The co-founder of City Goods has announced he will be opening a new market in a portion of the space previously occupied by the artisanal business collective.
City Goods opened in Cleveland's Ohio City neighborhood in 2022 providing space for local small businesses to sell their merchandise. Co-founder Sam Friedman sold the assets of City Goods to Ohio City Inc. in 2024. In January, Ohio City Inc. announced they would cease City Goods operations.
Friedman announced he’ll take over one of the seven hangar-like buildings that make up the property and continue facilitating the operations of ten local businesses inside that building. The official relaunch will be March 1, he said.
“It's a playground for local support and community fun,” Friedman said. “We know that our Hangar 1 is about to still remain an awesome collective of ten local shops and we're pretty excited to keep going, to be honest.”
City Goods provided space to about 25 businesses when it announced it would close on Jan. 31. That included Chagrin Valley Soap & Salve, where Friedman worked after turning over City Goods operations.
“There was no chatter or rumors or talk going through the holiday season,” Friedman said. “It wasn't until January 10th … that we all woke up and received an email saying that Ohio City was shutting down that operation. They were leaving City Goods, and that January 31st would be the last day … It really was very little to no notice.”
Friedman co-founded City Goods with Liz Painter as a collaborative multi-purpose space spread among seven buildings that look like small airplane hangars. It offered a brick-and-mortar space for local businesses to grow and served as a community gathering place.
Ohio City Inc. made the decision to cease operations after they were unable to maintain overhead costs, according to Painter, who ran City Goods after Ohio City Inc. took over operations. She said they are writing recommendations for employees and helping businesses identify new opportunities to ease the transition.
City Goods provided a stepping stone for small businesses to grow, said Randi Gilmore, co-founder of the all-natural dog food company Basil & Rex, which began selling their products there in 2024.
"When this opportunity came up to have this kind of step in between having our own place and having this retail space... it was great for our company," she said. "That's exactly what we needed."
The company has since expanded to sell its products at other Northeast Ohio locations.
Basil & Rex will continue to sell goods at Freidman’s upcoming marketplace.
