Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Buffalo is in an unwanted spotlight this weekend, with the one year anniversary of the Tops mass shooting this Sunday.
The President of Tops Markets, John Persons, joined WBEN on Friday to reflect on the past year.
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"First and foremost, we want to remember the victims. The ten beautiful lives that were lost. And we want to reflect, with gratitude, on what the community did in support of the families and in support of us."
Persons called the outpouring of love "amazing" and the resiliency of the Jefferson store team is something that he described as "beyond words."
Tops Market will host a Moment of Remembrance starting at 2 p.m. ET on Sunday at the supermarket on Jefferson Avenue. The ceremony will be led by Mayor Byron Brown, and will be followed by church bells chiming at 2:28 p.m. ET to reflect the moment when the shootings took place.
Out of respect for the families and store employees, the Tops store on Jefferson will be closed on Sunday.
"The idea to close the store came from our store associates," said Persons. "They asked if we would consider closing that day. "Of course, we said absolutely we would consider it. It is the right thing to do. I certainly don't want any of our associates to feel any angst or be troubled by the notion that they might be working that day."
Persons told WBEN that Tops is moving forward with plans for a new "Honor Space" that will be constructed as a memorial to the victims lost in the massacre.
It will be located on Tops property at Jefferson Avenue and Landon. It is the same parcel of property that the community used in the months after the attack as a temporary memorial.
"We thought that it would be a fitting spot for an honor space. We'll break ground sometime in mid-summer and with any luck, we'll be done by fall," he said.
The Honor Space would be separate from a permanent memorial that Mayor Byron Brown and Governor Kathy Hochul are developing.
"We've been working with a local architect, someone who is familiar with designing important spaces that need to reflect something significant. It will be a very nice, fitting memorial and sacred space."
It will include granite benches and 10 artistic bollards, representing the ten lives lost, and decorative lighting.
Persons noted that some of the victims' families were consulted as well as people from the community. Eventually he said there will be a piece of art installed that will be reflective of the victims as a way to honor them.
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