BUFFALO, N.Y. — For decades, vibrancy and Chandler Street were two things that didn’t usually share a sentence.
“I can say, for the first 45 years of my life, this street did not have a lot going on,” said Stacie Donovan, founder and owner of Salon in the City Suites.
Efforts pre-COVID sought to turn the street into an entertainment district, but those plans fell flat due to the pandemic.
But now, it's taking on a new look with a revitalization effort focused on entrepreneurship.
Donovan doesn’t just run her own salon, but leases spaces to other stylists with businesses like hers. That’s the model that a handful of other businesses along the street have taken, creating incubators for small businesses or commercial kitchens.
“They can come and go as they please,” Donovan said. “They have access to their rooms 24/7, and they just have the ability to focus on being an entrepreneur and running their business without the overhead of a brick and mortar.”
Rosalie Caruso is one of those business owners at the commercial kitchen space just down the street. She has been running Buffalo Cake Pops there for five years.
“I wish that there was a lot more places like this,” she said. “Once people are here, and they understand what's going on inside the building, once they find us, they're like, ‘Oh yeah, this is cool.’ ”
That’s something Donovan hopes more businesses will catch onto and understand that the once-dormant street is now a center for growth.
She hopes it will both attract more businesses in the future and allow the ones in her space to grow so that they can go off on their own one day.
“I think it's very important to let people know that we're still standing and growing,” she said. “Small steps are still progress. I'm just really happy and fortunate to be a part of it and to provide a space for entrepreneurs that don't want the headaches of a brick and mortar of their own.”