Five Department Stores Upstate New Yorkers Miss Dearly

The era of the department store seems to be a thing of the past. Many New York shoppers enjoyed these stores for years but now they're all just a distant memory. 

The new millennium hasn't been kind to the department store. Sure, some are thriving these days like Walmart and Target, but there used to be so many different department sores that you had your choice of which one to go to. Maybe you were just loyal to the one in your hometown.

In the Capital Region we used to have several department stores in multiple malls. Macy's is still standing, but Filenes, Sears, and Caldor are long gone from both Crossgates, Colonie Center, and Northway Mall just to name a few.

Over the years we saw many of these store come and go. Kmart and Sears were the ones that stuck around the longest, but the fact that we've had to say goodbye to so many is just sad.

Ames

Multiple locations around the Capital Region. I used to spend a lot of time (and money) at the Greenville, NY location growing up in the late 80s and 90s. This was the store I bought my first CD at. Aerosmith's Greatest Hits. I still remember being very excited to open it up and put into my Sony discman.

Caldor

This was another one that had multiple locations around the Capital Region. My go-to Caldor spot was the one in Crossgates Mall and I still remember saving my money to buy a "cool" snowboarding pullover winter jacket there.

Montgomery Ward

I didn't spend much time at "wards" as my parents called it, but they sure did. Growing up we would have random things around our house that had come from Montgomery Ward. The location they would frequent was in Northway Mall off Central Ave. That's now where Target is located.

Sears

One of the last to go, the Sears in Colonie Center is where many would go to get their tools. Craftsman was all the rage. I even bought my first Craftsman lawn mower there before they closed up shop to make way for Wholefoods to move in.

Kmart

In November 1996 I had a pocket full of birthday money and I went into the Kmart on Central Ave and bought Spider-Man action figures and a New York Yankees World Series Champions poster that hung on my wall for at least 7 years after that 1996 win.

Which department store do you miss the most?