I think Clifton Market's issue long-term is that everyone who lives within walking distance who owns a car will still buy a fair amount of groceries from a Kroger while they're out doing something else.  So it's important for there to be more people living more or less on top of the market in order to ensure that it survives. 

We had a ULI Technical Assistance Panel held last spring in Clifton with a  focus on this property (before any developers got involved). Here is a link to their findings for this property. It mostly looks at massing, which I have a feeling will be too dense for Clifton residents, but we shall see what Gaslight comes up with.

 

http://www.cliftoncommunity.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Final-ULI-Clifton-Merchant-Lot-TAP-Jan-9-20171.pdf

We had a ULI Technical Assistance Panel held last spring in Clifton with a  focus on this property (before any developers got involved). Here is a link to their findings for this property. It mostly looks at massing, which I have a feeling will be too dense for Clifton residents, but we shall see what Gaslight comes up with.

 

http://www.cliftoncommunity.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Final-ULI-Clifton-Merchant-Lot-TAP-Jan-9-20171.pdf

 

So are they going after the houses or are they only going to build on the parking lot? 

 

Gaslight has already owned those houses, so I would assume they would be included in any plan.

The original article posted about this project says the three houses next to the parking lot will be demolished.

Clifton Market sales 'well below' projections

 

Six-month-old cooperative Clifton Market is urging its owners to shop more at the store to help boost its sales and capital.

 

Previously Keller's IGA, community members reopened the 23,000-square-foot store at 319 Ludlow Ave. as a co-op store owned by shareholders who paid in $200 a share. In a letter sent to owners in late June, the co-op's board warned that weekly sales were "well below our long-term projections" and urged owners to buy more.

 

"If 2/3 of our Share Owners increase their weekly in-store spending by $50 per week, Clifton Market sales would jump 50 percent," said the letter obtained by The Enquirer. The letter suggests the market is doing about $120,000 in weekly sales, since there are between 1,700 and 1,800 owners,

 

Cont

^Comments elsewhere are hilarious.  People who have not shopped at the market are certain of all sorts of things about it. I have been there at least 25 times since it opened and it has always been a pleasant shopping experience.  Meanwhile, Kroger is a goddamn mosh pit.  My boss compares the Mitchel Ave. Kroger to The Who Concert. 

 

I think a lot of people are still under the misunderstanding that you need to be a member to shop there.  Also, the street presence of the store is not as good as it could be.  It's not on a corner -- which they can't do anything about -- but the signage itself is not the best. 

 

The sign should be illuminated and say something like "Clifton Market -- your neighborhood grocer -- free parking underneath store".  I saw some idiot commenting elsewhere insist that the store does not have its own parking lot.  It's pretty obvious that some people simply do not know that it has a parking lot. 

 

I saw the topic pop up on the Cincinnati subreddit, and there was talk of how the market was in a "very dangerous" part of town.

Probably a City-Data user.

Lol

I mean, get a load of this crap.  Some lady insisting that the building is physically unsound and has rats and that those imagined problems are about to spiral out-of-control thanks to their money trouble:

I saw the topic pop up on the Cincinnati subreddit, and there was talk of how the market was in a "very dangerous" part of town.

 

Probably someone who doesn't know the difference between Clifton and Clifton Heights.

Meanwhile, Mayor John Cranley shared the story about the market's troubles on his Facebook page. I'm sure he is filled with glee knowing that it's struggling. He was against any city money going to the project and he would love for it to fail so that he can point and laugh and say "I told you so."

I was unable to find the exact sum the new Kroger received in new market tax credits.  It appears that CCHRUCHADSFHCH received $15 million but I couldn't see how much the Kroger development itself received.  It's quite possible that the sum was greater than the entire $6 million start-up cost of the Clifton Market. 

 

 

 

 

One can just smell the socialism ooozing from the Clifton Market. To solve their defective business plan their solution is to urge members and supporters to "increase" their weekly spending. Too bad they can't be compelled to spend more at the Market. Or, they propose alternatively, to seek more investor money.

 

How about offering better products at lower prices and good service?

It's unfortunate they weren't able to open a little earlier to establish themselves more before the new Corryville Kroger opened.

 

Longer term they could be helped by encouraging more density in the business district. In Clifton specifically maybe those 3 stand alone bank buildings with drive thrus could be developed to a higher and denser use.

 

EMC is another new great little grocery store in OTR that I hope will find its customers base. We cannot have NIMBYS trying to block new residential construction in the neighborhood if these businesses are going to have the customers they need to survive. If we want to have new neighborhood amenities and the jobs they provide we need to accept the growth that makes them sustainable.

One can just smell the socialism ooozing from the Clifton Market. To solve their defective business plan their solution is to urge members and supporters to "increase" their weekly spending. Too bad they can't be compelled to spend more at the Market. Or, they propose alternatively, to seek more investor money.

 

How about offering better products at lower prices and good service?

 

It's easy for Kroger to beat the little guy when they receive giant tax breaks for their stores.  They received $9 million for the new downtown store, got a nearly free parking garage on Central Parkway 15 years ago, and an unclear sum from new market tax credits for the new Corryville store.  Also, the Dunhumbuy building on Race which just opened a few years ago got a huge tax break. 

 

This is why corporations are so difficult to compete with -- they negotiate or execute accounting tricks to pay lower levels of local, state, and federal taxation. 

One can just smell the socialism ooozing from the Clifton Market. To solve their defective business plan their solution is to urge members and supporters to "increase" their weekly spending. Too bad they can't be compelled to spend more at the Market. Or, they propose alternatively, to seek more investor money.

 

How about offering better products at lower prices and good service?

 

 

 

Perhaps you should try running it. You clearly understand the business better than them.

It's disappointing to see that the market is struggling. I always thought it was a bit of a far fetched proposal, and was genuinely surprised when they raised the money and actually opened. I'm sure the people of Clifton support the store, but there simply aren't enough of them! Clifton needs some serious density in order for Ludlow to substantively improve. I also think an improved Burnet Woods would help the area a lot, too. A huge park like that SHOULD be a boon to the neighborhood,  but other than providing a nice green space for nearby residents, I don't think BW really draws many people to Clifton or serves as an economic engine as it could. Overhaul the park, include more programming, build a restaurant on the northern end near Ludlow and it might become more of a destination, at least for people who are already somewhat nearby.

 

I still feel the IGA site should have been demolished, and a new mixed use building built in it place, probably above a parking garage that could support the bulk of parking needs for the area. If the market fails, that is what needs to happen.

 

The reopening of Clifton elementary in the former Clifton Cultural Arts Center could also help the market. I could see parents stopping in to grab stuff before or after dropping off the kids or picking them up.

One can just smell the socialism ooozing from the Clifton Market

 

You know it's a cooperative, right? As in, "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically-controlled enterprise."

 

Also, what does socialism smell like?

One can just smell the socialism ooozing from the Clifton Market

 

You know it's a cooperative, right? As in, "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically-controlled enterprise."

 

Also, what does socialism smell like?

 

 

It's like a credit union.  Scary stuff. 

 

 

One can just smell the socialism ooozing from the Clifton Market. To solve their defective business plan their solution is to urge members and supporters to "increase" their weekly spending. Too bad they can't be compelled to spend more at the Market. Or, they propose alternatively, to seek more investor money.

 

How about offering better products at lower prices and good service?

 

 

 

Perhaps you should try running it. You clearly understand the business better than them.

 

Obviously.

 

A group of Cliftonoids contacted me shortly after Keller's closed to try to put a deal together to finance it and I told them then it was a big waste of time, money and valuable real estate to try to create a new full service grocery in a failing market. Even worse, a co-op.

 

There was a time when Hyde Park Square had two full service groceries, a third nearby and three extended butcher shops where you could get produce and canned goods. All closed. And, people in HP don't even care much about the money compared to the penny pinchers in Clifton.

 

This was a fools errand from day one.

It's disappointing to see that the market is struggling. I always thought it was a bit of a far fetched proposal, and was genuinely surprised when they raised the money and actually opened. I'm sure the people of Clifton support the store, but there simply aren't enough of them! Clifton needs some serious density in order for Ludlow to substantively improve.

 

The thing is that in my 25+ trips to the market I don't think I've seen a single mom in there with kids.  I don't recall seeing anyone pushing a shopping cart around with a kid riding in it and another one buzzing around.  The families in Clifton generally live outside walking distance of the market and quite obviously are getting in their cars and driving to either the Mitchel Ave. Kroger or the Corryville one. 

 

Also, for any Clifton resident who gets off the highway each afternoon at Mitchel, that Kroger is right there and "on the way" to their house whereas driving to the Clifton Market and then back to Lafayette Ave. is a backtrack.  The horror!

 

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile, Mayor John Cranley shared the story about the market's troubles on his Facebook page. I'm sure he is filled with glee knowing that it's struggling. He was against any city money going to the project and he would love for it to fail so that he can point and laugh and say "I told you so."

 

He must have deleted it as I'm not seeing it on either of his pages.

It's disappointing to see that the market is struggling. I always thought it was a bit of a far fetched proposal, and was genuinely surprised when they raised the money and actually opened. I'm sure the people of Clifton support the store, but there simply aren't enough of them! Clifton needs some serious density in order for Ludlow to substantively improve. I also think an improved Burnet Woods would help the area a lot, too. A huge park like that SHOULD be a boon to the neighborhood,  but other than providing a nice green space for nearby residents, I don't think BW really draws many people to Clifton or serves as an economic engine as it could. Overhaul the park, include more programming, build a restaurant on the northern end near Ludlow and it might become more of a destination, at least for people who are already somewhat nearby.

 

I still feel the IGA site should have been demolished, and a new mixed use building built in it place, probably above a parking garage that could support the bulk of parking needs for the area. If the market fails, that is what needs to happen.

 

The reopening of Clifton elementary in the former Clifton Cultural Arts Center could also help the market. I could see parents stopping in to grab stuff before or after dropping off the kids or picking them up.

 

There has been attempts to put a development above the merchants lot (right next to the Clifton Market lot) for years but i think the housing crisis and NIMBYism about the scale have slowed it down.  Probably the former more than the latter but i did here rumblings about the development being too big for the area back when I used to live nearby. There is a nice size development off of Whitfield, but it replaced an older cluster of apartments so the net gain might be minimal and in all actuality the people in the old place might have been more willing to walk to old IGA than the new higher income tenants would be to walk the the new Clifton Market that replaced it. Way more options when you have a car.

 

Yeah on one hand Clifton has done a better job than any other neighborhood in preserving its business district but on the other they don't seem to recognize that a large number of apartments along Howell and Clifton would go a very long way toward supporting the district's businesses. 

 

As thebillshark noted the string of banks with drive-thrus between Middleton and Whitfield is another spot where a large apartment building would make a big improvement.  There were two heroic efforts to keep fast food with drive-thru's off the strip (Burger King was going to tear down The Roanoke and Wendy's wanted The Esquire) but somehow bank drive-thru's are okay. 

^as far as I  know they are going ahead with the tear down of the 3 houses on Howell and the parking lot to add a garage and apartment building. This will only help the CM. The only objection from the neighborhood is some people  would prefer condos and not just apartments. Not sure if that is possible in the current market right now.

If you don't consider parking lots and 1-story chain developments* the highest and best use of the land in Clifton... there some tremendous redevelopment opportunities for the neighborhood. I feel like Clifton residents are justifiably worried that any new development will be geared towards students.

 

 

Despite loving Clifton Market, their efforts, and the people involved, I guess I am outing myself as wishing there would have been an "everyone wins" option (typical millennial) where the Clifton Market crew would have been able to strike a deal with the folks who wanted to build a denser development on the site.

 

*(and some relationship building to convince Ambar, Habanero, and Grill of India that they stand to benefit from increased density in the neighborhood)

Well, the grocery co-op in Chillicothe didn't make it, but it was in total violation of the zero hillbillies within a 5-10 mile radius rule that must be adhered to when trying a large non-standard supermarket.

Well, the grocery co-op in Chillicothe didn't make it, but it was in total violation of the zero hillbillies within a 5-10 mile radius rule that must be adhered to when trying a large non-standard supermarket.

 

Small towns and cities in Ohio have been gripped by a sneaky form of globalization that is barely reported on. They're being wrung out.

Maybe it's time for the return of the "Clifton skyscraper"...

Meanwhile, Mayor John Cranley shared the story about the market's troubles on his Facebook page. I'm sure he is filled with glee knowing that it's struggling. He was against any city money going to the project and he would love for it to fail so that he can point and laugh and say "I told you so."

 

He must have deleted it as I'm not seeing it on either of his pages.

 

Seelbach screenshotted it, so he probably deleted it from this page. Cranley probably realized it was in bad taste to brag about not giving a local independent grocery store any city financing while simultaneously redirecting taxpayer dollars to the new downtown Kroger.

The Neighborhoods!

Maybe it's time for the return of the "Clifton skyscraper"...

 

 

38 condos and that office space wouldn't have made much of a difference for the grocery store but the office would have helped daytime restaurant business.  What's really frustrating is that Good Sam is just far enough away that few of its employees make the walk down there.  The only Clifton hospital that was really integrated into a neighborhood business district was Deaconess and it is mostly empty these days. 

 

I'm not quite sure why longtime Clifton residents are so worried about apartments or even hi-rise apartments.  Good Samaritan Hospital is over 10 stories tall and on a higher piece of land.  It's not hard to picture a group of 10+ story apartment towers fronting Clifton Ave. between Dixmyth and the fire station.  What is there now?  A Marathon gas station, a UDF, and a Bruegger's Bagels. 

 

 

 

 

Obviously.

 

A group of Cliftonoids contacted me shortly after Keller's closed to try to put a deal together to finance it and I told them then it was a big waste of time, money and valuable real estate to try to create a new full service grocery in a failing market. Even worse, a co-op.

 

There was a time when Hyde Park Square had two full service groceries, a third nearby and three extended butcher shops where you could get produce and canned goods. All closed. And, people in HP don't even care much about the money compared to the penny pinchers in Clifton.

 

This was a fools errand from day one.

 

All your tribalist comments about "Cliftonoids" are oozing with the smell of a small minded old school Cincinnatian ;)  (whatever that smells like does risk adverse negativity have a smell?)

Obviously.

 

A group of Cliftonoids contacted me shortly after Keller's closed to try to put a deal together to finance it and I told them then it was a big waste of time, money and valuable real estate to try to create a new full service grocery in a failing market. Even worse, a co-op.

 

There was a time when Hyde Park Square had two full service groceries, a third nearby and three extended butcher shops where you could get produce and canned goods. All closed. And, people in HP don't even care much about the money compared to the penny pinchers in Clifton.

 

This was a fools errand from day one.

 

All your tribalist comments about "Cliftonoids" are oozing with the smell of a small minded old school Cincinnatian ;)  (whatever that smells like does risk adverse negativity have a smell?)

 

Ah, your personal insult betrays you. You should learn that this adds nothing to the discussion other than showing your weakness.

 

Ironically, it was small mindedness of the Cliftonoids that caused this debacle.

 

Nostalgia for a day when suede patch jacketed bearded gents and Mama Cass  moo moo attired ladies, each with a copy of the Rolling Stone or Mother Jones in their cart carefully selected a bunch of organic greens, caused these folks to be blinded to the realities of modern shopping.

 

Hence the failure of an experiment that should never have been conducted.

Obviously.

 

A group of Cliftonoids contacted me shortly after Keller's closed to try to put a deal together to finance it and I told them then it was a big waste of time, money and valuable real estate to try to create a new full service grocery in a failing market. Even worse, a co-op.

 

There was a time when Hyde Park Square had two full service groceries, a third nearby and three extended butcher shops where you could get produce and canned goods. All closed. And, people in HP don't even care much about the money compared to the penny pinchers in Clifton.

 

This was a fools errand from day one.

 

All your tribalist comments about "Cliftonoids" are oozing with the smell of a small minded old school Cincinnatian ;)  (whatever that smells like does risk adverse negativity have a smell?)

 

Ah, your personal insult betrays you. You should learn that this adds nothing to the discussion other than showing your weakness.

 

Ironically, it was small mindedness of the Cliftonoids that caused this debacle.

 

Nostalgia for a day when suede patch jacketed bearded gents and Mama Cass  moo moo attired ladies, each with a copy of the Rolling Stone or Mother Jones in their cart carefully selected a bunch of organic greens, caused these folks to be blinded to the realities of modern shopping.

 

Hence the failure of an experiment that should never have been conducted.

 

You are personally insulting a whole neighborhood.  I'm surprised this forum lets you get away with it.  Its downright bad.  How would you feel if I said that your neighborhood was full of old conservative crumugeons who have no concept of reality because they love to wallow in their own stereotypes of the world around them without taking anytime to actually talk to people or experience and think about how different people or places act?  Of course not because your own viewpoint is the ONLY right one and the only one we should all follow ;)

If I recall correctly, Keller's IGA did quite well in its day and only closed because of some shady behavior by its owners (like not paying their taxes) towards the end. It was mostly a standard IGA with only a few "fancy" products sold there, so prices were reasonable. I was surprised when I went to Clifton Market to see that they had remodeled the entire store and made it into something that looks more like a Whole Foods. Whether or not prices are actually higher, it gives the impression that it's a more expensive grocery store. It also doesn't help that it was closed for a couple of years, so Ludlow residents got in the habit of driving to get groceries.

I used to shop at Keller's IGA when I lived on Riddle Rd in Clifton. I had a car but it was still worth it to go there from time to time, vs. Kroger in Corryville. Prices were a little higher than Kroger but it was nice to walk in and be out the door in a couple minutes. They had a pretty decent selection. What made it so convenient and worth the trip, was the parking in the back. They actually provided parking directly underneath the store. I thought that was so cool.

 

Wasn't there an organic grocery store called Clifton Naturals? I never went there but heard about it in one of my Urban Planning classes at U.C. In one of professor Ellison's classes, he was on one of his rants and said, "You want to talk about inequality - every time I go to the grocery store, there's an entire isle dedicated to cereal, ALL of which suck..." A student replied and said, "You should go to Clifton Naturals." Prof. Ellison dismissed the notion by immediately saying, "I don't sing kumbaya very well." It was particularly funny because he was a liberal and even had these crazy PowerPoint slides, one of which was entitled, "THE GOP ATTACK ON CITIES."

^In those days that Keller's did well, the Mitchel Avenue Kroger hadn't been built yet and the Corryville Kroger hadn't been remodeled.

 

Clifton Natural Foods is still on Ludlow but you can't buy a gallon of regular cow's milk there.

 

I used to shop at Keller's IGA when I lived on Riddle Rd in Clifton. I had a car but it was still worth it to go there from time to time, vs. Kroger in Corryville. Prices were a little higher than Kroger but it was nice to walk in and be out the door in a couple minutes. They had a pretty decent selection. What made it so convenient and worth the trip, was the parking in the back. They actually provided parking directly underneath the store. I thought that was so cool.

 

Wasn't there an organic grocery store called Clifton Naturals? I never went there but heard about it in one of my Urban Planning classes at U.C. In one of professor Ellison's classes, he was on one of his rants and said, "You want to talk about inequality - every time I go to the grocery store, there's an entire isle dedicated to cereal, ALL of which suck..." A student replied and said, "You should go to Clifton Naturals." Prof. Ellison dismissed the notion by immediately saying, "I don't sing kumbaya very well." It was particularly funny because he was a liberal and even had these crazy PowerPoint slides, one of which was entitled, "THE GOP ATTACK ON CITIES."

 

That's funny, because your professor's comment and another comment in this thread illustrate that many older people think organic/natural food is some kind of niche "hippie" thing. In fact it's quite mainstream now. Kroger no longer has a "natural food" section in their stores, as they've incorporated it into the normal aisles. Popular restaurants brag about having "clean" food, local produce, ethically raised meat, etc. Those are normal things that normal people look out for.

I used to shop at Keller's IGA when I lived on Riddle Rd in Clifton. I had a car but it was still worth it to go there from time to time, vs. Kroger in Corryville. Prices were a little higher than Kroger but it was nice to walk in and be out the door in a couple minutes. They had a pretty decent selection. What made it so convenient and worth the trip, was the parking in the back. They actually provided parking directly underneath the store. I thought that was so cool.

 

Wasn't there an organic grocery store called Clifton Naturals? I never went there but heard about it in one of my Urban Planning classes at U.C. In one of professor Ellison's classes, he was on one of his rants and said, "You want to talk about inequality - every time I go to the grocery store, there's an entire isle dedicated to cereal, ALL of which suck..." A student replied and said, "You should go to Clifton Naturals." Prof. Ellison dismissed the notion by immediately saying, "I don't sing kumbaya very well." It was particularly funny because he was a liberal and even had these crazy PowerPoint slides, one of which was entitled, "THE GOP ATTACK ON CITIES."

 

That's funny, because your professor's comment and another comment in this thread illustrate that many older people think organic/natural food is some kind of niche "hippie" thing. In fact it's quite mainstream now. Kroger no longer has a "natural food" section in their stores, as they've incorporated it into the normal aisles. Popular restaurants brag about having "clean" food, local produce, ethically raised meat, etc. Those are normal things that normal people look out for.

 

Yeah, it's funny. It was 2007-2008 (fairly recent) but it was definitely a different time.

Obviously.

 

A group of Cliftonoids contacted me shortly after Keller's closed to try to put a deal together to finance it and I told them then it was a big waste of time, money and valuable real estate to try to create a new full service grocery in a failing market. Even worse, a co-op.

 

There was a time when Hyde Park Square had two full service groceries, a third nearby and three extended butcher shops where you could get produce and canned goods. All closed. And, people in HP don't even care much about the money compared to the penny pinchers in Clifton.

 

This was a fools errand from day one.

 

All your tribalist comments about "Cliftonoids" are oozing with the smell of a small minded old school Cincinnatian ;)  (whatever that smells like does risk adverse negativity have a smell?)

 

Ah, your personal insult betrays you. You should learn that this adds nothing to the discussion other than showing your weakness.

 

Ironically, it was small mindedness of the Cliftonoids that caused this debacle.

 

Nostalgia for a day when suede patch jacketed bearded gents and Mama Cass  moo moo attired ladies, each with a copy of the Rolling Stone or Mother Jones in their cart carefully selected a bunch of organic greens, caused these folks to be blinded to the realities of modern shopping.

 

Hence the failure of an experiment that should never have been conducted.

 

You are personally insulting a whole neighborhood.  I'm surprised this forum lets you get away with it.  Its downright bad.  How would you feel if I said that your neighborhood was full of old conservative crumugeons who have no concept of reality because they love to wallow in their own stereotypes of the world around them without taking anytime to actually talk to people or experience and think about how different people or places act?  Of course not because your own viewpoint is the ONLY right one and the only one we should all follow ;)

 

I think I can answer that.

 

First, I think from my couple hundred visits to Kellers in the 45 years after my only local relatives moved to Clifton, I have some basis for my observations about Cliftonoids in general and Kellers in particular.

 

Second, although I might disagree with you that my neighborhood, Hyde Park, is as you described, it would not be my first reaction to shoot off to you the personal insult you so richly deserve.

 

Finally, don't you see the irony of a person who's stock in trade is the gratuitous personal insult, you, lecturing another on forum behavior.

 

I don't hate Cliftonoids or Kellers. They are who they are. Its just that the Clifton Market started out in its own death spiral. Wasting time, attention or resources on it is a fools errand - unless, of course it can become a legal cannabis dispensary. then it has a chance.

If you don't hate the people of Clifton then don't make up some childish name for them like "Cliftonoids".  Talk about petty.

I haven't been there but I've heard the prices are just too high at the Clifton Market.  I have checked out the Epicurean Mercantile Co. on Race Street in OTR and the prices seem high there too.  Kroger's has, IMO, improved so much in recent years that it will pose a serious challenge for any competitors as far as pricing and selection go.

 

Convenience is a different matter, but the new Corryville Kroger store renders nearly moot the convenience the Clifton Market offers.  Still, I'm a little surprised that it hasn't been able to draw sufficient shoppers from the large, immediate residential area.  Is traffic congestion a problem/deterrent on Ludlow Ave?

 

The EMC in OTR offers little in the way of produce and meats, which of course can be easily found right across the street at Findlay Market, but it does have a decent selection of packaged/prepared foods.  If I lived nearby I'd definitely be willing to pay higher prices just for the convenience.  Hopefully it'll hang in there until there are more residents in the area.

 

I haven't been there but I've heard the prices are just too high at the Clifton Market.  I have checked out the Epicurean Mercantile Co. on Race Street in OTR and the prices seem high there too.  Kroger's has, IMO, improved so much in recent years that it will pose a serious challenge for any competitors as far as pricing and selection go.

 

Convenience is a different matter, but the new Corryville Kroger store renders nearly moot the convenience the Clifton Market offers.  Still, I'm a little surprised that it hasn't been able to draw sufficient shoppers from the large, immediate residential area.  Is traffic congestion a problem/deterrent on Ludlow Ave?

 

The EMC in OTR offers little in the way of produce and meats, which of course can be easily found right across the street at Findlay Market, but it does have a decent selection of packaged/prepared foods.  If I lived nearby I'd definitely be willing to pay higher prices just for the convenience.  Hopefully it'll hang in there until there are more residents in the area.

 

 

I don't know how much more expensive diapers or baby formula are at the Clifton Market (or if they even have them) but as for the things I buy I can't tell a significant difference there as compared to Kroger.  I think that right at the beginning the market had more high-end stuff and not as much ordinary stuff and that's where people got that impression.  It's also possible that Kroger is intentionally selling its organic food at a break-even or loss in order to challenge Whole Foods and making up the difference on the afore-mentioned diapers and baby formula. 

 

All of the pro-unmitigated capitalism people commenting out there on the Enquirer's site and elsewhere don't seem to recognize or care that Kroger has a virtual monopoly in the City of Cincinnati.  They don't care that this monopoly continues to benefit from huge local and federal tax breaks.  All of these people who profess to love competition assume that Kroger is winning by economy of scale alone and not the fact that it is receiving preferential treatment. 

 

Are there any non-Kroger supermarkets in the city limits?  Even right across the river, there are three more Kroger grocery stores, including the giant Newport store.  In Cincinnati, there is the Whole Foods (technically in Norwood), Findlay Market, the new tiny grocery on Race St., and the Clifton Market.  That's it. 

 

It would be interesting to see how different the Clifton Market's numbers would be if they had gotten the grant promised to them under Mallory.  Plus, they could have opened 1-2 years earlier, when Kroger was dragging its feet in Corryville.       

 

 

jmecklenborg[/member] - I agree with your point about Kroger's near monopoly on the local market, but you're missing a bunch of other super markets. Off the top of my head: Remke in Hyde Park Plaza, Fresh Market near Oakley Square, Fresh Thyme near Center of Cincinnati, Aldi on Ridge.

 

But I agree with your broader point.

jmecklenborg[/member] - I agree with your point about Kroger's near monopoly on the local market, but you're missing a bunch of other super markets. Off the top of my head: Remke in Hyde Park Plaza, Fresh Market near Oakley Square, Fresh Thyme near Center of Cincinnati, Aldi on Ridge.

 

But I agree with your broader point.

 

add meyer in Oakley and Costco.

Well I've never been mistaken for an east sider so I don't think I've noticed those places.  I definitely haven't been in them.  But the fact is putting a compass needle on fountain square reveals zero competition to Kroger within a 3-4 mile radius and barely any at the 5-mile point. 

Developer eyes Clifton Gaslight District for mixed-use project

 

A developer is at the beginning stages of a mixed-use project in Clifton’s Gaslight District and is looking to convert a parking lot and several properties on Howell Avenue to include 130 apartments and 300 garage parking spaces.

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2017/11/09/developer-eyes-clifton-gaslight-district-for-mixed.html