West Side Bazaar making plans for new home on Niagara Street

Covid-19 set back by a year the West Side Bazaar's plans to move to a new home on Niagara Street.

Now the business with immigrant- and refugee-run restaurants and retail booths is getting back on track.


With some luck, the nonprofit organization hopes to break ground this summer on the new West Side Bazaar building and open in late fall 2022. Architectural renderings were shown at an open house Wednesday evening and officials discussed proposed improvements at the new location and sought feedback.

"We're really excited about the project and are moving everything we can to move it forward," said Carolynn Welch, executive director of Westminster Economic Development Initiative, also known as WEDI.


"But there is obviously some time between now and completion," she said, “so nothing is really set in stone yet."



The food and retail business, which helps immigrant and refugee businesses get a start, is moving from Grant Street to a new home at 1432 Niagara St.


A rendering showed a two-story building with lots of windows and color, including a mural on a side wall, though the concept could still change.



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With some luck, the nonprofit organization hopes to break ground this summer on the new West Side Bazaar building and open in late fall 2022. Architectural renderings were shown at an open house Wednesday evening and officials discussed proposed improvements at the new location and sought feedback.
So can any business be a "nonprofit" business? To get all the advantages a non profit receives?


The food and retail business, which helps immigrant and refugee businesses get a start, is moving from Grant Street to a new home at 1432 Niagara St.
Why not help anyone who wants to get a start? Are they same programs available to anyone in Buffalo?




The new space, being designed by CJS Architects, will offer more storage room for retailers' stock and goods, plus more seating space for diners, with occupancy rising from 50 to 82.

Well I guess it's good they generate themselves enough revenue to hire firms like this.


There will also be more opportunities for entrepreneurs to move into the West Side Bazaar. There are currently 40 on the waiting list, Welch said.
How does one get on the waiting list?

Welch said it's a win-win for Buffalo in other ways, too. An economic impact study WEDI commissioned found that a new West Side Bazaar could generate at least $34 million in Western New York over five years.
Welch said she's not worried about losing customers with the move from Grant, where more than 40 businesses have worked since the West Side Bazaar opened there in 2012.
So is it 40 operating business or 40 businesses that came and went?