‘I’m trying to feed the entire neighborhood’: Much-needed new grocery store coming to the East Side

Dollar Tree used to be an option, but that store never reopened after the December blizzard. Some people headed to the Walmart 5 miles away in Cheektowaga, but that is a nonstarter for people without transportation.

So, in a region often called a food desert, Ismail is building an oasis.

Apon Supermarket will open at noon Saturday in a former Dollar Tree location at 1370 Broadway.

“We saw an opportunity where we could help and serve the community,” Ismail said.

The 14,000-square-foot store will be more than a corner grocery. It will carry traditional grocery goods and specialize in a number of South Asian and African foods to serve the diverse, nearby population.

“We have a lot of Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Indian curries, African beans, breads, meat, chicken, fish, noodles – we have all kinds of stuff for everybody in the community,” said Ismail. “I’m trying to feed the entire neighborhood, whatever they’re looking for.”

Ismail and five partners originally emigrated from Bangladesh to New York City, but moved to Buffalo in recent years to join its growing Bangladeshi American community.

The store will be in Common Council Member Mitch Nowakowski’s district, and he said he welcomes the addition.

“It is, in my opinion, one of the areas in the city and in my district hardest hit by poverty, vacant land and abandonment,” he said.

The neighborhood has a high concentration of people who do not drive, and do errands on foot.

“Broadway-Bailey is in extreme need of access to not only quality products but a variety of them,” Nowakowski said. “This will be a more positive change than the current oversaturation of corner stores that sell nothing more than alcohol, chips and snacks.”

Buffalo’s East Side is often referred to as a “food desert” because of its…