Back in February, local photographer Yves-Richard Blanc set out to capture a day in the life of a Buffalo firefighter. Blanc said that he had such a good time handling the assignment that he wanted to do it again. So he set out to capture the spirit of the West Side Bazaar next. After finishing up that project, it only seemed natural to tackle another market on the opposite side of town – The Broadway Market. Armed with his trusty camera, and guidance from Mark Lazzara (friend of the market), and Kathleen Peterson (Market Manager), Blank managed to get information and bios from the marketeers, as well as some photos of each of the owners while at work. Here’s a snapshot of the outing:
Audrey L Maurer Custom Designed Crafts
Audrey L Maurer is a professional crafter and has been in business for almost 40 years. Here’s her story:
I started out part time doing local area craft shows then proceeding to full time after the birth of our first child.
I have been in the Broadway Market for just over 10 years, starting as an Easter only vendor then an October through Easter for the first few years. We are now working every Saturday to accommodate the regular customer base that I have built up over the years, having dropped all but the Premier Promotion Shows at the Hamburg Fairgrounds three times a year.
Most of my products are useful items used in and around the home. Kitchen and bathroom towels with Velcro closure are one of my most popular items for everyday use. They are made with print towels or print tops with solid hand towels on the bottom including all holidays.
I sell girls baby bonnets with brims, and the adjustable back are great for the toddlers to protect them from the sun. Also, personalized baby bibs with names or sayings, youth and adult bibs to protect their clothing. Children’s sleeved art smocks for school or home use in 4 sizes with everyday and character prints.
Tooth fairy pillows, appliance covers, oversized casserole hot pads, plastic bag holders, garters for prom or wedding, communion and bridal headpieces and veils.
Christmas time everyone needs that special gift for that special someone so I hand make snowman ornaments with fleece hats and scarves with embroidered arms such as college names, football teams, high school names, jobs, careers and sports some with charms. I can make personal names when ordering.
Everything is handmade by me with the help of my husband with quality and care always a priority. Customer satisfaction is our primary goal and we strive to be sure every customer will return because of the quality workmanship. Every customer who purchases from us receives information on how to get in touch with us for future purchases. We thank them all for being so loyal for all these years and hope they continue for many years to come.
Audrey L Maurer Custom Designed Crafts | 716-824-7325 | www.customdesignedcrafts.com
Broadway Seafood, a place known to serve the best and fresh seafood. For the last 15 years Broadway Seafood has grown and maintained its excellence In serving the best quality daily fresh fish, to serving the best crab legs, lobster tails, poultry, and many more.
The list doesn’t stop there, over the past years, Broadway Seafood has added many more products from different kinds of fish, to different kinds of lobster tails and crab legs and frozen fillets and many more. Their main objective was and still is to serve our customers to the best of their satisfaction and to guarantee great quality in their products.
Photo: Sakhr – assistant Manager of Broadway Seafood | 716-893-1050
Babcia’s Pierogi is owned and operated by George & Linda Lund. Babcia’s Pierogi currently produces 23 varieties of pierogi, making us the home of WNY’s largest and most unique flavors available. All our products are made from scratch at the Broadway Market, using the highest quality of locally sourced ingredients.
Babcia’s Pierogi moved to the Broadway Market in November 2016 to expand our production. We are open Monday through Saturday, serving pierogi & Polish comfort foods, as well as retail pierogi to take home. Our award winning pierogi can be found at more than 15 local stores. Our concession trailer can be found at the Erie County Fair & NYS Fair as well as WNY’s favorite festivals.
Bflo Boho
Original jewelry and gift designs crafted by Judi Mohn Griggs, featuring Artisan Czech glass beads and buttons from family makers in Jablonec.
Joined Broadway Market in October 2018. Open every Friday and Saturday.
Judi’s mother grew up in Broadway Fillmore area, and father in East Lovejoy. Both grandmothers brought Judi to the market regularly as a child. As she moved through her career in newspaper, then corporate marketing in San Antonio, Houston, and Sea Island, Georgia – she always brought her daughters “home” to the Broadway Market at Easter time. She moved back in 2017, with her company – then called “Buffalo Bead”, which was well-established in Houston.
The booth is set up to feel like Grandma Mohn’s living room. Her wedding photo from 1919, as well of those of her parents and favorite aunt are constants in the continually revised booth display. “Whether the pictures are there or not, I feel like they are with me here. They were a huge part of the reason I choose to open my business locally here,” Griggs said.
Griggs has been working with Artisan Czech glass for about 10 years, connecting directly with the families who make her glass on a visit a few years back. She worked with the Sikola family to create a Buffalo Glass Medallion which she owns exclusively.
She first became enraptured with the hand-pressed, hand painted buttons made in Jablonec because they reminded her of a button she recalled on her grandmother’s coat. Only one of her grandparents talked about “the old country” — her assumption was always that her family was German and Polish. Nine years into working with Czech glass, Griggs took an ancestry DNA test as a shared activity with her younger daughter. It turns out that she has some Polish, no German, and lots of Czech ancestry. The maps showed a concentration of family in the area of Jablonec— at its hey day as the bijouterie to the world when her family made their way to Buffalo in the late 1800s and early 1900s— explaining the origin of the button on Grandma’s coat.
“My grandparents died in the 1960s and 1970s — but it’s amazing how much positive influence they still have on all their grandchildren today. They may be the most successful people I’ll ever know,” Griggs said.
Camellia Meats is a fourth generation meat manufacturing and wholesaler founded in 1935 in Buffalo NY by Edmund Cichocki Sr. who came to Buffalo from Poland, and is located at 1333 Genesee St and in The Broadway Market. We manufacture over 30 different meat products right in the heart of Buffalo including our Smoked Ham and Polish Sausage. All of our smoked products are made in our industrial smokehouses using natural hardwood smoke with no liquid smoke or other preservatives. Along with our manufacturing plant we have 2 retail store locations that serve a full line of Beef, Pork, Chicken, Deli as well as our Camellia Brand Products at 1333 Genesee St and in the Broadway Market.
Our Broadway Market Location was opened in 2006 as the demand for our products locally required us to expand with a second retail outlet. We saw the potential that The Broadway Market had and have seen it grow over the past 13 years. We have been serving Western New York and surrounding areas with the highest quality meats for over 80 years and we look forward to continuing serving all of our loyal customers for years to come.
Chateau Buffalo
Carl and Suzi Schmitter established Chateau Buffalo in 2005 as Buffalo’s first and only winery. Their kiosk at the Broadway Market has been serving market customers for eleven years. The 999 Broadway and 998 Broadway wines were created to celebrate the market and the surrounding neighborhood. They produce wines from locally sourced grapes and fruit.
Chateau Buffalo Ciderhouse & Winery | 175 Niagara Frontier Food Terminal | 1500 Clinton Street (at Bailey) | Buffalo, NY 14206 | 716-704-4671 | www.chateaubuffalo.com
Chrusciki Bakery
Tadeusz and Hania Robieniek left their home in Poland with two suitcases and $100 in search of the American Dream; leaving everything behind, their jobs, their home, even their two young daughters… despite many hardships, they were determined to succeed.
Ultimately, Buffalo, NY was chosen as to where the Robieniek family would establish themselves. After two long years of separation, daughters Monika and Ania were able to join their parents in America.
By 1987, the Robienieks self-taught themselves to speak English while working for E.M. Bakery in Buffalo’s historic Broadway Market. They eventually purchased the business and E.M “Chrusciki” Bakery was born. The family spent the next 30 years perfecting their Polish pastry and pierogi recipes.
In 2010, Ania became President and owner of Chrusciki Bakery Inc., allowing her parents to enjoy retirement while continuing their dream. Both Ania & Monika’s children now work in the business making this family-run bakery three generations deep.
Going forward, a collaboration of old-world recipes and traditions with a new generation’s modern-day flair, resulted in the creation of our bakery’s sister company, Simply Pierogi.
Chrusciki Bakery Inc. currently offers gourmet European baked goods, Custom Cakes, Wedding Cakes, Sweet Tables, Gift Baskets & Platters, and Cake & Cupcake Decorating Classes.
Follow Chrusciki Bakery on Facebook & Instagram: @ChruscikiBakery | www.chruscikibakery.com | (716) 681-9866
Follow Simply Pierogi on Facebook & Instagram: @SimplyPierogi | www.simplypierogi.com | (716) 681-9866
Debra Dechert began selling (4) products in the East Aurora Farmers Market in 1989.
I produced products in an inspected, separate kitchen in my home basement. I am licensed through Cornell University and the FDA. I have won various awards over the years for my spicy pickles, garlics, and pepper jellies. I now sell many of my products in Wegmans, Tops, Dash Markets, and other specialty shops throughout Western New York. Also, I sell my products at about 20 shows a year. I now have a storefront and a large facility where I manufacture my products at the Broadway Market in Buffalo. I have a following of customers that have been purchasing my products for many, many years. I now carry about 80 products. My website is debs-delights.com. Please visit the website to learn more about the history of Deb’s Delights and a list of upcoming events.
Deb’s Delights, Inc. 716-652-8298
Wanda Skup, the owner of Famous Horseradish has been proudly grating and serving horseradish for over 35 years. Famous Horseradish is famous for its hand grated horseradish which is made naturally – no salt, no sugar and no preservatives.
The delicious additions to our stand have been horseradish mustard and cocktail sauce. Wanda is truly “grateful” for all your support!
Enchanted Market Gifts
Enchanted Market Gifts owned by Monika Poslinski is a family owned Polish business serving Western New York for over 13 years at the Famous Broadway Market.
We offer gifts imported from Poland, embroidered and silkscreen apparel, and beautiful collectibles. Our gift shop offers something for everyone from infant onesie to adult shirts. As a family business we offer that personal touch to each and every customer.
Kathrene’s Cuisine
Kathrene’s Cuisine (A Taste if the Philippines) is owned and operated by a couple Kat and Rain. The business’ goal is not just for profit but to support the less fortunate children in the Southern Philippines in sending them to school and providing educational supplies. Being in the food industry for 16 years, Kathrene’s Cuisine not only provide authentic Filipino food, but making sure that everything we serve are made from scratch with real ingredients and no alternatives. Kathrene’s Cuisine is the only Filipino restaurant in Buffalo, New York and in the whole Erie County.
Margie Hawkins opened Margie’s Soul Food in August of 2016. Margie’s Soul Food Restaurant is synonymous with fresh home cooked meals with Margie serving breakfast, lunch and dinner daily for the busy parent, the elderly, college students, everyone. Margie’s specialties are mac n cheese, peach cobbler, pork chops, ribs, meatloaf plus much more! Catering also available. Contact Margie at 716-322-1748. Margie is open in the Broadway Market Monday – Saturday, 8:00 am – 5:00 pm.
Potts Deli & Grill – The Beef Station
Potts Deli & Grill – The Beef Station has been in the restaurant business and serving food for 39 years.
We have been at the Broadway Market for 5 years serving a variety of options. Breakfast, a great selection with polish or beef sausage, bacon or pork sausage.
Polish food – our award winning pierogi-golombki, a Polish platter, Duck soup and Chicken soup available all year and an assortment of other polish options. We also have available hamburgers, hot dogs, reubens, grilled rib eye sandwich and many other selections.
Our main location is at 41 South Rossler in the Value Plaza in Cheektowaga, N. Y.
Serving lunch and dinner only.
We have a banquet hall available for weddings, birthdays, baby showers, wedding showers, memorial/funeral gatherings, stags or any other event. We also do catering and drop offs.
Daria Parker is the owner of Lewandowski Produce.
I have worked at Lewandowski Produce for 33 years and became owner 6 years ago. I am very active in the Market, Vice President of The Friends of the Broadway Market District. I am also in charge of the Rooftop Garden where I grow lots of herbs and some vegetables that I sell at my stand. I sell a variety of fruits and vegetables, always local when available. I sell local honey, raw honey, local maple syrup, nuts, Byler’s Relish house jams and condiments. A few things that I sell that people always come for are raw honey, organic ginger (not from China) and local or California garlic.
It’s important to me to sell these items and stress the health reasons for them. I try to give good advice to my customers, always a quick cooking tip or health tip. I plan on expanding out with healthier products and recipes using my products especially my herbs in teas and cooking. I love the Market, I grew up here. It’s very important to keep the Market going, I struggle with business at times but I’m still hoping to be part of the change I believe will happen. It’s definitely happening in other places close to us and I want to be a part of it.
I sell fruits, vegetables, honey and a lot of other related things but I also sell Polish Wooden Eggs, (hand painted in Poland) and Wooden Matrushka Dolls (Nesting Dolls). These are definitely a huge seller at Easter and Christmas. I do however carry them year round, they make great gifts for birthdays, baby showers and also for the person carrying on traditions.
Lewandowski Produce | 999 Broadway | Buffalo, NY 14212 | 716-896-7163 | Facebook
We have been open 17 years at the Famous Broadway Market. A Mother and Son owned business by Cynthia and Steven Dawidowicz. We are open all year round. We sell chocolates of all kinds. Our specialties are Chocolate Covered Strawberries. Sponge Candy. And The Original Charlie Chaplin Chocolate, which has been a tradition at the market for over 60 years. We also carry nostalgic items like Crystal Beach Original Suckers and Sugar Waffles.
The Sweet Whisk
Chocolate & Pastry Boutique
Co-Owners Amanda Page & Kenny Williams
Specialize in hand crafted gourmet chocolate, scratch made baked goods & pastries. A chocolate shop focused on Bon Bons and other desserts. The business opened at the market on February 14th, 2019. More information about us and the business on our website – www.thesweetwhiskboutique.com
We R Nuts NY
Pearl Omphalius and Kody Omphalius, a mother son team, are business partners at We R Nuts NY, Inc. They started roasting nuts as a hobby business in 2008 when Kody was only 12 years old. They now roast and produce the best Almonds, Cashews and Pecans in WNY with both sugar roasted and sugar free, savory options to choose from.
We R Nuts has recently expanded into bulk and wholesale offerings of nuts similar to what you’d find in your local grocery store. Kody and Pearl started producing their product in the Broadway Market a little more than 4 years ago.
Traditions – Barbie Crockski Pierogi
Barbara and Mark Lancaster are the owners of keeping Traditions – Barbie Crockski Pierogi. The business opened in 2002 and has been at the Broadway Market since 2008.
We produce over 20 varieties of traditional, specialty and our new alcohol infused “Drunken Pierogi”.
Our award winning pierogi are still hand filled into our extremely soft, thin dough. We then pre-boil and freeze in packages of six.
This family has the right formula for success. For the last 30 years Lupas Meats has offered quality meats, outstanding service, great prices and a spotless environment. If you’re not looking for a specific meat cut, you can also find a variety of other food products convenient for those days when you don’t have time to cook.
They handle other Buffalo related products from Wardynski’s and Sahlen’s hot dogs and Russer Meats, to condiments like Frank’s Hot Sauce and Weber’s Mustard. Polish sausage is a big seller all year round. Besides selling Wardynski’s sausage they also make their own smoked and fresh Polish sausage, kabanosa (Polish Slim Jims) and kiska (Polish liver ring).
In 1963 Petru Lupas began working at the Broadway Market for Redlinski Meats. He worked for the Redlinski Family for 13 years. The stand next to Redlinski Meats became available and Petru decided to purchase the stand from the Siwinski Brothers. Now 45 years later Petru Lupas Meats is now the oldest stand at the Broadway Market. We specialize in our Fresh and Smoked Polish Sausage. We hand cut all our meats made to order. Lupas Meats is continuing being run by his children Michelle and David Lupas (photo).
Lupas Meats | 716.892.4809
Owner Irena Woszczak established Broadway Opticians in June of 1992. Broadway Opticians specializes in eye exams, eye glasses and contacts.
Having an optician at The Broadway Market helps to make the market a one stop shop for people who are busy running errands and setting up appointments.
Contact number: 716-892-9373.
Save-A-Lot has been serving the Broadway Market and the surrounding neighborhoods since 1998.
They specialize in fresh produce and hand-cut meats, along with the highest quality groceries at everyday low prices. They are locally owned and operated.
Featured: Store manager, Megan Palmer
The Broadway Market | 999 Broadway Street | Buffalo, New York 14212 | (716) 893-0705 | broadwaymarket.org
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