CLEVELAND — Vendors and visitors are optimistic about a promising future for a historic Cleveland landmark after a move to solidify a new management structure. This week, the Cleveland City Council approved a 10-year lease agreement with a nonprofit set to take over the West Side Market.
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The public market has been an institution at the corner of W 25th Street and Lorain Avenue for 111 years.
Tom Boutros opened Boutros Brothers Produce 20 years ago and grew up helping his family with their businesses at the market in the 80s and 90s.
“A lot of vendors don’t leave. It just becomes a part of you. That’s what’s so special about it. Hopefully, the community feels the same way about it, too,” he said.
Some customers have made a routine of stopping at the market. Harold Strong travels from Massillon several times a month to pick up his family’s favorite items.
“We just try to get the breads and the pastries here because they’re authentic. You can’t get them down where we’re from,” he said.
The loyal will tell you their love affair with the market has been for better and for worse. In recent years, it has been operating with a $700,000 annual loss. In 2022, the market reported a nearly one-third vacancy rate.
Merchants have also raised concerns over the aging infrastructure in the century-old building. They’ve long-sought electrical and HVAC upgrades to improve working conditions.
“We need more people working to manage this market - and better,” added Boutros.
He and others say they’re optimistic a transition to nonprofit management could be the key to improving the market’s longevity.
Monday, Cleveland City Council approved a 10-year lease agreement with the Cleveland Public Market Foundation. The final legislative step paves the way for the nonprofit to assume day-to-day management by 2024.
“Having a board and a staff that wakes up every day and is only thinking about the market we think, will really help with services to customers and to merchants,” said City of Cleveland West Side Market senior strategist Jessica Trivisonno.
Trivisonno explained the nonprofit management structure was modeled after other markets around the country as a best practice. She said it would allow the market to operate independently from other city priorities and insulate it from changes in political leadership.
“We have this operating model that means that the market will be cared for by its board and by its nonprofit, and it won’t be subject to the whims of politics,” she said.
The nonprofit status will also allow the market to leverage new funding. In June, city leaders unveiled a $44 million master plan for the market’s future. They explained much of the money will help modernize the aging infrastructure, and some will pay for additional upgrades, like seating and event space.
“I think it’s really possible for it to be the best market in the United States,” Trivisonno said.
Customers and merchants told News 5 they’re invested in the market’s future and are optimistic it will continue to be a valuable asset in Cleveland.
“I hope the market grows and keeps running instead of falling down like it’s been falling down,” Strong said.
Boutros added, “There’s hope that one day it’s going to get back to its glory days. That’s why a lot of people don’t let go of it, that hope of the market one day going back to its glory days.”
Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb is expected to finalize the lease agreement in the coming weeks. The nonprofit is working to hire an executive director and staff before 2024 and ramp up fundraising efforts to pay for upgrades and improvements.
