Grand Way

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Mr. Shopper

" Grand Way "

Post by Mr. Shopper »

I have a question. As I said in my earlier post. When I was a kid in Nanuet. NY There was a Grants with a Grand Way on Rt 59. I don't know if anyone else rememebers this location. For Rockland County this shopping center put us on the map!!! Back in '59. The year I was born. Looking through old Journal News articles the Grants store opening was a big deal. It had it's own restaurant. A baby sitting service within the store. Then in 1961 Grand Way opened followed by Korvettes a little farther down the road. I remember Korvettes had elaborate in store displays. That I believe changed with the seasons. Like summer they had a big swimming pool. Without water of course! Patio furniture displays. With grill setups. This type of elaborate way of retailing has disappeared. To an eight year old. Now don't laugh everyone. For my brother and I a trip to Grants, Grand Way, Korvettes. Was like a kid today going to Disneyworld! My mom taking us shopping was a real treat. I believe Grants and especially Grand Way which I believe was a little tackier. Had those big open stock displays where everything was more or less thrown all over. Christmas at Grand Way was like a tornado had come through. This was all pre 1969 when the Nanuet Mall opened. My question of the day is!!! Does anyone know the history of Grand Way stores in the NY metro? There's a lot on Grants and Korvettes. Though you can't find anything on Grand Way. I remember they were. Like I said next to each other on Rt.59. The Grants I believe was turned into a Marshalls which still stands. I believe the Grand Way became a Child World. If anyone is from my area. I'd appreciate some help. I'm 48 was a kid during this heyday. I wish someone had taken color pics. The only pics are newspaper photos from 1959. I love this site. Where I can relive the glory days!
Steve Landry
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Post by Steve Landry »

Grand Way (GrandWay, Grandway) was a division of Grand Union (Supermarkets). You might find more info under Grand Union (not the family markets company, which is a buyout decendant of the original Grand Union of 1879? I might be off on that start date but it was one of the oldest supermarket companies in the country.

Grand Union, like Food Fair (with its J.M. Fields Department Stores) were "uber" innovative supermarket operators. Grand Union was first with the (of the BIG retailers) "combo" grocery store department store concept. Food Fair followed quickly. Most Grand Ways were attached in varied ways to a Grand Union.

Of course there were some free standing Grand Ways. You might note that there probably was a Grand Union somewhere in the neighborhood.
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rich
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Post by rich »

I was under the impression that the Grandways were always combos, essentially expanded from a super market base and much smaller in size & scope than full-line discounters (unlike JM Fields, Bradlees and other "companion" discount chains, which were full-line, fullsized stores separate from the super markets). This would make sense in a shopping center that also was anchored by a WT Grant. By that time, Grant's was trying to reposition itself as more of a junior department store and as less of a "dime store". The latter day Grand Unions I knew in Connecticut, which had opened in the mid-70s carried a lot of hard lines (oddly, they were a good place to get a decent price on anti-freeze and motor oil)--that's one reason why I would guess that Grandway was more of an extension than a full-line store with more general merchandise than department store lines.

Grand Union only seems to have had Grandways in a few markets. They never had them in the Washington DC area or in Connecticut and I doubt that they had them in Northern New England, where their stores tended to be relatively small. I think the first ones were in Florida.

Interestingly, Grand Union had a store, next to a JM Fields in New Britain, Connecticut---it was an urban renewal project near downtown that had failed somewhere in the late 60s/early 70s. The stores were empty but in tact many years after having closed. I don't think Food Fair ever got that far North.
Steve Landry
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Post by Steve Landry »

Don't know if Food Fair was in New Britain, but they had a few stores in southern Vermont and New Hampshire.
The Food Fair Empire
Transit Road
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Post by Transit Road »

Grand Way also had a store in Plattsburgh, NY.(Plattsburgh is 20 miles south of the US/New York State line & Canada/Quebec provincial line - Montreal is also 60 miles north of Plattsburgh, NY. Albany, NY is about 150 miles south of Plattsburgh.

The Grand Way location was in the 300 block of Cornelia St. (NY 3) and later became a Zayre location. There was also a Grand Union location in the same plaza.

On another note - I know where the Korvette's was on Route 59 in Nanuet, NY - where were the Grand Way and Grant's located in Nanuet? The nearest Grant's location that I know of was in Monroe, NY on NY 17M.
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