By JAMES FINK
jfink@bizjournals.com | 716-541-1611

A new Aldi's store proposed for a site across the street from Broadway Market may get a frosty reception in Buffalo City Hall.

On July 19, representatives from the discount chain are expected to present a proposal to the Buffalo Planning Board for a 15,390-square-foot store at 998 Broadway, site of the former Sattler's flagship store. While the planning board may focus on the bricks-and-mortar aspect of the project, the Buffalo Common Council member whose district includes the Broadway site said he wants some assurances before embracing the store.

Aldi's may demolish a long-vacant Kmart on the site.

"I am concerned about whether it will help or hurt the Broadway Market," said Fillmore District Councilman David Franczyk, who is also Buffalo Common Council president. "My first impression is that it could hurt the market."

He recently met with Aldi officials to discuss his concerns.

If the planning board approves the project, the Common Council would have to sign off on certain aspects. They include issuing a deli license for the store.

At issue for Franczyk is whether the new store would have a negative impact on sales at Save-A-Lot, which anchors Broadway Market. Save-A-Lot and Aldi are national, deep-discount supermarket chains.

Save-A-Lot is the largest rent-payer in the historic market, which itself operates on a razor-thin budget but is the community hub in the Broadway-Fillmore district.

"This is not a suburban strip mall situation where there is enough customer traffic for everyone," Franczyk said. "I don't know if there is enough business to sustain both. And if Save-A-Lot closes because of the Aldi store and the (Broadway) market closes because of that, what have we gained? Nothing."

The six-acre site at 998 Broadway has struggled for years, going back to the final days of Sattler's, which closed in 1982. The 365,000-square-foot store was demolished in 1989 to make way for Kmart, which closed in the late 1990s. Since then, a number of proposals have been made for the site but none materialized.