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Recently, while perusing the member list of Buffalo First, I noticed the name of a health food store that I had never heard of. Sure enough, a drive up Main Street the following weekend revealed a colorful sign denoting a newly opened business across the street from UB's South Campus.
Mom and Pops, owned by Jim Park and Anne Paulk, has been open for only a month and the neighborhood couldn't be happier. Park, a former community organizer, social worker and grocery manager for the Lexington Co-op is excited to bring a small-scale natural foods store to an area with few healthy options. Their mission is to focus on stocking locally made, organic and fair trade items in a community-based atmosphere. “There's been a need for a place like this in this neighborhood since the Co-op moved out. Currently we offer a pretty wide range of products and every week we're getting more. We've had great response from the neighborhood.”
Another integral part of Mom and Pops business plan is to offer their products at a very reasonable price, and providing bulk foods is one of the ways in which they do that. “We're really going to expand this area,” Park said, focusing on the small area designated for bulk items. “Not only is it more environmentally friendly because there's less packaging, but it allows students and people on tight budgets to buy as much as they can afford; we want to be accessible to everyone.”
The bright and colorful shop carries a few hundred items including snacks and crackers, soups and sauces, frozen foods, beverages, baby food, pet chow, fresh fruits and vegetables from local farms and household supplies like toilet paper. Their focus on locally made products is obvious at a glance. Go Veggie's burgers and Gramma Mora's burritos are in the freezer. Pellicano's spaghetti sauce and Tea Amo's teas and accessories appear in the dry goods area. Fresh sandwiches and wraps wait for the hurried and hungry in the refrigerator case, and Park tells me that warm, homemade soups will be soon available, making it even easier to grab something quick and healthy while on the go.
Towards the back of the shop a wall has been designated as the Community Bulletin Board, with a specific area for folks to post their favorite recipes (a touch that I personally think is fantastic), along with a place to offer suggestions for products or other things customers would like to see become part of the store or its inventory.
“We're proud to be small,” Park tells me. “Some customers appreciate shopping in a cozy community environment and we think there's room for those kinds of businesses today. We don't want to become bigger, we just want to provide a service to the community, and we think our customers will appreciate that.”
Mom & Pops
2312 Main Street, Buffalo 14214
716.836.8800