Bazaar expected to bring buzz to West Side

By Ashley Brown and Brittany Sherman
Bengal News reporters
 The aroma of exotic foods fills the air. Pedestrians can’t help but stop and stare at the colorful and intricate fabric and jewelry. The sound of eclectic music spills into the streets, creating a unique ambience.
 This is the scene that is hoped to be set by the West Side Bazaar, a project that has been a work-in-progress for some time by several West Side organizations and investors.
 The idea behind the project is to help provide business and entrepreneurial skills as well as opportunities for the refugee population, and build up the West Side’s commercial district.
 The Westminster Economic Development Initiative and Niagara Common Councilmember David Rivera have played key roles in the development of the project.



The bazaar has faced a couple of hurdles that have delayed the unveiling of the unique business on more than one occasion. The primary issue that has been faced is establishing a location.
 “We’ve been trying to find buildings, but no building has opened up,” said Kirk Laubenstein, legislative assistant to Rivera. “We’ve been waiting on the Heal closing because they just closed, but the building needs a lot of rehab. We’re at least hoping for a temporary location while Heal does the rehab for their building.”
 If plans go through as hoped for at the Heal building, the Bazaar will be housed at 240 – 244 West Ferry Street. It will be the tenant on the first floor of the building.
 The bazaar aspires to feature the diverse cultures and ethnicities that make up the West Side community and draw in commercial business.
 “The idea is to have a smaller type of a Broadway market,” said Laubenstein. “You would have vendors and small booths selling food, hand crafts, jewelry, primarily focused on refugees, but not limited to refugees.”
 Bonnie Smith, the Economic Development Director for the WEDI, expands on specifically what vendors will be featured at the bazaar.
 “We have Anthony from Liberia, who is importing beautiful clothing and fabrics from Liberia,” said Smith. “We also have Marta from Peru, she’s a trained chef and she’s doing Peruvian food, and hopes to start the first Peruvian restaurant in Buffalo.”
 This business will stand out from any other bazaar, flea market or farmer’s market in the area because it primarily focuses on the West Side’s refugee and immigrant population. The vendors will offer an international mix of commodities and goods.
 There’s much more than just finding a location and the adequate funding that has gone into this project. WEDI, the lead agency in the bazaar, has helped refugee and immigrant vendors understand the business aspect of the project.
 “We’ve been part of the workshops and developing the workshops for the vendors,” said Smith. “Our workshops have been on sales tax, insurance, importing and general business know-how.”
 Building up the commercial district in the West Side community has been a primary motive for the Bazaar.
 “As you see over on Elmwood, as goes the commercial district so goes the neighborhood around it,” said Laubenstein. “Our goal is to have a vibrant neighborhood and a vibrant neighborhood includes good commercial districts.”
 Smith believes that the future for the West Side is looking bright. She hopes that with some assistance, the refugee population can turn this into a thriving community.
 As of now, the Bazaar is looking for a temporary space until renovations are complete at the location on West Ferry. The hope is to have an opening at a temporary location in December.

 Edited by Allison Dunckle and Kaitlin Fritz