaza in the 1990s.