Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - A "cash mob" came to Braymiller Market Thursday afternoon, an organized event occurring when a large influx of customers come in to shop and support the local business.
Organizing the event is Dan Leonard of Buffalo's Downtown Business Roundtable, representing a group of business leaders that care about the downtown and it's "continued transformation into a great place to live, work and play."
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"The presence of a grocery store within downtown is critical to that, not just for our business community, but for places to live, to visit, and to make downtown an overall more vibrant place. So it was really important that we all showed up here today in support of a great local downtown business that is committed to Downtown Buffalo. We're looking to commit back to Braymiller Market," Leonard said.
Braymiller Market owner Stuart Green is very appreciate of the support coming from the community.
"It's a little overwhelming, I must admit, we have gotten a lot of support. This certainly identifies what we're trying to do downtown," says Green. "It's great. We get a lot of support every day, a lot of good things happen here every day, but to see the support that we're getting when we need it the most, it's wild, thank you all."
This support comes following a recent denial of $500,000 in grant funding that the Braymiller Market requested to help aid the store as they come out of the pandemic. Those funds were denied by the Buffalo Common Council.
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Mayor Byron Brown was in attendance for the event. He wants the council to reconsider their position on Braymiller receiving loan funding.
"It's important to know that we need to help this business and the city will continue to help small businesses in every section of the City of Buffalo. Downtown businesses in Downtown Buffalo account for about 17% of the city's tax base. The revenue that comes from downtown businesses goes to providing services for every section of the City of Buffalo, having a market in downtown is very important to the health of downtown, the growth of downtown, and building the downtown neighborhood."