Buffalo residents weigh in on downtown Wegmans

Developer Douglas Jemal says he wants to bring the supermarket to the city.

Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Wegmans has been a part of the Western New York community for over 100 years. While there's 11 stores from Niagara Falls to Jamestown, none of those locations are within six miles of downtown Buffalo.

Douglas Jemal, the founder of Douglas Development, is pushing to have a Wegmans location in downtown Buffalo. Tom Mann, a Buffalo resident, tells WBEN that having a store downtown would make people spend more, especially with the Buffalo Bisons season beginning.

“We do their takeout, and their quick service meals a lot,” Mann said. “That would definitely be nice. You can always come down here for lunch before the game or after the game and spend a couple bucks.”

Some in Buffalo say that there isn't much to do downtown, and adding a Wegmans would bring more people with the weather getting closer to summer. Buffalo native Steve Santiago said he is all for anything that will support downtown.

“It would be great to get action back in the downtown area,” says Santiago. “It’s dead. Sometimes you drive by here on a Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday. There’s nothing.”

While there are people who support the idea of bringing a Wegmans to downtown Buffalo, Joe Ver isn't one of them..

“They need a shopping center downtown, but I don't know that a Wegmans is going to bring people here.”