Small Businesses Fighting to Survive on the East Side
This writer believes that 2026 will be the year when a lot of long standing Black businesses on Buffalo’s Eastside will close their doors for the final time. After struggling for the last ten years in a 46-year run, Grant’s Variety Shoppe will officially close its door for good this year.
Betty Jean Grant
The store on East Ferry Street was a main stay in the East Ferry/ Moselle St business corridor since we opened our doors in 1980. Our quaint little variety store lived up to its name. We sold a lot of this and that and a little bit of everything. Our store became the neighborhood hangout when the arcade video game craze took over the recreational time of kids after school let out for the day. Grant’s had as many as four games at one time, and it was not unusual to see 10 or more teens or younger children waiting their turn for a chance to show their skills playing games such as Space Invaders, Mario Bros., Ham Burglar, and the most popular one of all, Pac Man!
Yes, Grant’s Variety Shoppe was a true neighborhood place where the youth loved to patronize because the store provided a safe and interactive space for them, where they relaxed and felt safe instead of worrying about the gang violence and drug activities around their neighborhoods. There were certain rules they had to follow such as no cussing, no fighting, no bullying and no stealing. There were no posted rules, but the children knew them and would admonish whomever it was who would step or talk out of line.
Sadly, as the neighborhoods’ delis closed or purchased by others, the connections to the community were lost. Black families who had owned and operated their businesses for generations, sold their stores for a huge amount of money or forced out when a similar business opened, literally next door to them. Most owners took the cash, sometimes sorted and stacked in suitcases, that were physically brought into the stores to cement the deal. In a space of less than 4 years, between 1984 and 1988, hundreds of long-established legacy businesses had changed hands, therefore making the African American community consumers instead of sellers.
This year, when Grant’s Variety Shoppe closes for good, it will join the black community’s commercial gems such as GiGi’s, Bellamy Liquors, Colston’s Gas Station, Rick Steak House, John Young’s Wings & Things, SnowFlakes Cleaners, New SkateLand, Mattie’s Texas Hots, Jim Bell Cleaners, Pixie Bar & Grill, Henry’s Hamburgers and a whole lot more.
It has been one heck of a run, and I would not have traded the experience for anything. Thank you, Buffalo.