Entry No. 35 — the Buffalo file — filed under: witchy
Black Sheep Market
A storefront at 71 Main Street in Tonawanda's small downtown, stocked almost entirely by local and small-batch US makers: handmade jewelry, ceramics, metaphysical supplies, antiques, and a steady undercurrent of horror merchandise. The shop pitches itself at 'normative society outcasts' with dark senses of humor, and the programming backs that up — each December it hosts photos with Krampus, the child-punishing Alpine demon, alongside a free exchange of wrapped mystery horror novels. Travel press has singled it out as the oddities stop on a Main Street block that's been steadily refilling with candy shops, vintage toys, and sports memorabilia. It sits a short walk from where Main Street meets the Erie Canal at Gateway Harbor.
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The story
Tonawanda calls itself the Western Gateway to the Erie Canal, and the geography backs it up — the Niagara River, Tonawanda Creek and Ellicott Creek all converge here, twenty minutes from Buffalo and twenty from Niagara Falls. Its Main Street has been refilling with the kind of small retail that survives on specificity: Hello Sweets! for candy, Sports from the Past for memorabilia, The Mulberry Tree for vintage, That 80's Toy Shop around on Delaware. Black Sheep Market, just past Broad Street at 71 Main, is the one travel press files under oddities and curiosities rather than nostalgia.
The shop's own pitch is a list rather than a sentence: a year-round hub, it says, for all things spooky, horror, oddities, curiosities, witchy vibes, goth and alternative — things off the beaten path, aimed squarely at the people normative retail doesn't stock for. In practice that means a storefront filled almost entirely with goods from local and US small businesses instead of wholesale catalogs: housewares, art, jewelry, pottery, antiques, metaphysical supplies, and a horror shelf that isn't seasonal.
The programming is the clearest statement of intent. Through November the shop collects wrapped horror novels — used is fine if they're in decent shape — with a descriptive clue written on the paper; you get a ticket per book, up to three, and a punch on your loyalty card. Then in early December you come back, hand over the tickets, and take away somebody else's mystery book unopened. It runs the same day as photos with Krampus, the horned Alpine folk-demon whose job description is punishing badly behaved children, which is a fair summary of how this particular block of Main Street celebrates the holidays.
What it's like
This is one storefront, not a warren, and it rewards slow looking rather than a lap — most of what's on the shelves comes from an individual maker, so the interesting objects are one-offs and the density is high. Half an hour is a reasonable minimum. Prices run from a few dollars for a sticker or a paperback to real money for handmade jewelry and ceramics, and because the vendors are small, stock genuinely turns; the thing you saw on their Instagram may already be gone. Ask about a maker and you'll get an answer. It's a daytime stop by necessity — closed Mondays, and Sunday is a three-hour window — so build the rest of the afternoon around it, then walk down Main to the canal at Gateway Harbor.
The move: Go in with a rule: each of you has 20 minutes to find the other one object that is exactly their kind of wrong — a cursed ceramic, a horror paperback, something metaphysical — then trade purchases on the Gateway Harbor canalfront two blocks away and defend your choices.
📍 Before you go Closed Mondays, and posted hours have drifted between sources (roughly Tue–Sun, opening 11 am–noon, closing 3–6 pm depending on the day) — check their Instagram @blacksheepmainst.co or call 716-909-9320 before driving out. Street parking on Main. About 20 minutes north of downtown Buffalo.
- 📍 Tonawanda
- 💸 $$
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 71 Main St, Tonawanda, NY 14150
Hours: Added 2026-08-25 — confirm current hours before you go.
Pair it with
- The Old Chapel Antique & Artisan Market — A mile north across the canal in North Tonawanda, open daily 10 to 6, so it comfortably absorbs the hours Black Sheep doesn't keep — same hunting instinct, 6,500 square feet instead of one storefront.
- Rising Goddess — About three miles away on Highland Parkway and open until 9 Wednesday through Friday, which makes it the evening continuation of the metaphysical half of Black Sheep's shelves, with readers working most open days.
- Riviera Theatre — Half a mile away on Webster Street, a 1926 movie palace with a Mighty Wurlitzer that travelled all of four miles from the factory — the obvious place to be at 8 pm once Black Sheep has shut at 6.
More weird in Buffalo
Good to know
When is it open, and how much should I trust the posted hours?
Its Step Out Buffalo listing has it closed Monday, Tuesday through Friday noon to 6, Saturday 11 to 5, and Sunday noon to 3 — but hours drift between listings, so call 716-909-9320 or check @blacksheepmainst.co before you drive out. Don't plan an evening around it; nothing here is open past six.
How do I get there and where do I park?
71 Main Street in Tonawanda, about 20 minutes north of downtown Buffalo and about the same from Niagara Falls, which makes it an easy hinge between the two. Street parking on Main; the downtown blocks are compact enough that you'll walk to whatever else you want to see.
What does it actually sell?
Goods from local and US-based small businesses: housewares, art, jewelry, pottery, antiques, metaphysical items, horror books. It's a gift shop by trade classification and an oddities shop by temperament — closer to a curated craft market with a horror problem than to a costume or novelty store.
Is there anything seasonal worth planning around?
December. Photos with Krampus and the free horror book exchange ran on a Saturday afternoon in early December in 2025, with book drop-offs collected through November. Dates move year to year, so confirm on their social accounts before counting on it.
What else is on this block?
Hello Sweets! candy and pop shop, Sports from the Past, The Mulberry Tree for vintage and antiques, and That 80's Toy Shop over on Delaware Street. Gateway Harbor Park is a short walk at the water, with seasonal programming from June through October including Food Truck Thursdays, Wednesday concerts and a Haunted Harbor event in October.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: stepoutbuffalo.com · buffalorising.com · islands.com
last checked: 2026-08-25