Buffalo Rising Online

Jun 8th 2007, 12:13pm By Bill Zimmermann

Stopped by the UPS store at the Stuyvesant’s Plaza on Elmwood today. I love that store; it’s quick and excellent service; and I depend on its copy service every summer when we run our sailing school in Buffalo. So I felt horribly bad that dear Joe passed away who ran it. Daughters Lyn and her sister explained he passed away at Christmas. Heart Attack. Sudden and done. I learned of this sad news as I was requesting a large, last minute job order. Lyn told me, with a wink of the eye, “It’s you people, Bill, who come in here and want copies at last minute, leave the folders and expect to come back in minutes and it’s done…” I understood what she was saying, as Joe really did accomplish miracles. We’ll miss him. God Bless him.

In the end, I got my sailing course copies and was in a hurry to get back to Seven Seas Sailing School. Suddenly, though, I wasn’t in a hurry.

Standing beside my car, I looked out over the plaza, at all of its tenants: HR Block, Cricket, UPS and Lockman, and the gaping, ornate brick entry of the huge and empty Latino’s Market. Suddenly I’m sweating there in the hot sun, staring at this vast plaza and wondering. Curiosity grows, and I think about its back North Street parking lot that in any other city would be the most luxuriating inner city parkland but has for over a decade or more been totally empty asphalt paving yet with no cars and no use.

Thoughts and memories began to stir. What could this place become next? It’s empty after Latino’s left, after ‘Poor Quality Market’ left, after Bells and Loblaws and A&P left. What’s next? Location, Location, Location is the rule. So how about a robo paint blast recreation theater? No; no thanks; please no thanks. How about the world’s largest box-store tattoo parlor? Again, please, no thanks. How about another food store, another one, you know...another one? Likely, but no thanks.

But then I got thinking and remembering something…and the structure of the plaza complex had me glued.

Back, a couple sailing seasons ago we sailed to Toronto, and on the Sunday morning visited a place next to the Hockey Museum downtown Toronto called something like Movenpick’s Village.

Anyway, this place was cool. We were variously sailor-scrubby, very hungry, and had some mix of US and Canadian dollars on us, very ready to eat a cow. It was about noon. We went inside, grabbed our “menu tickets” which included a pen to honestly record what we chose from the indoors village vendors… we ambled together as a group but quickly split up into our various desires—one went for egg omelets served at a stand that was old village superb; even the cook was in character and verve. Others went for the vintner table’s delights of Canadian wines being served for that day’s village brunch. Still others of us sailors grabbed croissants, beef dishes, ham and more. The variety of cheeses and breads were ultimate “go for it” material.

We agreed we’d never seen a place like this—part Broadway Market, part aggrandized Disney village aura, all under one roof. You could eat cheap, or rich, all under one venue, community-friendly, with a taste of the history scent and all.

So that got me thinking—and this of course is only a dream—what if some developer in Buffalo took this lease from Benchmark and made a grand village scenario eatery, complete with shops at all ends, Junior League and Allentown and Elmwood shops all endeavored to assign efforts?

What if this place could be a Buffalo Village Emporium, a new day market sort of place? Get some big buck and little buck transcendancy to its spirit. Build a cadre of retail merchant believers. Open seven days a week with an inside village atmosphere. There’s more than enough parking on both sides. The front entrance on Elmwood could spirit several flower efforts and the back parking lot could hold glorious outside eatery patios and even a GEX-style nature’s flea market with all kinds of wares. Buckets of trees could sprout up and beds of flowers and chairs for people to sit and enjoy. There’d still be more parking than anyone would need.

So let’s be energetic about the options and talk about it. That’s what we’re here for, as a community, to talk about it, isn’t it? There’s a dream there. Go check it out. Talk and discourse and even argue about it but let’s cheer some new good needed change there.