I had this weird dream that I was going through a small town and there was an Ames that had been converted into a gymnasium that had even taken to calling itself the Ames gym.. any former Ames stores have this fate? I mean they did build in allot of rural settings
Good ol' Dayville got this fate, it became a Planet Fitness in 2011.
None of the Ames in my current location are gyms.
Of the ones I am aware of:
One is now a Walmart
One is now a DSW Shoe Warehouse
One is now a Goodwill
One is now a Big Lots
Two were torn-down and a Lowes was built on the properties.
Quote from: JJBers on October 19, 2017, 08:03:13 AM
Good ol' Dayville got this fate, it became a Planet Fitness in 2011.
Forgot about Norwich, where a bit of the former Ames became a WOW! gym before the gym closed.
None of the Ames have, but part of the Sears in Buckhorn/Bloomsburg PA and part of the Giant in Shamokin Dam PA have.
Ames list from Eastern/Central PA
Bloomsburg: Movie Theater
Buckhorn/Bloomsburg: Dunhams Sports 3/4, Vacant 1/4
Berwick: Factory offices
Hazleton/Shamokin: Vacant
Depending on how particular you want to be, the Ames in Greenport (Hudson) NY was subdivided and one part (which was originally an auto service center from the original Barkers turned Kings turned Ames and not really used by Ames aside from storage) is now a Planet Fitness, so...
Also, the one on Watt Street in Schenectady (a store they got later on from Caldor) - most of it is PriceRite, but there is a Best Fitness which may be part of the former Ames/Caldor space?
The rest are a variety of things but not any kind of gym (at least those I know of) - Hardware/building store, office space, supermarket, hobby store (with part added to a neighboring supermarket), big lots and something else combo, family $ and Ace combo, Marshalls and partially demolished and still a few outlying ones empty here & there...
(All of the mentioned locations are in NY but scattered from Hyde Park to Saranac Lake, except Lenox MA is the last one described).
The one I went to the most (Milford, NH) got converted to a Gold's gym several years after it was abandoned. Few years ago it turned into another gym.
Quote from: JJBers on October 19, 2017, 11:51:52 AM
Quote from: JJBers on October 19, 2017, 08:03:13 AM
Good ol' Dayville got this fate, it became a Planet Fitness in 2011.
Forgot about Norwich, where a bit of the former Ames became a WOW! gym before the gym closed.
No, no. Wow was already there. Ames became an Outpatient Center.
The short-lived North Brunswick NJ store became an LA Fitness.
The Ames at the Redstone Mall in Stoneham, MA became an LA Fitness which is still there today.
This store was originally a Caldor and still has the distinctive brick pillars on either side of the entrance.
During it's time as an Ames, the old Caldor labelscars slowly became visible when the teal paint on the signboard started to degrade. This store also had a ridiculously tiny Ames sign above the entry doors.
Here's a photo of the store entry that was taken sometime after Ames closed but before LA Fitness opened.
The Caldor labelscars can be seen behind the super tiny Ames sign.
(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/770526034201411586/1070258403278069802/Stoneham.jpg?width=829&height=586)
Part of the Hamburg, NY store became a Planet Fitness. The other half is an Ollie's Bargain Outlet which may have some former Ames carts within it's fleet
Most of the Hamden, CT Ames is now a Funz Trampoline Park.