Business blooms on Connecticut Street

By Kyla Goodfellow and John Fetter
BengalNews Reporters

A burgeoning retail strip of Connecticut Street is attempting to upend the West Side’s long-lived bedraggled reputation. Recently the street has seen its share of new restaurants, retailers and even luxury apartments.

The latest retail addition is Bella Tootsie a shoe-spa-boutique, located a few blocks from D’Youville College, that specializes in ladies heels, sandals, and boots, as well as mini pedicures and toenail art. The proprietor behind this creative endeavor, Annette Caldwell, said that although her boutique is seen as a surprising addition to the street it has received a warm welcome from the locals, and has sales that reflect.

“Business has been great. It’s really picked up and has been very progressive. Which is the best that you can hope for,” said Caldwell.

Caldwell said she wants people on the West Side to view her store as a boutique that has obtainable shoes.

“I want people who think that they will be expensive to come inside and realize that they’re not. Just because it’s boutique and it caters to a boutique feel doesn’t mean it has to have those thousand-dollar boutique prices. I have shoes that they can afford,” said Caldwell.

Annette Caldwell says she has a lot of repeat customers:



Although sales are the number one goal, Caldwell said she hopes her store will help the neighborhood.

“I’d like to bring the area back to the way it was when I was a child. It was a little bit higher class, a little bit more boutiquish. For a couple years there, the early 2000s, it became a little rough and I’d like to see it go back to an area where people care about themselves, their appearance, and their neighbors,” said Caldwell.

Caldwell, who labeled Connecticut Street as “the up and coming Elmwood Avenue,” said she chose the location because she’s from the West Side and is aware of all the advancements being made. Caldwell said that in the last five years Connecticut Street’s storefronts have gone from 60 percent vacancy to 90 percent occupancy.

“There’s a great energy here now. It’s very positive. Everyone is looking forward to it getting better. Everyone’s helping out. Everyone looks out for each other,” said Caldwell.

Two people who have witnessed the ebbs and flows of Connecticut Street are the owners of the Golden Key tavern, Mary Moore and Louis DiPasgule—Caldwell’s mother and stepfather, and retail neighbors.

The Golden Key, located next-door to Bella Tootsie, is a well-known local bar that first opened its doors in 1936. Caldwell’s parents have owned The Golden Key for 17 years and say that in this time business has been up and down depending on what the economy is doing.

“If everybody’s got a job I’m busy. If they don’t have a job I’m not busy,” said DiPasgule.

Moore believes that this year business is 100 percent on the upswing with the arrival of the First Niagara Bank, West Side Neighborhood Housing Services and high-end residential developments.

Moore is very proud of her daughter’s achievements, saying she did it entirely on her own, without any public assistance.

“She worked 60 to 80 hours a week for two and a half years and saved all her money. She did this on her own,” said Moore.

One project that both the Golden Key and Bella Tootsie hope will work in their favor is the multimillion-dollar redevelopment of the Old Horsefeathers Antique Store. The building, located only a block away on Connecticut Street, will host an array of artisan food establishments, including an organic dairy bar and a pasta maker, as well as four floors of luxury apartments.

Although the street has a constant flow of traffic and pedestrians, Caldwell and her parents hope that the building will draw more people into their area.

“It’s definitely going to bring more traffic here and for me the more people that I get to go by the more people I’m going to get to come in and shop,” said Caldwell.

Caldwell believes that the new project will put Connecticut Street on the map.

“It will make it a destination.”

Grant-Amherst focuses on business

By Stacie Duderwick, Stephanie Otiz and Jolene Zanghi
BengalNews Reporters

On the other side of New York State Route 198, the Grant-Amherst community is revitalizing the neighborhood with an innovative commercial district that will complement its historical and cultural foundations.

New businesses are appearing along Amherst Street, from an eclectic collection of art galleries, including 464 Gallery , 464 Amherst St., and Artsphere Studio and Gallery , 466 Amherst St., to staple food options, like Joe's New York Style Pizzeria and Restaurant, 345 Amherst St. and Spar European Sausage & Meats, 405 Amherst St.

There's this wonderful, sort of, mixture of coolness on Grant Amherst and people really working hard. It also has those wonderful advantages of the history and the shopping opportunities, said Bill Parke, city of Buffalo community developer. But it needs to fill in some of the gaps, it needs to bring up peoples awareness to the history, it needs to make sure it offers the right mixture of services because the Buffalo State College community is growing.

Bill Parke addresses brownfield development:


Parke said there are a number of initiatives that are in the works for the area. The Scajaquada Expressway is planned to be downgraded in order to reduce the speed of the highway and connect the neighborhood.

Existing businesses are going through revitalization as well, Parke said. Sportsmans Tavern, 326 Amherst St., has proposed to enhance its storefront by mimicking an outside, iron wrap-around walkway similar to that of the Pearl Street Grill and Brewery, 76 Pearl St., in downtown Buffalo.

The Tops plaza, on the corner of Grant and Amherst Street, has proposed adding a gas station to its location, which Parke said might bring commuting college students over to the area since there are not many gas stations close by.

The intersection of Grant Street and Amherst Street is undergoing rehabilitation through a coalition driven by residents, business owners, block clubs, business associations and the city of Buffalo through the Good Neighbors Planning Alliance (GNPA).

The alliance offers community members to have a voice in the future development of their neighborhood. The city's Office of Strategic Planning initiated the planning process.

Transforming Grant-Amherst to a trendy network of retail outlets is an illustration of government that is doing its part to keep the positive momentum going, Parke said.
The area must overcome setbacks, such as defeating negative stereotypes of the area as a result of disinvestment and the loss of curb appeal at the intersection due to a bar burning down a few years ago.

When you lose those corners, it really makes it tough from an urban design perspective because when you lose a corner all a sudden people liken it to a missing tooth, Parke said.

Business owners and politicians in the district argue whether the street itself needs revitalization, specifically the addition of more street lights and stop signs, to slow down traffic and attract additional attention to its new store fronts.

"Do we want to do a traffic study before the businesses go up? Or after?" North District Common Councilman Joseph Golombek asked. "We're trying to figure out what makes the most sense."

Golombek said that in areas of Toronto and Rochester theyve built the sidewalk out by four to six feet which took up parking spots, but offered a safer environment for pedestrians and naturally slowed down traffic.

"I feel the street has plenty of street lights and stop signs," Dan Patterson, an employee of 464 Gallery, said. "I havent noticed any accidents or traffic delays. I dont feel the need for anything additional."

Pedestrian traffic is a focus of other business owners, who feel that it would enhance safety and bring more customers to their storefronts.

"It would probably be a good idea. Theres always kids going back and forth and a lot of traffic," Renee Kuller, stylist at Artsphere Studio and Gallery, said. "It's hard to cross the street sometimes because there's so much traffic. I think it would really help the businesses."

Slowing down traffic should be taken with caution, Michael Maywalt, owner of Maywalt Realty Group, 495 Amherst St., said.

"There's two schools of thought," Maywalt said. "Certainly someone who's opening up a restaurant may want a stop sign or light, so that people driving by can take a look inside and see what's going on."

Michael Maywalt speaks on slowing traffic to enhance the neighborhood:

The neighborhood has potential to increase development through its availability of undeveloped spots and revitalize its existing structures to provide services and goods to the surrounding college and community as a whole.

"From a planners perspective, I just sort of see pieces kind of fitting together," Parke said. "I see the puzzle already made. Now the question is, how do we get those pieces to fit together?"

Bazaar needs a place to hang its hat

By Shrell Krawczyk and Elizabeth Lewin
BengalNews Reporters

With spring fever finally in the air, it won’t be long before Buffalonians are looking forward to some summer fun, and this year they can add to their to-do list a trip to the West Side Bazaar - if it finds a home.

Having potential to offer a unique shopping experience with an international flair, the West Side Bazaar plans to give consumers an opportunity to browse food and products from countries such as Somalia, Iraq, Burma, Sudan, Rwanda, Liberia, and more.

If all goes well, the bazaar is intended to open in June.

Bonnie Smith, economic development director for Westminster Economic Development Initiative Inc. (WEDI), a not-for-profit involved with financial support for the bazaar said one of the obstacles yet to overcome is finding a suitable location.

“We have researched several locations, lost a few, and continue to look. If we cannot secure a site before June we will have to reconsider our start date,” Smith said.

Charlie Moffitt, West Side Bazaar manager, said they hope to find a space near the Grant-Ferry neighborhood with about 2,000 square feet. He said they want enough room for each vendor to be comfortable, but not so much that intimacy is lost between vendors and consumers.

Unique in that it will house many micro entrepreneurs sharing resources under one roof, Smith said, the West Side Bazaar will function as a sort of incubator for retail businesses looking to grow. Although all entrepreneurs are welcome to participate, those attracted so far have been mostly immigrants and refugees that have settled on the West Side. Enthusiasm and commitment from vendors has been high, Moffitt said.

Charlie Moffitt, on vendor interest in the West Side Bazaar:



The hope is to see the bazaar gain momentum and prosper along with the vendors, Smith said. Intentions of the project are to offer subsidies to each vendor that will support them the first two years of opening their business. After those two years, the vendors are welcome to continue doing business within the bazaar or they may choose to move on and run their business independently.

The concept for the West Side Bazaar was born several years ago during meetings held among community organizations with a vested interest in the Grant Street area, including Councilman David Rivera’s office, WEDI, Jericho Road Ministries, Journey’s End Refugee Service, and PUSH, Moffitt said. The idea stemmed from a desire to revitalize the West Side commercial district.

Offering support to entrepreneurs who can positively influence the neighborhood benefits both businesses and consumers, Moffitt said.
Despite the lack of location, Smith said she thinks they’ve made very good progress in only a year’s worth of planning. Everything else is in place, including a business plan, on- going vendor workshops, mentor training, a logo, and a Web site in progress, she said.

Smith said one of the intriguing facts about the West Side Bazaar is the makeup of the vendor pool, and that it truly is an international place.

“We hope that the bazaar itself will become an icon on the West Side and draw people from all over the Buffalo region,” Smith said.