Grocery Store Expands Hispanic Foods, Especially Produce

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The Black Rock neighborhood in Buffalo, NY is changing. Hispanics, African Americans, and a handful of immigrants from across the globe are settling in the area, not to mention college students from nearby SUNY Buffalo State. The neighborhood is becoming trendier, and businesses are adjusting. A regional grocery store chain, Tops Market, noticed the shift and decided to make some changes to better serve their customers.

First they needed to decide what to change. To pinpoint what shoppers needed and weren’t finding in the store, Tops executives met with representatives from the community, including refugee centers and student associations.

The renovation incorporated all of that input, including feedback from the store’s own employees, who also live in the neighborhood.

According to an article in The Buffalo News, the Grant Street store now has the largest, most comprehensive Hispanic section of any of Tops’ locations. While other stores have Hispanic sections, or have some Hispanic items scattered around the aisles, Grant Street has them “boutiqued” in a central area of the store, complete with freezers and coolers filled with Hispanic-oriented foods, drinks, spices and ingredients.

Customers will now be able to find a variety of new fruits and vegetables. Of the more than 3,500 new products added to shelves, more than 1,500 are natural and organic food items.

For example, the store’s produce section has an expanded selection of tropical root vegetables, which are popular in Hispanic, Burmese and Caribbean cuisine. A monthly flyer for the store (and a handful of others in the Tops stable) is printed in English and Spanish.

Read more about the store makeover here.