In a day and age, when more families have multiple incomes, it gets harder and harder to find time to eat and shop. When people do somehow manage to find the time, it can often be later in the day, or on Sundays. Seeing that the city of Buffalo is comprised of many owner-operated small shops, cafes and restaurants, it can sometimes be frustrating trying to support the homegrown operations. Many times people must resort to going to malls where it is mandatory for businesses to set regular long hours. Either that or shopping for goods online where the World Wide Web never closes. This from a BRO reader:
My friend is upset because he went to three places for lunch the other day (on a half hour lunch break) to get food and all three places were closed when the posted hours said they would be open.
I too have had this problem several times and it is so frustrating. We (Buffalo) need to realize that if the local businesses want to compete with the Applebees of the world, we need to start with matching consistent hours. The mall and chain business model works because they are open longer hours and often times seven days a week – not necessarily because the food is good.
I really hope that places like Elmwood and Hertel (especially) realize that people who live in the city are working people and do have money to spend. Personally would have much have rather bought my jacket at Half and Half (for example) instead of the Gap but by the time I am out of work,small, independent stores such as this are often times closed. In my eyes, Half and Half loses out. Urban Threads is one of the only retail shops that is open on Sundays. The mall approach is a sound approach because people do not have to question if a business is going to be open. They know that if they mall is open, the business is open. And hey, it works because 50K people go to the mall every Saturday!