CLEVELAND — The opening of a new grocery store in Cleveland’s Fairfax neighborhood addresses a need neighbors have requested for years. And some leaders hope it can be a model for other areas of the city struggling with limited access to fresh, affordable food.
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“For years they were saying, ‘We need a grocery store, we need access to jobs, we need it to be walkable,’” said Denise Van Leer, the executive director of the Fairfax Renaissance Development Corporation.
Tuesday, Meijer opened Fairfax Market in the newly created ‘Innovation District’ at E 105th Street and Cedar Avenue. The 40,000-square-foot grocery store is the retailer’s first community market outside of Michigan. It features products from local vendors, a large cafe and apartments above the store.
The market, which is the only full-service grocery store within a mile, was tailored to meet the needs of a neighborhood previously considered a food desert. The term refers to areas where most residents live more than a half mile from a grocery store and experience high rates of poverty.
A Cuyahoga County Grocery Store Assessment, published in 2023 by Cleveland State in partnership with several public sector entities and neighborhood leaders, found that 14% of the county’s residents are both lower income and live further than a half-mile from a grocery store. Families living in those locations were also less likely to own a vehicle.
“There is hope,” Van Leer said. “Everything is possible; anything is possible if you have the right mindset, the right partners, and a determination to get it done.”
Some wonder if the community market model could fit in the city’s other food deserts.
Ward 8 Cleveland City Councilman Michael Polensek said, “I was driving, coming back here thinking, ‘Man I hope this thing works’ because then the light bulbs might go off in Meijer’s executives [heads] and [they’ll say], ‘You know what, let’s try some other spots in the city.’”
In 2022, Dave’s Market closed its doors in North Collinwood. The departure thrust the neighborhood, including a high-rise apartment building for seniors, into a food desert.
“The closest grocery store is either 222 or down there on 130th - Save-A-Lot,” said Michael Harris, who lives in the Euclid Beach Apartments adjacent to the former Dave’s.
The retailer and city coordinated a twice-weekly shuttle service from the apartments to another location. But Harris, who uses a wheelchair, said it’s been difficult for those with mobility challenges to maneuver groceries and coordinate with caregivers.
“It’s been tough. I’m telling you, especially in these winter months, wheelchairs and walkers are no good to us. A lot of people used to send someone in the building to go right across to Dave’s for them. [We] can’t do that no more,” Harris said.
Polensek pointed out several key differences between North Collinwood and Fairfax that could prevent a new grocery store from opening in the neighborhood.
“We don’t have a Cleveland Clinic or a UH or a Metro sitting there. Those are major factors. Cleveland Clinic put major dollars into this development,” he said.
In addition to the private investment, Polensek said Fairfax Market will benefit from the hospital’s employees spending their disposable income at the store. Whereas, he said Collinwood’s customer base is largely low and fixed income and would be less profitable for a retailer.
“Somebody has to build it and somebody has to be able to make money off that project because if they’re not going to make money - or off that store - they’re not going to go there,” he said.
Polensek said the city is actively working to address food access, but he recognizes it will take public and private investment, as well as solutions tailored to specific neighborhoods.
Neighbors tell News 5 they’re hoping for action sooner rather than later.
“We need a grocery store around here, real bad too,” Harris said.
