BUFFALO, N.Y. — Shoppers on Buffalo's East Side have a new grocery store, in the area that some have called a food desert.
Buffalo community members and politicians call this a historic moment for the Broadway Bailey community. Shoppers can now get fresh, affordable, and quality food without having to travel far to get it.
After the December 2022 blizzard, this area took a hit when stores like Family Dollar and Dollar Tree were taken off the market.
Mohammad Ismeil is a co-owner of this new grocery store called the Apon Supermarket. He took this as an opportunity to build something new to address the issue of food deserts on the East Side.
Along with five other co-owners, Ismeil opened this 14,000-square-foot space that will not only serve his neighborhood but the surrounding ones as well. Fillmore District Common Council member Mitch Nowakowski, who represents this neighborhood, knows that all too well.
"It's one of the hardest-hitting cities areas in the City in Buffalo, and it's really the hardest-hit area in my district. And so, a lot of folks who live in the surrounding neighborhoods are walkers," Nowakowski said. "I can drive down Broadway and see them walking and carrying around their shopping bags. And if you see on Broadway, there is an overpopulation of corner stores, and corner stores are only serving alcohol, tobacco, chips, and snacks.
"That, to me, is extorting poverty so when you have a store like that, that is producing quality items that there is a variety of items to not only make people's lives better but for them to basically run their households and to run their lives and to feed their families."
Nowakowski said this new store will bring even more investments to the area. When you have stores in communities, he says oftentimes people want to buy homes there and this is a trickle-down effect for better schools and lower crime rates.
Having a second supermarket in the neighborhood not only gives community members more choices but also breeds competition, which can mean lower prices.
Apon Supermarket is located on Broadway in Buffalo. It will be open every day from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.