BUFFALO, N.Y. — On Saturday, a spokesperson from Tops Friendly Markets released the following statement regarding plans to reopen the location of the May 14 mass shooting that claimed the lives of 10 people:
“Our engineers and construction management team are working closely with local contractors and equipment suppliers to establish the quickest possible timeline for reopening. We hope to have a clearer understanding of that timeline in the coming weeks.”
What You Need To Know
- Representatives of Tops Friendly Markets have confirmed the reopening of its Jefferson Avenue branch after the May 14 mass shooting took place there, though a specific date has not yet been announced
- Some former patrons are eagerly awaiting the reopening, while others say they will remain too traumatized to shop there again
- Community members both for and against the store's reopening agree that the store needs to undergo major changes to better serve Buffalo's East Side
The Jefferson Avenue branch has been both an active crime scene and a memorial site within the past two weeks, but it will become an actual supermarket once again with company representatives confirming renovation plans.
Though a date for reopening has not yet been announced, residents have had mixed reactions to the news. Some say they are grateful that the area’s only supermarket will be returning, while others say they are too traumatized to ever set foot in the store again.
“Tops has been a blessing to this neighborhood,” former school teacher Maxine Baskervill. “Before, there was nothing. There was only a Chinese takeout place and you couldn’t really get groceries around here.”
“I can’t even imagine, as someone who went into Tops almost every day, I can’t imagine going in there,” said Jillian Hanesworth, the city of Buffalo's poet laureate who works near the market. “I haven’t been in a grocery store in general since the day before this happened.”
An abundance of donations and food services have tried to meet the needs of underserved residents, but some say the pop-up food banks are only evidence of the city’s neglect of Buffalo’s East Side, which again divides reactions about Tops’ planned reopening.
“I thank God the community is coming together to address this need, but this is not the way a community should be fed," said Buffalo Board of Education member Paulette Woods. "The disinvestment in this community is truly a shame. We need this supermarket and more to be open.”
Although some community members hoped for different businesses in place of the supermarket or for the site to be designated as a permanent memorial, the store that took over a decade to build will return to provide not only food, but other necessities to the area as well, like pharmacy services. But many are hoping to see a different Tops, not only in terms of layout and renovations, but in the ways the market will serve and provide for the community.
“I think people need to see a different Tops and this store, even before the shooting, needed remodeling,” Baskervill said. “And I’m glad to hear they’re going to remodel it.”
“The people need this," Hanesworth said. "They don’t want it, they need it. But not by any means necessary. Not if that means we have to accept produce that looks like it fell off the back of a truck. Start treating us with the same level of respect and decency that communities outside of Buffalo feel."