As Tops Markets provided a tour of its newly renovated Jefferson Avenue store Thursday for public officials and community leaders, neighborhood residents watched from behind the security fence encircling the parking lot.
And they had mixed emotions about the store’s reopening set for Friday, two months and one day after the May 14 racist massacre that left 10 Black people dead. Some say it's too soon, while others note it's the only food source for a large section of Buffalo’s East Side.
“I'm on the fence because this is one place to get fresher foods, not the freshest, but fresher foods,” said activist and former Buffalo Police officer Cariol Horne, adding, “Two months afterward seems a bit soon for me.”
The store has underway what Tops officials have called a total overhaul, with new equipment, floors, paint, lighting and signage. They also say there’s more security and fresh produce.
But Horne said cosmetic changes can’t change the fact that 10 people lost their lives there.
“I think we are walking on the blood of our people,” she said. “They literally just covered up the blood and said, ‘Hey, look, there’s a new look, everybody should be fine,’ and our mental health is not OK.”
Some have pushed for Tops to demolish the store and build anew in the neighborhood. Tops President John Persons said Thursday that would have taken two to three years, and the community couldn’t wait that long.
Senior Police Chaplain Rev. James Lewis III, standing outside Tops, said while the community has strong views on a new store, “there's really no place for Tops to go.”
“These lots across the street and around here are owned by private owners who have been hoarding property for years, and they own this property,” he said. “It only makes sense that they refurbish this great store and bring it back.”
Getting food to the neighborhood has been a key issue since Tops closed after the shooting. Many neighborhood residents are impoverished and don’t have cars, making getting to a different store difficult.
Residents have been kept going by a variety of efforts. Tops ran a shuttle bus service to its other stores and many groups handed out free food.
One of the people outside the fence Thursday, Greg Schwert, has been part of that effort. He’s a Buffalo native who now lives in Cleveland, but said he became involved after finding out the alleged gunman drove three-and a-half hours from Broome County to Buffalo. That’s the same time Schwert spends driving from his home in Cleveland to visit his sister, who still lives in Buffalo.
So far, he said he’s delivered two tons of supplies.
“I'm always looking for where I can find the deals,” he said. “One of my main groups is the Cleveland Bills Backers that have been supporting on this. So when they are giving the money, I'm looking to try and make it go as far as I can, with whatever is on sale that week.”
Horne said she worries for the Tops employees. About three-quarters of them chose to return to work at the store, according to Tops.
“I can only imagine if I was in the store and saw people slaughtered right in front of me and now I have to go back to work,” she said. “I don’t care how different you make it look. Mentally that doesn’t change.”
Some employees feel like they have no choice but to return to work, Horne added.
“From the ones that I’ve talked to, they’re not totally OK with it. It’s like, ‘OK, we’re going to try it. The only way to get over it is to try it.’ But they’ve been conditioned to think that way,” she said.
