Syracuse Shopping

I had a local tell me that the only two tourist attractions in Syracuse are Dinosaur Barbecue and Wegmans. While this might be a stretch, I was very impressed with the selection and presentation of foods at Wegmans. They have excellent fresh produce, a great cheese selection and fantastic meats and fish. Really, they have everything you could want in a grocery store, so if you're planning to cook, head to Wegmans (I was not paid for the preceding).

Experience the second largest mall in America. The Carousel Center is a 1.5 million square foot shopping and entertainment center featuring 7 anchor stores, over 170 mall shops, 18 restaurants and eateries, a 19 screen cinema and a fully restored 1909 antique carousel.

Open 10-9, Sun 11-6

"Driver?s Village is the consolidation of Burdick dealerships to the former Penn Can Mall site in Cicero." It fixed up an old landmark mall and brought life back to that area of Cicero.

"Experience?the comfort of ?Drivers Village Commons?, the interior walkway that not only connects all of the dealerships, but provides auto and non-auto related shops. Parts and accessories, auto memorabilia,coffee shop, pizza and pasta restaurant, insurance company, credit union, car-racing simulators, and so much more. It?ll be like no other auto-shopping experience you?ve ever had."

(quote from their website)

What to buy: Cars!

What to pay: Few thousand!

I just love going to the Regional Farmers market on Saturday mornings. There is always so much to see and buy there, not only produce, but crafts, antiques, baked goods , handmade soaps etc. There is always something different and the produce is usually less expensive and with a bigger variety to choose from than the grocery stores. Best of all....it is locally grown. Sometimes there are bands and restaurants also have booths there too. During the summer months there is a stand offering delicious vegetarian Thai food ( the summer rolls are my favorite!)
It is open early on Saturday mornings.from about 6:30 am to 2:00 pm .also Thursday evenings.

What to buy: Flowers,plants,vegetables,fruits,baked goods and anything else that they may be selling that week . The is also a small plaza on the market grounds with a few very nice stores that are open daily. My favorite is the Mediterranean Store. It sells great bread,olives,cheeses, spices,baklava, and sandwiches. Other stores in the plaza are a wine shop and a chocolate shop.

What to pay: At the market, sometimes you can haggle a little( if you are inclined to do so)

Books & Memories is reportedly the largest supplier of used books, lps, pamphlets, magazines and board games in the Central New York area.

They say that they have150,000 used and rare hardback and paperback books, about 10,000 lps, 78's
and 45's, thousands of pamphlets, over 50,000 back issue magazines, hundreds of old posters, and 2500 board games in stock.

It is a huge place, so I don't doubt it! It's worth taking time to browse!

They are open 12-7pm Monday - Saturday.

What to pay: Depends on the book and how rare it is.

This is another used book store that is right across the street from Books and Memories, so it's a good 2-for-1 book stop! I don't like this store quite as much as Books and Memories, but it still is worth a look around. Sometimes you won't find the staff quite as friendly, but this seems to be reserved for one or two staff members, not all of them.

The hours are also a little better than Books and Memories - open 10-6 Monday - Saturday, and 11:30-5 on Sunday.

What to buy: They sell used books, obviously. Their stock is split about 50-50 fiction and non-fiction.

They also buy them, so if you're looking for some cash, go for it! They will buy 1 book or whole collections. They pay store credit 20% of cover price, cash 10% of cover price for paperbacks. For hardcovers, there's no standard. They say it varies widely depending on many factors.

This shopping center has many retail stores. Home Depot, Target, Bed Bath & Beyond, Price Chopper, TJ Maxx, Kohl's just to name a few.

Restaurants include Panera Bread, A&W, Hooters, and McDonalds.

Northern Lights is a 265,000 Sq Ft Plaza with stores like Media Play, Advance Auto Parts, Party City, T.J. Maxx, Staples, Michaels, Payless Shoe, and Petco.