A Hamburg grocery store will open a major supermarket in downtown Buffalo. Braymiller Market has been chosen to operate a new retail store and wholesale operation at 201 Ellicott Street, near the Central Library. The mixed-use project, which is being developed by Ciminelli Real Estate, includes 201 units of affordable housing. Plans to develop the site were first announced four years ago and at one point, Tops Markets was in discussions to occupy the space.
The 20,000 square-foot store, scheduled to open in April 2021, will employee 65 full- and part-time workers.
“As downtown Buffalo grows and evolves, the Braymiller mix of wholesale and retail fits perfectly in this neighborhood,” said Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, in a statement. “The combination of a fresh-food market, easy access to transportation and affordable housing meets the needs of people who live, and will live, and work, in the area.”
Braymiller currently operates a market on Gowanda State Road in Hamburg, which first opened in 1941. Owner Stuart Green said for his company, the downtown market is the right fit at the right time.
"As we started to look at this project I would come down here at night and drive around and look up at the buildings and see what lights are on and what's going on and who's walking around. The excitement and enthusiasm downtown is really what brought us here," Green said, at a news conference Wednesday morning in the Central Library.
A community information meeting on the project will be held Thursday from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Bank of America building at Main and Huron streets.
