FLASHBACK: Grand Opening - Dollar Tree 7027

In this flashback edition of the Retail Regents Blog, we go back to March 31, 2017, where we cover a grand opening on a cold, wet, sleety day in Gloversville, New York.

Since it was cold and wet during the conversion, they were unable to paint the exterior, hence why this building still has the Rite Aid paint trim color.

Since the original exterior entrance was repurposed for management offices, a new entrance was carved out the side. This might the reason a Dollar Tree logo was placed directly over the entrance instead of a second logo over the original Rite Aid facade.

Our first look in this store and we see Dollar Tree upgraded the lighting to LED and replaced the patterned tile with standard dropped ceiling tiles.

I'm not sure if this section was sold out by the time I arrived here or they didn't get any product in yet, but this is where the balloons would have been. Those offices were where the original Rite Aid entrance was.

Corridor to the restrooms and an emergency exit.

Standard restroom with a dull pressurized ZURN toilet.

Seasonal section to the right of the current entrance.

Blue Bunny Ice Cream cooler.

Dairy and Frozen Foods refrigerated coolers.

Final look at the front of the store.

Two months later...

Date Taken: May 3, 2017

Even though the trim was painted green, scars and wiring from the Rite Aid signs are still fully intact. This one would have read "Pharmacy" and "Department Within".

A green forklift is present behind the former pharmacy drive-thru.

Date Taken: May 9, 2017

A quarter view of the exterior showing the closed-off former Rite Aid entrance and new Dollar Tree entrance, and the logos representing each section. Still fails to hide the Rite Aid labelscars.

Absurdities in Layout and Décor: Hannaford of Watertown, NY

We take a break from the onslaught of Grand Union turned Tops stores to present something a little more... disturbing.

All photos taken on October 11, 2018.

This was branded under the Shop 'n Save name like all stores outside of Maine that were later re-branded as Hannaford in 1997.

Along the right-hand wall is the Fresh Fruits 'n Vegetables, with signage stylized like the Shop 'n Save nameplate. Was this décor here when this store was Shop 'n Save?!

The back wall of services.

Unlike the typical Hannaford layout, Cold Beer is here instead of a full-on Dairy section. Also Frozen Foods is in the front of the store due to the horizontal aisle layout.

Can't help but plug an Aisle 12. These signs are one of the few things Hannaford.

Welcome to the Adirondacks: Tops of Northville, NY

Whether or not some things have changed since, but since a re-tour won't be in place for a long while, we will be looking back at another Grand Union turned Tops in Northville, NY.

Photos were taken on August 18, 2017.

Unlike other Adirondack stores, this one did not go through the cycle; rather staying as Grand Union until July 2013.

Ah, the wonderful customer produce scale which is a leftover from the days of Grand Union.

Aisle 8. This marks the change in ceiling height.

Round air diffuser #1. This is above aisle 7.

Weird restroom with brown mosaic tile and a late 1980s or early 1990s Mansfield Adriatic toilet, presumably installed for ADA compliance.

Round air diffuser #2, somewhere above the beer aisle.

Register #4 and its beautiful Grand Union checklane light and casing.

Red and white floor tile in the front end area. Quite amusing to see red replacement tile.

UPDATE: As of 2022, the Grand Union-era checkstand lights have been replaced with slim white ones. Photo taken on May 9, 2022.

Express Lanes, Scars, and Rust: Tops of Corinth, NY

In this installment of Grand Union turned Tops stores, we drag you to Corinth, NY, which is almost Adirondack, but not quite.

All pictures taken on June 12, 2017.

Like many in and around the Adirondacks, this one was converted to Tops in 2001, to Grand Union (Family Markets) in 2006, and back to Tops in 2013. The brackets that sit very low on the facade appear to be where Grand Union originally oriented their logo, which is rather odd as this store used to have a shingled roofline and facade before being converted back to Tops in 2013.

Outdoor cart corral. Not ideal, and the old carts suffered from extreme rust as a result.

Registers donning the original Grand Union checklane lights. The "Tops Express" lane would have originally been #4, and what was #5 is no longer in use; rather used for go-backs.

That's a shame. This store almost has 12 aisles, but falls short by 1.