Walmart's refusal to give Metro Bus access to its new Super Center in Cheektowaga may provide an opportunity for Buffalo residents.
Employees and customers who ride the bus will have to navigate four lanes of busy Walden Avenue to get to the store opening between Union and Dick Roads next month. But if Walmart can not make room for a bus, Mayor Byron Brown says another option is for Walmart to build at least one store in the city of Buffalo.
"There is no municipality right now in the Upstate region that is experiencing economic growth like the city of Buffalo is," Brown declared.
"Now is the right time for Walmart to take a serious look at investing in this community."
According to Brown, city development has totaled $5.5 billion since 2012.
Civil Rights advocates may picket the new store when it opens. A teenage Galleria Mall employee was killed in 1995 crossing Walden Avenue not far from the new Walmart. The girl's family won a multi-million-dollar settlement. And Metro Bus was granted access to mall property.
WBFO reached out to Walmart - but the company did not respond.