DEPEW, N.Y. --Salvatore's Italian Garden was packed early Tuesday with people armed with their resumes looking to land one of the nearly 500 available jobs Amazon will be bringing to Western New York.
"We're hiring anywhere from warehouse associates, to HR, to operating managers," said Amazon spokesperson, Kayla Hansen.
In the coming months Amazon will be opening a "sortation" center on Walden Avenue in Lancaster.
While the opening date hasn't been revealed the company wasted no time staffing its new facility with many applicants being offered a job on the spot.
"They'll fill out their personal information, meet with a recruiter do an interview and potentially receive that job offer," said Hansen.
One of the many hopeful applicants was Jeiel Williams. He says he was excited that a company like Amazon was actively recruiting in his hometown.
"I love seeing businesses coming to Buffalo it really puts Buffalo on the map, back where it used to be," said Williams.
The pool of employment hopefuls varied from younger applicants like Williams looking to get a foot in the door at a large company, to older applicants looking for a fresh start.
"Amazon is the only place to do a big job fair for everybody no matter who you are so you can come here and get that opportunity to apply for a job and basically get hired," said applicant, Taylor Coe.
Amazon officials say they decided to open up shop in Buffalo because of high demand and dense customer population.
"We want to put them where we have customers so we can offer a great Prime service and faster delivery. We also look at the work force as well we're extremely excited about the talent pool here in Buffalo. That's why we're here on jobs day to offer those hundreds of jobs with great benefits and competitive wages," said Hansen.
Amazon hopes to open in Lancaster in September and be up and running for the holiday season.