Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - More than six weeks following the racially motivated mass shooting at the Tops Friendly Market on Jefferson Avenue in the East Buffalo community, Mayor Byron Brown was able to take a tour of the facility, as it is undergoing major renovations ahead of re-opening to the neighborhood.
"Took a tour of the renovations to the Tops supermarket with the President, John Persons, very impressive," said Mayor Brown during a press event on Tuesday at the Apollo Theatre.
"More open in some areas, more offerings of food, more food cases, organic foods, more products in many different varieties, new lighting - LED lighting - re-organizing where many things, where most things were located, new flooring, new painting, new shelving. Most of what is in the store is new and different. All of the product from before was completely replaced. So every product that is in the store is 100% new and fresh."
It was the first time the Mayor has walked in the Tops on Jefferson Avenue since that tragic Saturday on May 14. He admitted that his visit to the store did have an impact on him.
"I did feel some trepidation, some concern going back in, but instantly, as I got in to the front door, it was different. It looked different than it looked previously. That was helpful to me, and I'm hoping it will be helpful to other people," Mayor Brown said. "Tops has been offering opportunities for their staff to come in on Fridays, and look at the changes being made in the store, to make recommendations to things that they would like to see changed. So I think that gradual approach has been helpful. Again, not everybody feels comfortable now, and some people may never feel comfortable coming back in that store, but I think Tops is doing it the right way."
Brown commends the work of crews at Tops for not only the look of the supermarket to this point, but also to the company itself for listening to the community, listening to their customers, listening to their employees, and changing just about everything they could think about in the store to make it look and feel like a brand new store.
"I don't think everyone is going to feel the same way," Mayor Brown said about the store re-opening. "There was an act of domestic terrorism, a mass shooting that took the lives of 10 people. Three others still recovering from their injuries, and people shopping in store, people working in the store that witnessed that horrific mass shooting. So no, everybody is not going to feel the same way. Everyone is not going to feel comfortable coming back to the store. We certainly understand that, but thousands of people in the community rely on that shopping option."
While the Mayor did not want to speak too much for Tops on enhanced security measures coming for the store, he did say the upgrades are substantial.
"If I was someone who was employed at the store, I'd feel a lot more comfortable with the security measures that Tops has installed with security changes and upgrades that they have made," he said. "I will continue to shop at the store periodically, and I think they, again, have done a good job in listening to the community, listening to families of those who were lost, and listening to their employees, which is critically important. And a large number of folks who were previously employed at Tops want to come back to the store."
As of right now, Mayor Brown says the store remains on track to re-open to the East Buffalo community some time in late July, though no date for re-opening has officially been set.
More from the Mayor's Tuesday press briefing on the Tops on Jefferson Avenue is available in the player below:
