Grant-Amherst abuzz with business activity

By MacKenzie Clarke, Stephanie Delaunay and Cheri St. Croix

BengalNews Reporters

 There’s a neighborhood strip of unique  foods, art made by local artists and staple businesses that are recognized throughout the area, bordering the Upper West Side but it’s not the Elmwood strip.  Businesses like Spar's European Sausage Shop, Quality Bindery Services Inc., Graser’s Florist, Wegmans, and Nick’s Place; the Grant-Amherst area is built on a solid foundation that has lasted decades.

 There are also been an ample amount of new businesses bringing more people to the neighborhood within the last few years. Businesses such as 464 Gallery, Lucy Ethiopian Cuisine and Variety Store, Delish Cooking School and Pastry Shop, The JumpOff, Black Rock Kitchen and Bar, now call Amherst Street home as well.

 Owner of Delish Cooking School and Pastry Shop and member of the Grant-Amherst Business Association, Deborah Clark, couldn’t be happier having recently moved from Elmwood Avenue to 414 Amherst St. The area still steadily attracting new businesses shows the positive results of the work done by Grant-Amherst Business Association, and members as they receive incoming businesses.

 “They were just so welcoming and thrilled,” said Clark. “The new people who own new businesses here, the pride of the people who’ve had businesses for years; they have a really strong business association, and I think this is going to be a good spot to be in. I’m on the ground floor of something that’s really going to be really exciting.”

  While people in the area may know of the up and coming neighborhood, some may still be unaware of the hullabaloo surrounding the Grant-Amherst corridors, Clark said.

Dan Patterson staffs 464 Gallery, 464 Amherst St.

 “I think people are starting to realize that now. I think people are always in such a hurry to speed past because it is not as developed as some of the other neighborhoods. It takes a little extra work to get people over here; I don’t know if it’s a disadvantage, but it’s definitely a challenge,” said Marcus L. Wise, active member of the Grant Amherst Business Association and owner of 464 Gallery located at 464 Amherst St.

 The great location and affordable real estate make the Grant Amherst district a prime spot for business owners, said Mark Bojarsai, an employee of Black Rock Kitchen &Bar.

 The Grant-Amherst Business Association is firmly geared toward the revitalization and cleanup of Grant-Amherst Street area to induce growth into the neighborhood as well as entice patrons from around the city, said Wise. One of the many ways the Grant-Amherst Business Association attracts the public to the area, is the annual Rediscover Amherst Street Festival, said Wise.

 464 Gallery has found nothing but positivity from the area and exponential growth in business, since opening its door three years ago on Amherst Street. Wise is now looking to rent studios above his gallery.

“Business on Amherst Street is doing very well,” said Wise. “I think one of the big advantages of Amherst is that it’s still up and coming, so you can get in here, and you kind of have a little more room to make a difference and have a little more input as to how the neighborhood gets shaped.”

 New owner, Demetrius Williams, opened his retail clothing store, The JumpOff, located at 440 Amherst St. at the end of March and is looking to add to the economic growth of the area. Williams, having lived on Amherst Street, said the overall energy of the neighborhood drew him to open his business there.

 The JumpOff is already thinking ideas that would to add to the community, having the dream of hosting open mic nights for artists in the community. Being on Amherst Street gives us a lot of opportunities do things that you probably wouldn’t be able to do in a more established neighborhood, said Wise.

 “It seemed like a good place to open up and I want to do the best I can,” said Williams, hoping to generate a productive business that would ultimately add to the past and current growth of Amherst. “I want to bring people together.”