RETAILING
Several Wilson Farms stores to get exterior face-lifts
Several local Wilson Farms Neighborhood Food stores will be getting a promised face-lift.
WFI Acquisition, the local group that bought the convenience store chain from Tops Markets in mid-2005, will start its work with the Wilson Farms at 584 Ontario St. in Buffalo. The Buffalo Planning Board Tuesday approved plans to more than double the size of the existing store, from just over 2,500 square feet, to more than 4,600 square feet.
The store expansion will also feature a new facade style that will be the new brand standard for the veteran convenience store chain. The updated exterior will include a smooth, dark tan stucco with brick accents.
The price tag for the Ontario Street store will exceed $500,000.
“This expansion means our customers will have even more reasons to shop at Wilson Farms and we will be able to better meet their needs as a their neighborhood food store, Wilson Farms President and Chief Executive Paul Nanula said in a written statement about the project.
A representative of the Black Rock/Riverside Neighborhood Association applauded Wilson Farms for working with residents on the plan and tweaking the design to make it a better fit at the corner of Ontario and Skillen streets.
Wilson Farms representatives said next up on their store spruce-up list is the chain’s nearly 30-year-old store at 782 Elmwood Ave. at Auburn Avenue. The company plans to submit plans for an exterior overhaul by the end of the summer.
The preliminary plans call for the chain’s new stucco and brick facade, accented with red awnings and updated signs. The new exterior look, designed by Buffalo’s TRM Architects, is expected to cost between $40,000 and $50,000 per store.
Word of the proposed exterior changes came as a surprise to Elmwood Village Association Executive Director Justin Azzarella, who said his group has not been consulted about the facade update.
“We’ve wanted a much-improved Wilson Farms for a long time, so we’re glad they are finally focusing on that Elmwood store,” Azzarella said.
But he said he’d hoped for a completely new, expanded store.
Earlier this year Benchmark Development demolished a small medical office building next door to Wilson Farms, igniting speculation the convenience store might be expanded onto the newly vacant lot.
Azzarella said he expects the Elmwood Village Association’s design committee to press Wilson Farms to consider a more ambitious project. The group recently convinced the Bank of America to construct a new branch in the 500-block with a full second floor.
Other stores targeted for exterior improvements include: 2412 Elmwood Ave., Kenmore; 4075 Seneca St., West Seneca; and 422 Division St. and 837 Nash Road, both in North Tonawanda.
