BUFFALO, N.Y. — The end to the Buffalo food desert could be coming to an end with the addition of a new produce-focused grocery store at 201 Ellicott Street, some said.
"People don’t have a lot of money to buy food. I think it's good to have it cheaper. That way they will want to buy it more instead of pasta, for instance. That's cheap. They will buy that instead of produce," Kim Rosso, from Buffalo, said.
Braymiller Market, a staple in Hamburg, is opening up a second location at 201 Ellicott Street.
"The need that we saw and the underdeveloped sources of food. Fresh local produce in the city of buffalo," Stuart Green, owner of Braymiller Market, said.
The grocery store focuses mainly on affordable produce items. Green said it's not his goal to compete with grocers like Wegman's or Tops.
"Fresh and local is really what we focus on," Green said.
The majority of the food it offers comes from local farms in Central and Western New York.
It's not just the affordability aspect that has Buffalonians excited. This market will be located right next to the bus station and the downtown library.
"It would definitely help out with the working people. Keep them from getting in the traffic of commuting work to home," Theresa McDonald, who lives in Buffalo, said.
This is all part of a larger 201 Ellicott Projectthat 7 Eyewitness News first reported. Along with affordable produce, there will be 201 affordable housing units built by Ciminelli Real Estate.
Tops was orginally selected as the grocer back in 2016, but 7 Eyewitness News confirmed that has since backed out.
Groundbreaking won't begin just yet. The area is considered a brownfield site. The soil has to be decontaminated before any construction can begin. Developers hope that the market and affordable units will be open by 2021.
