Hustle and bustle at Broadway Market

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - Pierogies, polish sausage and butter lambs are the traditional favorites.

But the Broadway Market is also welcoming a few new additions this year.

It's the familiar hustle and bustle of the Broadway Market at Easter time.

Broadway Market shopper, Kathy Reeb said, "We're really excited to be here today. It's a tradition. We come here every year."

This is the time of year when an estimated 300,000 visitors will flock to the east side landmark, which dates back to 1888.

Jackie LaFlair commented, "We always go to this meat market here, and then we go to the bakeries, then we get the butter lamb, and we do all the candy shops."

Pussywillows, pierogi, polish sausage and platcek are popular products people persistently pick up. But popcorn?

"It's the popcorn base, mixed with the chocolate, formed into shapes," Thomas Coates stated.

Niagara Popcorn is a first time Broadway Market vendor, taking advantage of a new policy. Businesses now don't have to set up six days a week, but just Saturday if they choose.

"Our goal? We want to be established here. We want to be here six days. We want to be so busy that we can hire someone. It's a business incubator. That's what this place is allowing us to do," Thomas said.

That change is just one of many that the new Executive Director has enacted in an effort to revitalize the now city-owned market.

Broadway Market Executive Director Tom Kerr explained, "We're building Saturdays. It'll always be a neighborhood market for Monday through Friday, but we're going to do a lot of things on Saturday. Music, dance, art shows, so stay tuned."

But if it's going to look crowded year round, permanent tenants say, even more needs to be done.

"What we need is nice houses over here, and around the Broadway Market," Wanda Skup said.

Much has changed in and around the Broadway Market through the years, but it's the nostalgia that brings these visitors back.

Now that the Easter season is officially underway, the hours at the Broadway Market are extended.

The market will be open on Sundays through Easter and for the first time ever, the market is open on Dyngus Day.