F&A Brown Grocery

Fred Brown migrated to Niagara Falls, NY from Tuscaloosa, Alabama in 1956. Like many African Americans in those days, he moved to the city to work in one of its industrial plants. He and his wife, Alma, settled in the Highland Avenue neighborhood which had a burgeoning Black community.

Brown had always dreamt of owning his own business. In 1968, he and Alma opened their first business with a $25,000 small business loan. In 1970, the Browns relocated to 2616 Highland Avenue where they operated a food market and then a convenience store. 

When the store closed in 1984, Fred Brown reopened it as F&A Brown Grocery. It was the first Black-owned grocery store in Niagara Falls. Brown greeted each of his customers by name when they came into his store. He believed that it was very important for Black business owners to be visible to the younger generation. He was a role model to young Black men, hiring them at the store and serving as a father-figure. 

Even when times were tough on Highland Avenue, and business was slow, Brown didn’t turn his back on the neighborhood where he lived and worked. 

In addition to being an entrepreneur, Brown was a community leader and activist. He participated in local civil rights marches in the late 1960s. He “served on the boards of directors of several local organizations,” including the local NAACP chapter, the African American Business Council, and the Highland Avenue Preservation Corporation. 

He “spent years pushing city officials to pay more attention to his predominantly black neighborhood. He concentrated much of his effort on getting the city to better promote and rehabilitate the Highland Avenue business district, which [was] the busiest thoroughfare of black-owned businesses in the city.”

Fred Brown died of a heart attack in 1994. He was 58. In death, as in life, he was “often referred to as “the ‘guardian angel’ of Highland Avenue.” After his passing, community members unsuccessfully tried to rename the thoroughfare after Brown. 

Brown was not forgotten though. In 2019, the Niagara Falls City Council passed a resolution approving the installation of street recognition signs that proclaim ‘Frederick Brown Boulevard’ at various intersections in the Highland Avenue neighborhood. The measure was enacted to “further recognize Fred Brown in a visible way” and “to further honor” his memory. This occurred twenty-five years after his death, thus serving as a fitting testament to Brown’s desire to be a visible Black business owner, role model, and community leader.

Attributions: RobShots

Hope L. Russell, Ph.D.