Best Optical Store
1. Empire Visionworks
2. DiNapoli Opticians
3. LensCrafters
The recently rebranded Empire Visionsworks is your favorite, but local mainstays DiNapoli was a strong second.
Best Appliance Store
1. Sears
2. John D. Marcella and Son Appliances
3. Lowe’s Home Improvement
Sears may be struggling, but its Kenmore line of products clearly remains popular.
Best Antique Store
1. Silver Fox Salvage
2. Trojan Horse Antiques
3. Aunt Katie’s Attic
Only a handful of votes separated these perennially popular Albany, Troy and Scotia businesses.
Best Bookstore
1. Barnes & Noble Booksellers
2. The Book House
3. Market Block Books
The last standing national bookstore chain may have won, but it was close. And the Book House and Market Block—which are twin heads of one local bookseller—got the most votes combined.
Best Comic Book Store
1. Earthworld Comics
2. Aquilonia Comics
3. Zombie Planet
Earthworld is your superhero source for superheroes.
Best Garden Store/Nursery
1. Hewitt’s Garden Centers
2. Faddegon’s Nursery
3. George’s Market Nursery
If the top three finishers in this category were trees, then Hewitt’s would be the sequoia.
Best Florist
1. Lark Street Flower Market
2. Emil J. Nagengast Florist
3. Frank Gallo & Son Florist
Lark Street comes up roses in this category, but there was strong support for both Nagangast and Gallo. We’re wondering, what happened to former winner Price Chopper?
Best Kitchen Store
1. Different Drummer’s Kitchen: The Cook’s Resource
2. Lowe’s Home Improvement
3. Williams-Sonoma
Different Drummer’s is an all-round gourmand’s store—and you know it.
Best Furniture Store
1. The Old Brick Furniture Co.
2. Taft Furniture
3. Huck Finn’s Warehouse & More
Low prices were first in voters’ minds in this category.
Best Pet Supply Store
1. Benson’s Pet Center
2. PetSmart
3. Healthy Pet Center
Local, independent chain Benson’s edged out PetSmart in this popular category.
Best Gift Store
1. Wit’s End Giftique
2. Maggie’s Gift Shop
3. Romeo’s Gifts
More than 26,000 square feet of selling space gave Clifton Park’s Wit’s End Giftique a clear edge.
Best Wine/Liquor Store
1. Empire Wine & Liquor Outlet
2. All Star Wine & Liquor
3. Exit 9 Wine & Liquor
Our readers enjoy an adult beverage now and then (and again). We know because this was one of the most popular overall categories.
Best Women’s Clothing Store
1. Macy’s
2. Kohl’s
3. Truly Rhe
Times change and retail stores come and go, but Macy’s almost always wins. Props to Troy’s Truly Rhe for a solid showing.
Best Men’s Clothing Store
1. Macy’s
2. Kohl’s
3. Enigma Co.
We’re sensing a pattern here: Macy’s, Kohl’s, and an interesting indie shop in Troy—this time, the Enigma Co.
Best Children’s Clothing Store
1. The Children’s Place
2. Kohl’s
3. GAP Kids
When it comes to dressing your fancy brats, the national chains are seemingly unbeatable.
Best Consignment Clothing Store
1. Plato’s Closet
2. Goodwill
3. (tie) Polkadots, Salvation Army
Only Plato’s Closet and Polkadots are consignments stores. Plato’s is geared to teens, Polkadots caters to children; Plato’s wins.
Best Sporting Goods Store
1. Dick’s Sporting Goods
2. (tie) Empire Mountain Sports, Goldstock’s
4. Play It Again Sports
The big chains may be overrepresented in this category, but local legends Goldstocks are hanging in there.
Best Head Shop
1. Northern Lights Smoke Shop
2. Orion Boutique
3. Déjà vu
Each establishment has its partisans, but Northern Lights heads the list.
Best Cigar/Tobacco Shop
1. Habana Premium Cigar Shoppe
2. Edleez Tobacco
3. Smoke Shop
Your perennial favorite—Habana Premium—wins again.
Best Holistic Shop
1. Crossroads Gifts & Wellness
2. Honest Weight Food Co-op
3. Hippies, Witches, & Gypsies
Crossroads in Schenectady specializes exclusively on health, wellness, and divine inspiration, and apparently inspiring readers to maximize their voting.
Best Art Supply Store
1. Arlene’s Artist Supply
2. Michael’s
3. Savoir Faire
Arlene’s wins big again—and with a large overall vote total reflecting the store’s high standing in the arts community.
Best Bicycle Shop
1. Downtube Bicycle Works
2. Plaine and Son
3. Troy Bike Rescue
The Downtube folks are the experts at all things cyclist, recognized by readers with their yearly win.
Best Toy Store
1. Toys ’R Us
2. G Willikers
3. Ta Da!
Wow, Toys really are Us, going by their voting score. But if you want something really special, why not try the locally owned runners-up?
Best Jeweler
1. Hannoush Jewelers
2. Kay Jewelers
3. Northeastern Fine Jewelers
It was close, but the family-run Hannoush Jewelers edged out the national chain.
Best Day Spa
1. Kimberley’s A Day Spa
2. Complexions Spa for Beauty & Wellness
3. (tie) White Sands Massage Spa, Roosevelt Baths
For our readers, Kimberley’s in Latham has the magic touch.
Best Musical Instrument Store
1. Parkway Music
2. Drome Sound
3. (tie) Guitar Center, Collar City Guitars
Parkway Music turned it up to 11, proving that they meet your musical needs with a 100-vote victory margin.
Best Apple Orchard
1. Indian Ladder Farms
2. Goold’s Orchards
3. Golden Harvest
Indian Ladder in Altamont won by a bushel load. That Rosie (the Highland heifer) really knows how to get out the vote.
Best Farmers Market
1. Troy Waterfront/Winter Farmers Market
2. Schenectady Greenmarket
3. Saratoga Farmers Market
Is it the selection? Is it the location? Is it the live music? Is it the fact that you’re guaranteed to run into someone you know? With the Troy Farmers Market, it’s all of the above.
Best Produce
1. Honest Weight Food Co-op
2. Troy Farmers Market
3. (tie) Price Chopper, Hannaford
They’re both so good that we’re guessing Honest Weight beat out TFM because it’s indoors year-round.
Best Shopping (Plaza)
1. Stuyvesant Plaza
2. Clifton Park Center
3. Mohawk Commons
A wipeout. Not. Even. Close. Stuyvesant Plaza dominated this category by more than 300 votes.
Best Shopping (Mall)
1. Colonie Center
2. Crossgates Mall
3. Wilton Mall
On the other hand, while Wilton Mall was a distant third, your loyalties to Colonie Center and Crossgates are more closely divided.
Best Shopping (Downtown)
1. Troy
2. Saratoga Springs
3. Albany
You really enjoy the compact, pedestrian-friendly downtown retail offered by Troy and Saratoga. Sorry capital city: Albany wasn’t in the running.
Best Shopping (Outlet)
1. Lee, Mass.
2. Lake George
3. Woodbury Commons
Lee has a lower sales tax. Lee wins.
Best Supermarket
1. Price Chopper/Market Bistro
2. Hannaford
3. Honest Weight Food Co-op
The perennial winners are one-two again, while Honest Weight, looking more like a supermarket in its new location, takes third. But really, have you people ever tried Shop Rite?
Best Health Food Store
1. Honest Weight Food Co-op
2. Whole Foods
3. Uncle Sam’s Health Food
Honest Weight was once the only real health food store in the area; 35 years later, and they’ve once again won this category by a landslide.
Best Record Store (Used)
1. Last Vestige Record Shop
2. River Street Beat Shop
3. FYE
As interest in new vinyl grows, so does your craving for classic vinyl. And Last Vestige wins with its mind-blowing selection. There was plenty of love for Troy’s RSBS, too.
Best Video Game Store
1. GameStop
2. Pastime Legends
3. Jay St. Video Games
The national chain with the ubiquitous mall locations won, but Pastime Legends and Jay St. both received strong support from gamers.
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