CHARLIE’S FOOD MART

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Andrea Harder, Silvi Patel, Shameeq

Emmanuel Frimpong Boamah

Spring & Summer 2022

Independent Study MUP

What does the future of small businesses look like in the Rust Belt cities? Family-owned and operated businesses are commonplace on Buffalo’s East Side. Charlie’s Food Mart is an example of this. Over the latter half of the 20th century, inequitable policies and disinvestment slowed the growth of the East Side. Suburban development and industry decline in this urban area left the BroadwayFillmore neighborhood in a state of disrepair. However, recent revitalization efforts and newfound business opportunities have spurred this racially and culturally diverse community to reinvent itself.

Yasri Alabbadi and his family trace their ownership of Charlie’s Food Mart back to 1998, when his father first worked there as a cashier. Moving his way up through the business, he now owns the building and manages the one-stop shop and convenience store, which sells snacks, beverages, groceries, and more.

Like many other local and national businesses, Charlie’s Food Mart

Willis

struggled financially through the pandemic. To combat these struggles, Fillmore Forward, a nonprofit organization with a mission to further economic growth and social development in the community, worked with students in the Master of Urban Planning program at UB. The collaboration among students and the neighborhood groups sought to develop ideas and designs to catalyze the revitalization near the historic Broadway-Fillmore intersection. Through investment, the hope was to increase foot traffic, pedestrian and cyclist amenities, and storefront improvements.

The effort began when Fillmore Forward reached out to Emmanuel Frimpong Boamah, PhD, associate professor and interim chair of UB’s Department of Urban and Regional Planning, for guidance on securing resources and bringing back a region scarred by economic distress. Frimpong Boamah brought UB’s Graduate Planning Student Association (GPSA) and the African

American Students of Architecture and Planning (AASAP) into the fold. Over Summer 2022, students Andrea Harder, Silvi Patel, and Shameeq Willis worked with Alabbadi to develop a final proposal for Erie County’s storefront revitalization grant program. This program allocates $40,000 to local businesses for building and façade renovations.

The students worked with Alabbadi to develop a proposal that incorporated both his vision for his business and Fillmore Forward’s vision for the community. Their proposal highlighted the history of Broadway-Fillmore and the origins and existing conditions of Charlie’s Food Mart. Erie County ultimately accepted Alabbadi's grant application and will move forward to implement renovations in the near future.

“What inspired me to be a part of this project was a desire to give help where it’s needed and my love for designing.”

- Shameeq Willis