Assembling Cultures in Buffalo

The Westside Bazaar allows immigrants and refugees to establish business and sell products that reflect their culture.

            With the help of Councilman David Rivera and the Grant-Ferry Stakeholders, the Westside Bazaar was created. Sean Mulligan, one of Rivera’s legislative aids, spoke about how the Westside bazaar came about.

            “The idea came from Grant-Ferry Stakeholders. They recognized refugee’s settings on the Westside and saw that they can be supports if they were working.”

            “The Westside Bazaar started and now when refugees came to Buffalo, they can show a part of their countries customs in America,” said Mulligan.

            The Westside Bazaar building process took time but it’s been up and running for years. To find out more about the history of the bazaar, visit: http://www.westsidebazaar.com/history.

The Westside Bazaar is filled with many different cultural shops that are run by immigrants and refugees. Robin Collier is a business owner and a sewing teacher at One World Threads. Her adversity and teachings help describe what the Westside Bazaar is all about.

            “I teach sewing to refugees and I noticed that there were a lot of refugees coming out of my classes who didn’t have sewing jobs and they loved sewing, so I decided to start this business and we just opened at the Westside bazaar three days ago,” said Collier.

            Collier assists refugees in learning business skills to someday open their own business. “I train them on how to run a store. A lot of them don’t speak any English at all so it can be hard if there isn’t a translator around.”

            “With the refugees that do speak some English, I try to push them as much as possible to take sales,” said Collier.

            The Bazaar is a place where small-business owners are able to have a space to sell their products, which is inexpensive, and they can also have a decent income.

            Owner of A&A’s Cookies, New Serixay spoke about how she deals with sending money home to her family. “I have to send money back to my country, sometimes it’s for family. It’s not hard to send money because I don’t have to send that often.”

            Collier’s business allows refugees to make money in due time.

“The whole goal is to provide a living wage for refugees, so right now they get paid through contracts. They get paid per piece they sell. Eventually, it will be an hourly wage but it’s going to be well-above minimum wage.”

Collier also said “Starting a business is hard. We have to find funding. We’re going to be doing a fundraising-campaign and we’re going get the name and products out there. We’re going to get a better website so we can start selling online.”

The establishment of the Westside Bazaar is not only beneficial to refugees but also the costumers.

Omar Rodriquez, a student at SUNY Buffalo State, enjoys coming to the Westside Bazaar for food.

“My friend introduced me to Ethiopian cuisine, so I decided to check this place out. I like trying foods outside my culture.”

            Alex Dixon, who is also a student at Buffalo State, also comes to the bazaar for its variety of cuisines.

 “As a buff state student, I do not get to really enjoy the natural cuisine from my culture, which is Caribbean food.”

“I heard about the Westside bazaar and she said they have Ethiopian food there so I figured they would have something close to Caribbean,” said Dixon.

The establishment of the Westside Bazaar is beneficial to consumers who enjoy a variety of cultures.

 “You can enjoy all cultures the same, even though they’re different,” said Dixon.

This is Collier’s business where she sells scarves, bags, and pillows.

This is rice, lamb, and a side-salad from Abyssinian Ethiopian cuisine.

This is chicken Thai Pad from Family Thai.