Today's post covers the seventh and eighth soon-to-be Tops-to-Grand Union stores covered by the author of this blog.
Coverage of Tops #587 (Rome, NY) was done on May 21, 2018, and coverage of Tops #569 (Norwich, NY) was done on September 12, 2019.
The brown checkered flooring seen here is from P&C.
As this is another store to be converted to Grand Union, I feel it is necessary to showcase it before it gets converted.
All pictures were taken on July 17, 2020.
Typical 1990s-built store. But before we take a look inside, we have a cart tax to settle...
All of this is standard fare in most Tops stores, but...
Most of the full-sized shopping carts are unique ex-Stop & Shop units. One of the ones in the queue happened to have this exposed Stop & Shop logo, pictured here. However, I did not use it as it was jammed like many of the shopping carts.
That's right, this cart was manufactured in December 2006, which is fairly late for a cart of this design.
Another fairly typical cart for Tops, a 2005 Unarco M100Z. It appears that most if not all of these carts were replaced this year, as seen in the background of Random Retail's post on this store. The replacements appear to be Unarco M90ZXs with black bumpers/caps, and red handle inserts and seat flaps.
Now, to the interior!
Frozen foods, with an arched ceiling, which is fairly typical for Tops stores of this era.
So, who knows what changes C&S intends on making to this larger store when it becomes Grand Union.
As part of the Adirondack experience, let's look at another Tops stores that went through the cycle.
This store is located a 2 Gorman Way, Suite #1 in Peru, New York. This store is one of 12 stores required to be divested as a result of the Tops/Price Chopper merger. Supplier C&S Wholesale Grocers acquired this store and plans to convert it to the revived Grand Union concept.
Inside the store are striped sections of brown floor tile. Like several of their smaller stores, the first aisle serves as the produce section.
Red-on-white register lane light. Most of these stores usually have olive green and white register lane lights.
In this edition of FLASH BACK, we go back to October 24, 2017 to visit a Tops store located 2 miles east of Oneida, in the village of Sherrill.
Like most Central New York stores, this is a converted P&C Foods store. This is currently one of twelve stores required to be divested as part of the Price Chopper/Tops merger, meaning this is soon to be under the new Grand Union nameplate as C&S Wholesale Grocers took over these stores under the affiliate GU Markets LLC.
It would be hard to believe that not only the fixtures and/or décor were outdated, but how about the merchandise? While this isn't the first hardware store I encountered outdated merchandise on the shelves, this store takes it to a whole new level!
Pictures were taken at several different times in 2020. Photographed on 5th and 8th of August and 28th of December.
Exterior. This building consists of three units; this store being the tenant in the left-most unit.
In the back right corner of the store is a beige colored toilet, bathtub standing on end, and a two-piece pedestal sink.
This Artesian-branded toilet, as well as the bathroom fixtures behind it do not appear to have ever been installed. Most likely something that had never been purchased within the past 35 or so years. It is not clear if the insulation inside the tank is meant to be removed upon installation.
Older Rehrig shopping carts bearing the Shaker name, most likely from the 1970s or 1980s. These definitely predate their Ace affiliation.
Back of the store, with a sloped ceiling.
Various boxes of older ceiling fans at the top shelves. A few of the boxes are empty as they are ceiling fans that hang on the display. While the staff said they don't sell ceiling fans anymore, I still managed to buy a few with a some assistance. Wonderful staff!
All in all, it was a rather fun experience with this store despite the absurd outdated merchandise that had not sold in decades. It does make for a unique experience.
-Retail Regents
