Confession: market season is my favorite season. Imagine my surprise and delight when I moved here and realized that you have markets all year round – egads! But truly, shopping local, browsing the ideas from creative makers and small business owners – makes the perfect way to spend the day. As someone who owns a business here and makes things with my hands every single day, I know what goes into every table you walk past. The late nights at the workbench, the inventory spread across the dining room (creeping into every other room of the house), the 5 a.m.…
Author: Mel in Buffalo
On the inaugural episode of Why Local Matters: The Business Owners Who Are Building Buffalo, host Mel chats with Derrick Parson, Executive Director at The Exchange at Beverly Gray, a Buffalo-based incubator specifically serving BIPOC entrepreneurs and business owners. Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Derrick and I chat about: Some highlights:
Welcome to Why Local Matters: The Business Owners Who Are Building Buffalo – a new podcast presented by Buffalo Rising, hosted by Mel. Buffalo’s small business community is bigger, weirder, and more resilient than the headlines let on. Why Local Matters goes straight to the source: the owners themselves, for honest, unscripted conversations about what it actually takes to build something in this city. Hosted by Mel, a small business owner and writer for Buffalo Rising, each episode is a 30-minute sit-down with a different Buffalo entrepreneur. Not the manager. Not the spokesperson. The person who signs the checks and…
Look, we all like to think we’re the smartest person in the room. Buffalo’s trivia scene is one of the only places you can actually prove it. Whether you’re a walking IMDb, a one-person Sabres almanac, or a pop-culture guru (me!), or just looking for wings and the banter, there’s a trivia night out there with your team name (the punnier, the better) on it. I’ve rounded up a pub quiz lineup from now through Halloween, so you really have no excuse. But before you scroll straight to the schedule, hear me out on why this is worth actually doing.…
Buffalo doesn’t get enough credit as a sandwich town – I mean, maybe we do as locals, but as someone who came from the outside… I had NO idea that Buffalo has so many delicious sandwiches to offer. We talk wings, we talk beef on weck (okay, that one’s a sandwich too that I love), we talk pizza. But the truth is, some of the best eating in this city happens between two slices of bread. I’ve spent more lunches than I’d like to admit tracking down the best of the best across the city and the surrounding suburbs. Here…
Buffalo has quietly built one of the best animal-lover lineups in the region this summer, including a prehistoric takeover at the zoo, a capacity crisis at the SPCA that means they need adopters more than ever (your furever pet is waiting!), and a drive-through safari that’s only 40 minutes away. Here’s where to go this week. 1. Buffalo Zoo: Still Roaming with Dinosaurs The zoo’s Destination Dinosaur exhibit, which we first introduced back in the spring, is still running strong through October 31, so if you haven’t made it out yet, this is your reminder. More than a dozen life-size…
It’s been a hard stretch for small businesses in Western New York – and around the country. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been scrolling social media and stumbled across another small business announcing its closure. For example, in the past few weeks, Strong Hearts Buffalo served its last meal, the Elmwood Village said goodbye to Breezy Burrito Bar and The Beer Keep. It’s the kind of news that’s become familiar across the country: rising rent, thinner margins, and independent restaurants and shops deciding they can’t keep the lights on. That’s real, and it matters. But it isn’t…
Two weeks, six experiences, and a renewed appreciation for what makes this city unlike anywhere else. As a small business owner, I’m always looking for ways to support other local businesses and experience Buffalo as a “local.” The past two weeks were one of my busiest explorations yet! Without a grand plan, I found myself bouncing from one corner of this city to another, and at every stop, I was struck by the same thing: the people building something here, often quietly, often without the recognition they deserve. It started at Shea’s Performing Arts Centre, where I caught a performance…
About four years ago, when I was still living in Denver, I challenged myself during New Year’s – to step way outside of my comfort zone and try something new in-person to try and find an activity that either builds community or makes me move my body. Both things I was in desperate need of, and neither was something I would do without an extra push. It wasn’t until February that I finally got around to it (shorter timeframe than normal if I’m being honest) – and decided to try a new group exercise class, Pilates Reformer. For those of…
For me, coffee is a non-negotiable – iced coffee to be exact. Finding great coffee spots is always a fun adventure, especially with so many different types of coffee shops around town. To be fair, I didn’t hate any of them… caffeine is always good. But here are some of my favorites from this month that I think are worth checking out! SPoT Coffee (specifically the Kenmore location) SPoT Coffee is a Buffalo company and likely a known entity to you. HOWEVER, I’d never heard of it until I was invited for a coffee date at SPoT and stepped into the…