Groceteria.com

What was this NY chain like? I have only heard about it in reference to a few old A&Ps they bought. There might have been a few Acme/Super Saver units involved too. And I vaguely recall hearing they went bankrupt in 1995.

Hi, I great article ran in The Daily Star here is the new link to this column
thedaily star.com/columsx112896525/onetimegrocery. It tells the tale of this chain from its founding in 1908 in Norwich Ny as Victory Markets to its Hay day as Great American Stores with 80 Units. Today a handfull of Great American Stores wich are independently owned ans supplied by C&S Grocers Survive in Upstate Ny. In the 80!s they hired and A&P
executive to run the company the results were a disaster.
Hope It Helps

Great American was a nice mid-level grocery store, not very big by modern standards. Either by design or by chance they featured a lot of local brands from Central New York, which was particularly nice as it can be very hard for small food brands to get into grocery stores these days. The stores varied in age and infrastructure, so some were smaller and more run-down, others were newer, brighter, cleaner.

maynesG wrote:Hi, I great article ran in The Daily Star here is the new link to this column
thedaily star.com/columsx112896525/onetimegrocery. It tells the tale of this chain from its founding in 1908 in Norwich Ny as Victory Markets to its Hay day as Great American Stores with 80 Units. Today a handfull of Great American Stores wich are independently owned ans supplied by C&S Grocers Survive in Upstate Ny. In the 80!s they hired and A&P
executive to run the company the results were a disaster.
Hope It Helps

Thanks for the link. Perhaps we can start listing former Great American locations, as there is no site I have found that gives that information. I would like to know the " 80 stores " they had at one time. The stores I have are...

New Paltz, NY
Saugerties, NY
Monticello, NY,
Liberty, NY (2 stores)
Cairo, NY
Jeffersonville, NY
Port Jervis, NY

Hi, I know of several: Lake George NY , Glenn Falls, Albany, Coperstown, Norwich NY and If given some time I will come up with more.

Hi, I know of several: Lake George NY , Glenn Falls, Albany, Coperstown, Norwich NY and If given some time I will come up with more.

-Fonda, NY, -Gloversville, NY, -Amsterdam, NY, -Richfield Springs, NY, -Herkimer, NY, -Little Falls, NY, Canajoharie, NY, -Glenville, NY, -Oneonta, NY, -East Stroudsburg, Pa. which to my knowledge was the company's ONLY foray outside NY State. I think, but I'm not sure, that the stores they had in Bainbridge, Unidilla and Sydney, NY are STILL operating as Great Americans but don't quote me on that.

The ones in Painted Post and I am 99% sure Catskill were former A&Ps.

Is the Lake George one Price Chopper now? Or Grand Union/GU "Family" Markets?

What were the closest ones to NYC?

And that A&P executive... priceless.

TW-Upstate NY wrote:-Fonda, NY, -Gloversville, NY, -Amsterdam, NY, -Richfield Springs, NY, -Herkimer, NY, -Little Falls, NY, Canajoharie, NY, -Glenville, NY, -Oneonta, NY, -East Stroudsburg, Pa. which to my knowledge was the company's ONLY foray outside NY State. I think, but I'm not sure, that the stores they had in Bainbridge, Unidilla and Sydney, NY are STILL operating as Great Americans but don't quote me on that.

Thanks for the info. Was there one in Greene, NY and Boonville, NY as well?

Ephrata1966 wrote:What were the closest ones to NYC?

I would say New Paltz, NY.

I found this link while browsing the net that show a few more Great American Stores...

http://www.oneonta.edu/academics/ssr/PD ... ores05.pdf

I have some other locations I have found. They include Greene,NY, Boonville,NY, Afton,NY, Delhi,NY, Sherburne,NY, Tully,NY, Lyons Falls,NY, Watertown,NY, Oxford,NY and Prattsville,NY. I believe this brings us to 38 locations.

Ephrata1966 wrote:Is the Lake George one Price Chopper now? Or Grand Union/GU "Family" Markets?

Per the gufamilymarkets.com website, there is no current GU in Lake George, so I guess that means Price Chopper.

From a piece of an ad flier that I saved (unfortunately only the part with the locations, but not any part with a date so I can't be sure of when it's from - I'd guess the last 10 years sometime) I can add the following 2 locations:

Bridgeport
West Winfield

(It also lists and confirms Afton, Bainbridge, Boonville, Cairo, Cooperstown, Delhi, Fonda, Greene, Liberty (though just 1 at that time), Lyons Falls, Oxford, Prattsville, Richfield Springs, Sherburne, Sidney, Tully, Unadilla, and Watertown).

I can also add at least one in East Greenbush (this was one of several ShopRites that became Great American stores after Big V left the greater Albany market - there were a few but I can't remember precisely the others - I'd guess the Glens Falls and Albany listed above are probably in that group)
Also - one not connected to the ShopRite group in Schoharie.

That brings the list to 42.

Also to confirm that Cairo and Prattsville are still open as of this year, and Cooperstown was just converted to a Price Chopper sometime in the past year (this does not say that others aren't still open - these are the only ones I know for certain).

Hi, Idon!t think that that store was converted to Price Chopper. It was very small and had produce hanging on racks from the wall in the first aisle.

Thanks for the help everyone. Add to the list Ellenville,NY, Margaretville,NY, Roscoe,NY, Hancock,NY.

Should be 46 now...