BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Easter shopping at the Broadway Market is a go this year, but don’t be surprised if some of your favorite vendors aren’t there.
“We weren’t invited back because our products duplicated somebody who’s been there for, you know, a yearly vendor," President of Kelly's Country Store on Grand Island Kevin Kelly said.
So this year, he will not be selling chocolate at the east side landmark during the busy Easter season.
“It definitely confused me," he said. "I was taken a back by it.”
According the Broadway market, going forward, seasonal vendors are not allowed to sell the same product a permanent vendor sells year round.
“In fact, I think there were five products. Perogi’s, jams and jellies, sausage, horse radish mustard, chocolate and kettle corn popcorn,” the market manager Kathleen Peterson said.
So that means business like Adam's Apples and Dragonfly Jams and Jellies will also be on the outside looking in.
“We’re all about helping the permanent vendors," co-owner of Adam's Apples Michael Mole said. "We would love to sit this one out and let them get the money this year. We’ll sit it out. It's the fact that we’re being told were not coming back after this year."
For now, the decision to eliminate duplicate vendors is a permanent one.
“The disheartening part of this, I think, is the fact that we love being part of the Broadway Market," he said, "We realize that it’s been a tradition for over 100 years.”
And Mole fears that without some of the market’s traditional staples the market will fail.
“Luckily I'm blessed. I have a following and I can find other places to bring the foot traffic to," he said. "And you know, it's going to hurt the Broadway Market in my opinion because a lot of people are upset.”
Peterson says the market plans on reevaluating its new rule in the next year or two, but for now all seasonal vendors who plan on applying to join the market must be one-of-a-kind.
