The city of Cleveland this week announced the formation of a nonprofit and the appointment of a board of directors to guide the revitalization of the West Side Market in Ohio City, in addition to the first phase of a master plan to guide that work.
The report notes the market has suffered from serious issues in recent years, with ineffective management by the city government and a large amount of deferred maintenance, leading to a number of vendor vacancies that is hurting the market's bottom line.
Vendors surveyed reported frustration with slow response times to make repairs. The management team is "understaffed and under-resourced," they said. There's no air conditioning, electrical systems need upgrades, the heating and ventilation systems are insufficient and the "antiquated and wasteful refrigeration system represents the lion’s share of the 21 million gallons of city water worth $414,177 used by the Market each year."
There's a long list of other issues listed in the report, including waste odors, backed up parking and little or no plan regarding marketing to the public or leasing stalls to vendors. But it also lists assets of the market, including the historic building it resides in, good public transit access, a large selection of fresh foods, legacy and intergenerational businesses and high sales per customer.
Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb, in a press release announcing the changes, noted his optimism.
“Despite the challenges that the Market has faced in the past few decades, it continues to act as an anchor institution in Cleveland. Moving forward, we hope to take advantage of the Market’s strengths to ensure it can be a thriving community asset for the next generation,” Bibb said.
The new Cleveland Public Market Corporation board includes three people nominated by Bibb, one by Cleveland City Council, and three by the board of the United West Side Market Tenants Association.
- Dave Abbott, retired president of The George Gund Foundation.
- Carrie Carpenter, senior vice president, regional manager of corporate affairs, Huntington National Bank.
- Shelly Cayette, senior vice president and chief commercial officer, Cleveland Cavaliers.
- Amanda Dempsey, previous West Side Market manager.
- Colette Jones, chief marketing officer, Cleveland Foundation.
- Henry Hilow, attorney, Hilow & Spellacy.
- Dr. Don Malone, president of Cleveland Clinic's ohio hospitals and family health centers.
- Kerry McCormack, Ward 3 councilmember.
- Tom McNair, executive director, Ohio City Inc.
- Randy McShepard, vice president of public affairs and chief talent officer, RPM International, and founder of Rid-All Green Partnership.
- Tom Nagel, retired from DB Schenker.
- Jason Russell, vice president, operations and leasing, Bedrock Detroit.
- Tanisha Velez, owner, Cleveland Fresh Microgreens.
- Ramat Wiley, owner, Adun Spice Company.
- Ann Zoller, senior advisor, Strategy Design Partners.
McNair said he's excited to see the progress, noting Ohio City Inc. has supported the city moving management to a nonprofit for some time now. He said the master plan reiterates some of what was already known, but puts it all together in a cohesive package, addressing vendor and customer concerns he's heard for years.
"I have a stack of West Side market reports and recommendations in our office that's like two feet tall," McNair said. "And I'm super grateful that this should be the last one."
The report is honest in noting that there's an upside and a downside to the market being managed by a nonprofit. On the positive side, the city will still have ownership of the facility, while the nonprofit can focus on finding additional funds and management; plus the board of directors has a variety of talents and perspectives it brings to the table.
On the potentially negative side, the report explains cities often have deeper pockets and can subsidize operations during challenging times. To that point, the report notes city subsidies have tripled between 2019 and 2022, from $276,000 to $740,000, partially due to vendor vacancies. Meanwhile, the market could still be subject to mismanagement under a nonprofit if ineffective leaders are appointed to the board.
The report offers a number of recommendations for how to improve the market. The hope is to fix longstanding issues vendors and customers face while diversifying the market's offerings and clientele.
The recommendations include:
- Expanding the market's management drastically, which would require hiring a team.
- Performing "deep cleaning" and establishing a maintenance schedule.
- Developing a "robust" marketing strategy
- Creating and enforcing "merchant quality and performance standards."
- Evaluating and considering alternatives for basement storage and display cases. "Merchants should own their cold storage and display cases," the plan reads.
- Expanding the mix of products and services, with more local produce.
- Creating places to sit and eat, and expand prepared-food offerings.
- Hosting tasting events.
- Creating a "daystall" program, where vendors can come in once or twice a week to open up shop.
- Broadening the market's supporters and revenue sources.
- Addressing the perception that the market is "exclusive" and "expensive."
Tanisha Velez, owner of Cleveland Fresh Microgreens, one of the new board members, said she's excited about the potential for the market to expand its reach to communities who traditionally have not come to the market at high rates.
The master plan notes that, at least according to one survey, the typical clientele is 77.8% white, 14% Black and 8% Asian or other races, with an average income above $75,000.
Velez remembers fondly going to the market as a child, and said where she grew up — the Clark-Fulton neighborhood — has a lot of untapped potential with Hispanic customers who are close by the market.
"That was just our tradition going every Saturday," she said. "You know, you clean up the house — being from a Puerto Rican household, Saturday was the major cleaning day — and then after that, we would head out to the West Side Market and just buy the stuff that my mom would use for her for her meals," she said.
Velez — who previously helped conduct an assessment of the market through the Food Access Raises Everyone initiative — said there's been a lot of interest expressed by vendors of color in the daystall concept, which could potentially bring new customers and new businesses into the market. Customers had reported desiring more ethnic food option when surveyed.
"Seeing a vendor there that looks like you, that speaks the same language as you," she said, "it invites a whole new group of customers in."
Velez added that more special events will help bring customers in, as well as something as simple as more seating, so they can sit and eat.
McNair said the next major step for the new nonprofit and its board is to hire an executive director, which has already been posted on the city's website.
