BUFFALO, N.Y. — East Buffalo's vital resource re-opened to the public Friday.
The Tops on Jefferson Avenue had been closed for just over two months after it was the site of a racist and hate-filled attack. After undergoing a major renovation to make sure employees and shoppers feel safe to return the reception has been overwhelmingly positive.
But like after any tragedy, the scars left behind have led some to say they will never go back.
East Buffalo is largely a food desert, an area where access to fresh produce and a full-service grocery store is at a premium. Since May 14 more Buffalo neighbors than usual have been living in that tough reality and it's sparked hundreds of new requests to pursue opening a second store.
"We need something in the neighborhood," said Earnest Gladden.
Gladden has lived at the western edge of East Buffalo in the city's Willert Park neighborhood long enough to know that most full-service grocery stores haven't stuck around, whether IGA or Super Duper.
"There was another Tops in this area too but they all have left," he said.
The only option since 2003 had been the Tops on Jefferson Avenue, which even then is two miles from Willert Park. East Buffalo resident Cynthia Coleman told 2 On Your Side for many of her elderly neighbors or friend without cars, that distance can be a lot.
That's why Gladden and several hundred parishioners at St. Colomba-Brigid Church started a petition to attract Wegmans' attention.
2 On Your Side mapped out each full-service grocery store within or nearby city limits including all Wegmans, Save A Lots, Price Rites, Aldis, and other Tops locations. If you remove the red push pin (shown above), which represents the Tops on Jefferson Avenue, however, there remain few options for East Buffalo neighbors.
"When people are informing us whatever the method is that there is a need in the community, it is our job to listen and get to work and to try and bring that to fruition,” said Buffalo Common Councilmember Ulysses O. Wingo Sr.
Wingo, who represents the city's Masten District, said it would likely be a while before East Buffalo gets a second full-service grocery store, especially when he recalls how long it took to bring a single Tops location to Jefferson Avenue.
"It did not happen overnight, it did not happen in a few months, it did not happen in a couple of years it took a massive amount of work," Wingo said.
“We're going to have to do the same thing if we want another major grocery store in East Buffalo."
Gladden and the folks at Ss. Columba-Brigid Church has suggested using the empty space available at the Towne Gardens Plaza on William Street to lure in a potential new grocery tenant - noting that the location is close to several other neighborhoods, Larkinville the First Ward, as well as East Buffalo.
While Wingo believes the more voices the merrier on this topic, mapping out any sort of timeline at this point would be naive, especially given that a private company will make the ultimate decision. He said research and relationship building will be his foci.
"We do know that there is a need and we are trying to fulfill that need and with that being said all the necessary research is being done we're going to have to come together again and make sure this thing does manifest."