The New Englewood Grocery on the corner of Englewood Ave. and Eley Place – a one-stop shop for students' beer and 12-pack Ramen noodles fix – has had a bittersweet few months this fall semester.
The Hassain family has owned and operated the store for nearly three years. They sell the typical variety of standard grocery items, including bread, milk and cereal.
'Each fall and spring, the college crowd comes back to the neighborhood, which really helps business,' said Mohsen Hassain, 20, Buffalo.
Hassain is one of two employees working at New Englewood Grocery. The other is his father, the owner of the store.
Along with the return of students each semester, Hassain noticed another business trend. Alcohol, mostly beer, has been the store's best-selling product, but they decided to stop selling it this semester.
'Too many underage kids were using fake IDs to get beer,' Hassain said.
The illegal sale of alcohol became an issue, catching police attention, Hassain noted.
'Cops were often waiting outside, seeing if people were buying beer,' he said. 'We didn't want that to happen any longer.'
New Englewood Grocery decided to stop selling any alcohol, fearing that its license would be revoked, or that the store would shut down completely. However, the store has not ruled out selling alcohol again in the future.
'I can't say for sure, but we probably will sell [alcohol] again, but check IDs better to avoid any trouble,' Hassain said.
But the store can't really afford not to sell alcohol. Business is about half of what it was in previous semesters, according to Hassain. Cigarettes are the store's best-selling item but come nowhere close to the sales from alcohol.
With low sales, New Englewood Grocery has also tried a few other ways to promote business. The store constantly keeps hookah coals and shisha – flavored tobacco – in stock.
'We have more [hookah coals and shisha], but they're not selling well,' Hassain said. 'Before, people would come in, buy beer, and get hookah things along with their beer. That's not happening this semester.'
The store also applied for a hot food license in October, but has not yet received it. The plan was to have a corner of the store devoted to serving food like soups and sandwiches.
'We are still waiting to hear about the food license,' Hassain said. 'I think it would really help business with students stopping in to get food.'
Hassain also believes that business would increase dramatically if the store were added to the list of businesses that accept UB Campus Cash. With a neighborhood consisting largely of UB students, he thinks the few extra Campus Cash dollars students might spend would benefit the store greatly.
However, until the store begins selling alcohol again, making hot food or accepting Campus Cash, Hassain does not expect sales to increase anytime soon.
'With winter break coming, most students go home,' Hassain said. 'The winter and summer breaks are when business is the slowest.'
Despite this semester's lower than normal sales, the Hassain family is staying positive. Even after losing a significant number of customers that were coming in only to buy alcohol, New Englewood Grocery is still doing its best to sell groceries and come up with new ways to generate profit, Hassain said.
'We have the ‘regulars' that come in everyday, buying cigarettes or groceries, supporting the store,' Hassain said.
E-mail: news@ubspectrum.com
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
