Jamesway is a little before my time, but I do remember Ames.  My mother picked up shifts there when money was tight, and after dinner my siblings and dad would take a field trip there to see mom at work.  
  
Windham's doing alright.  The people who own the ski resort just bought Windham Country Club and are redoing the whole course, last I heard.  
  
 
  
You're not wrong.  I want to say Walmart in Catskill opened in 2006, and at the time was the biggest in the state (I don't think it is anymore, I could be wrong).  Some local businesses that survived up until then are still around, many actually doing better than ever.  Catskill has a few decent restaurants owned by locals now, and there's a bunch of yuppie money pouring into the town to turn parts of the creekfront into artsy fartsy paradise.  It's no Westchester, but since Walmart came to town I daresay Catskill's doing a bit better on the local front. 
  
Kingston, on the other hand, is circling the drain.  But there are other reasons for that.