Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - The past two years have been trying times for many businesses in Western New York given the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
For vendors at the Broadway Market, they're no different, as the pandemic forced many people away from heading to Buffalo and checking out all the market has to offer. Especially around Easter and Dyngus Day, where many in Buffalo head to the Broadway Market to grab all they need for the holiday weekend.
After two years of restrictions and other measures being taken to combat COVID-19, it's finally back to a sense of normalcy for the people and vendors of the Broadway Market.
"It's really been great," said Kim Poczciwinski from Potts Deli and Grille. "I mean, so far it's been better than last year, almost back to pre-pandemic days. It's nice to see the market thriving again."
"It's really honestly amazing. It's significantly busier than last year," said Marga McMahon from Mazurek's Bakery. "Last year was my first Easter season being involved in the bakery and being at the Broadway Market. Growing up coming to the Broadway Market, last year was so sad. The vendors being gone and us being one of the few bakeries in there, it was really disappointing to see. But we've had a ton of people, even today, and throughout this week, it's been busy."
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the Broadway Market has been known for being a central hub for many people of Buffalo for their Easter holiday needs. The community flocked to the market during the week of Easter, packing in shoulder-to-shoulder to purchase their meats, baked goods, and, of course, the classic Easter butter lambs for the dinner table.
As Sunday kicked off Holy Week and Monday opens the final week before Easter, many vendors are optimistic and hopeful that the Broadway Market will, once again, be filled with people and feel alive as it did before the pandemic.
"Well we can certainly hope for what we've seen in the past, but anything is appreciated," said co-owner of We R Nuts, Kody Omphalius. "It's a safe place to come back, everything's healthy, everything's sanitized. We're ready to go. We just need people to come out and be ready for us."
"It's very busy, and has been really good the last two weekends of the month of March. We had a soup fest, and then a lot of people are coming with the Holy Easter tradition," said Elaine Pasternak, supervisor at Camellia Meats. "I expect it to be very busy. We've got lots of help, we're waiting for the crowds and we're anxious to see people, smiling faces. People come back with their family members and tradition to come get their butter lamb and get ready for Dyngus Day."
While many at the Broadway Market are happy to see things back up and running and people returning to the market, some vendors may be hoping to make up for some lost time and business because of the pandemic. Is it enough for some vendors to feel it's a "make-or-break" sort of year for business?
"I think we've all been feeling that the entire time for the last two years," McMahon said. "We're just constantly swimming, trying to stay positive, trying to keep our staff employed and keep our loyal customers happy, as well as gaining some new customers, which is really what the Broadway Markets all about. We hope that people come down here and see us, but then they also come to our store on South Park because they liked what they had here."
However, for some of the more seasoned veterans of the Broadway Market, it's just another busy week of business to come just before the Easter and Dyngus Day holiday.
"Obviously we found a way of making it work through the pandemic. We had to switch gears and try different things, but we made it through and we made it through strong, I would say," said co-owner of Babcia's Pierogi, Linda Lund. "This year, it's just really good to be back to normal, and really looking for record years. Especially with the Dyngus Day Parade taking place on Monday after Easter, I think we're going to see huge crowds here."
"For some companies it may be [make-or-break], for other companies, we've taken this as a learning experience," Omphalius said. "We've adapted and changed our style of sales, our style of packaging. Anything that you could include into this pandemic for us, it wouldn't be a make-or-break year. But I understand for some companies it can be."
While the wait for the doors to open for the Holy Week rush will come to an end at 8 a.m. ET on Monday, many of the local vendors are already ready to welcome the people back with all they have to offer for Easter and Dyngus Day.
"We make 24 flavors of pierogi. We've been making them about 24,000 or more a week since the beginning of the year. By the end of Holy Week, we will be pretty much out of most of them," Lund said. "We've been spending every day making potato pancakes, and today we emptied out three barrels of sauerkraut. We will go through about 500 pounds of potato pancakes. We'll go through 3,000-5000 pieces of cabbage rolls. So we're just hustling back here and making food all day long."
"We specialize in our Camellia smoke hams, or fresh Polish sausage with Marianka. We have fresh, we have smoked, we have a whole line of butter lambs, and we have all the Easter traditions to put on your Easter table," Pasternak said.
