Buffalo Rising Online

NN

Are you looking at making a 7 day a week market?

This is good news but what about the Broadway Market?

Queenseyes...I thnk that a lot of the ideas posted here on BRO are pie in the sky, but this seems like it would be a great fit in an area about to be developed. As far as concerns with the Broadway Market, it has been stagnant for decades now. If the market in the DLW terminal takes off, the Broadway Market will continue to survive along with the Clinton Bailey Market, but it's time to make things happen downtown.

I am glad to see the Common Council approval, but I'll keep my fingers crossed that you can get over the NFTA hurdle. Here's hoping that this gets off the ground.

PS Is there anyway you can negotiate for at least some covered space from the get go?

GOOD LUCK!!

One other thought... Is there handicapped access(elevator) up to the roof? This would not only make it accessible for those in wheelchairs, but also make it easy for the elderly who have trouble going up and down stairs.

Seems like a great idea, yet I'm always leary about comparing things that work in TO to things that might work here...it's the apples & oranges conundrum.

True an elevator is for elderly and handicapped, but it is also necessary for code and of course vendors!

This is obviously a great idea, it's just the initial investments that seems daunting. Even if your exiting is already taken care of, you're probably looking at:

1. elevator 2. sprinkler system 3. several public restrooms 4. new electrical service 5. all new power/lighting 6. all new HVAC 7. new fire alarm system 8. is the roof okay?

Like I said, awesome idea, I'd be there all the time. Perfect compliment to the waterfront. I'm just not used to seeing much money behind the ideas on this website. It probably can be done cheap - but by cheap, I mean over $1 million.

Little more than three years ago, the community rallied against plans for the Erie Canal Harbor that called for a simulation of the historic Commercial Slip. Authenticity was the rallying cry that eventually was heard by site planners. Now in 2007, there is a movement to re-create a city market in the former Delaware, Lackwanna and Western Terminal while little more than 2 miles away, the real thing is alive. The Broadway Market, 119-year old Buffalo landmark, is an important anchor in the movement of change sweeping across Buffalo's Historic Polonia District. Along with Central Terminal, St. Stanislaus Parish, Corpus Christi Church and the Adam Mickiewicz Library, the long forgotten corner of the City is gaining the attention of a new generation for its uniqueness and authenticity.

Our community needs to stop "recreating" projects that have worked in other cities and creatively find our own Buffalo identity. To stay competitive, we must stay unique. The Broadway Market is an unique cultural and ethnic experience that needs to be cultivated, not replaced by a fabricated marketplace on the waterfront.

If I want the famous Haymarket, Pike Place, Reading Terminal or Broadway Market experience, I'll travel to Boston, Seattle, Philadelphia or Buffalo's Polonia. They of course, are the real thing.

I really hope that this becomes a reaility. Good luck to all those involved.

One of the problems with Buffalo is that we have one of the nation's premier supermarket chains all over Western New York - Wegmans. People aren't going to drive from Amherst past the Wegmans so they can by their produce downtown from a guy with bibbed overalls. It's romanitic, but not practical. We should spend more time identifying pent-up demand for development and stop this zero-sum development.

Good work, keep up the fight! Downtown needs this kind of thing. The Broadway Market services a different area of the city. As was said, there is allready a mass of people in that area during the summer months, and with the new investment in the cobblestone area (a begining, hopefully more will come) this has tremendous potential.

It sounds like he would like to start it small and at the DLandW terminal which is a good idea. I really like this idea and so will the people visiting the new canal site.

Oh and mark my words the popularity of the new canal site will surprise a lot of people including all of those Buffalo skeptics out there.

Will a small market in a big space feel too weak? Also, will non-Buffalo Rising folks notice the market in that space?

currently i live in florida and previosly had worked for scottys inc a company that opend 11 of these types of markets all around the state of florida. most were in hot markets with growing populations,tourist traffic,and much disposable income. after 1 year and 6 months NONE were even breaking even. they seem like a great idea to do due to the limeted capital needed by the start up company but the downside is the people who open up these stores inside are not commited by long term leases and backed by large capital baknrolls.the tend to take the ill give it a try approach by tossing mabey 5k,10k, or if there lucky 20k.into it and seeng if it will fly. most dont! so the sell through there first big purchase of chinese import dollar store type items. realize that theyre not making money and pack it in like any reasonable person would. the store i personaly oversaw had 120 vendors opening day with traffic counts of 5000 per weekend plus another 4000 for wed thurs fri.(5 day a week market) within 5 months only 30 of the original 120 vendors were still there. we were able to replace the others on a month to month basis for about 9 months withe people coming in based on all the buz we had generated by print,radio,tv ads. taffic taperd off to about 3000 weekends 1200 weekdays after about the 3rd month and the vendors stated figuring out what was selling for thesuccessful stores and of course the cut throating began. the little guy trys to cut the big guys price by 20% to drive business or sell through if hes leaving at the end of the month.of course this doesnt help any body in the long run but it was human nature in action right thre on a day to day basis. by the 12 month mark we were down to about 15 solid stores who were just making a go of it and about 55 come in for a few months and leave a few months later types. this was truly heartbreaking to watch novice business people trying ther hardest to make a go of it but to no avail. at about a year and a half mark the company went belly chap 13 with forclosure shortly after. im surprised it lastred that long! the riting was on the wall. with that type of traffic you would have expected people to make money but with a 20k investment and even a 3x turn on your product remove product cost ,rent,payroll(usually the vendors own expectation of how much they can make) and most quickly realize that theyd be better off managing the wilson farms... buffalo is priveledged to have a market like the broadway market with real culture foods tradition and the like. if this new one is opend than the best you can hope for is that broadway will hold on to 50%+ of its current biz most likely a nice slow strangulation will occur hurting both markets till 1 finally caves. hopefully not the 1 with the history of buffalo attached. when we opend up we pulled away biz from many more established markets of hte same type putting several out of business only to find that we are selves would not survive leaving many of these cities with no such markets besides the outdoor fleas. i cant say this will happen to this market one way or the other but my experiance occured in areas with greater populaton density with more per capita income. one last note... if it is prosperous it will suck customers and dollars away from brick and mortar small biz people who evryone is asking to open up in areas such as allentown,elmwood and main street. if youd like a good idea from someone who doest currently live there but looks forward to coming back ad purchasing downtown soon. biuld on what is best about buffalo now, broadway,allentown,main street corridor support those people who have already taken the rist to make downtown neighborhhoods abetter place.ignore what large poulation cities do .buffalo is its own beautiful monster just waiting to breath fire again. forget basspro,casino dreams,and other pie in the sky ideas.rebuild the landmarks with practical business projects. and buffualo mabey smaller will become a true gem. my hats off to the people who are already making it happen,planning groups,civic leaders, small business people,and of course the great people of buffalo. you dont know how good they are to you move somewhere else. if young and old suburbinites are smart theyll get in ton the ground floor of the revitalization and help keep it going! please feel free to use any part of this writing to make your own point. excuse my spelling and punctuation.i type fast to get my thouhts down

I have to agree with StreetcarSuburban to some extent. It would be a real shame if this effort got bogged down in worrying about elevators and City vs. NFTA turf wars. Keeping it simple at the outset will make it much cheaper and more realizable. The DL&W is a great space and a great goal, but it is light years away from the initial vision of an otherwise empty parking lot filled with vendors and shoppers on Saturday afternoon.

This is a great story!! I am really interested to hear what others have to say about this. Relocating the Broadway Market into the DL&W Terminal downtown. This story makes sooo much sense. It would fit into the Erie Canal Harbor development perfectly. I could see going to a farmers/flea market and spening the whole day on the waterfront. I like the market idea alot better then the museum idea for the termial.