There was plenty to unpack in the news that Save-A-Lot planned to close its Broadway Market location next week, leaving Tops Markets and Aldi as the only traditional supermarkets remaining to serve the neighborhood. Turns out, the store is not closing. For now. That’s good news. But there is still work to do for the future.
City officials met with the owner Wednesday to help find a way to keep the store going; when the owner tells the city what he needs, the way forward will be clearer.
Back to the beginning: The announced loss of Save-A-Lot in the Broadway Market was precipitated by a series of unfortunate events, according to owner Ron Horrigan: looting incidents during the Christmas blizzard of 2022, high insurance and reduction of Covid-19-era food benefits that had increased the average SNAP benefits by about $200 per family.
Horrigan also claims an uptick in shoplifting and says the minimum wage increase boosted labor costs. The cost of having food delivered to his store by suppliers has risen by $21,000 and the owner is six months late with his rent payments.
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Claims around looting and high incidents of shoplifting have been questioned by Fillmore Council Member Mitch Nowakowski in whose district the Broadway Market sits. During an interview with WIVB-TV, Nowakowski said, “There has not been looting at the Broadway Market that has propelled this operator to leave. That’s just categorically false, and that’s lying about the neighborhood.”
Whatever the justifications, losing a grocery store in an area already known as a food desert would come as a disheartening shock.
The East Side cannot afford additional absences of places for people to shop for food and household items. This is an area where incomes are low and many patrons are either walking or taking the bus, which creates an arduous and time-consuming task. They can’t fill up car trunks with bags of groceries.
Save-A-Lot may not be a typical full-service grocer, but it filled a void. So, too, did Family Dollar, many of which are closing throughout the country — including six on Buffalo’s East Side — due to a slew of company woes.
Taken together, the closure of these places to purchase food, household goods and other items cause huge problems for East Side neighborhoods, where such venues were already scarce.
It is the gap that was highlighted following the May 14, 2022, shooting at Tops Market on Jefferson Avenue, when a racist gunman was easily able to take the lives of 10 Black people because he knew where they’d be shopping.
When the Tops store closed for remodeling after the murders, residents searching for places to grocery shop were at loose ends. To its credit, Tops gave away free produce and food outside the store and operated shuttles to and from its Niagara Street store.
Local government and community leaders must not only attract new grocery stores, but also support and sustain existing businesses in the long term.
Without a proactive approach, the health and well-being of the East Side’s residents, as well as the economic vitality of the Broadway Market, will continue to suffer.
Better days for the Broadway Market may very well lie ahead following the February announcement of $40 million set aside by the state for revitalization of the neighborhood establishment. Hopes run high for the Market, which is the center of attention during the Easter holidays, but has lacked attendance at other times.
Even if Save-A-Lot continues in the Market, the ongoing struggle to keep grocery stores open in this part of the city must be addressed. Creative incentives and innovative business models — as well as prudent corporate management — are necessary to ensure that East Side residents have a place to shop.
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