BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) Saying he respects the work of the Common Council, Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown told WBEN on Friday that he is providing more information to lawmakers on why Braymiller Market is critical to downtown. He plans to reintroduce a request for a $562-thousand dollar forgivable loan to the grocery store on Ellicott Street.
On Tuesday of this week, the Council discussed and formally denied the mayor's original request for such a grant.
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"During the pandemic, many businesses were able to receive financial assistance from the city. Braymiller, when it opened, was not able to get any assistance and it was particularly hard hit by the pandemic. Their business plan was based on over 60K people commuting to downtown. But since the pandemic, more than 20K of those people are working remotely, and Braymiller has had to adjust its business plan," said the mayor.
Brown said the health of downtown is important to the entire city and the entire region.
"Mayor Brown, has Braymiller told you that they cannot continue at that location, without this funding,?" asked WBEN's Susan Rose. Brown responded. "Absolutely. Without this forgivable loan, Braymiller will fail. We will have an empty building in downtown Buffalo and 40 people out of work," he added.
Brown said the loss of Braymiller would hurt downtown development, and
the ability to attract more people to live downtown and invest in downtown.
"This is not a situation of giving money to Braymiller and not helping other small businesses. We have to do both. The city will continue to help other small businesses. But we believe that we must help this business as well because it's important to downtown growth and development and downtown is important to the entire city of Buffalo and the entire region."
It was a long process to get a supermarket operator to move into the Ellicott Street location. Does this mean that for a grocery store to be successful downtown, it needs to be supported by the government in some way?
Brown insisted this would be a one-time grant. "If not for the pandemic, Braymiller would not be seeking any assistance, he said. Many businesses in the city of Buffalo, Erie County, across the state and the nation got financial assistance during the pandemic. Braymiller was not able to get any financial assistance. We are simply trying to assist a business in staying afloat that was damaged badly by the pandemic."