Posted May 13, 200520 yr From the 5/13/05 Toledo Blade: Erie Street Market restaurant shuts down Owner Skiadas cites lack of foot traffic By TOM TROY BLADE STAFF WRITER He survived a tongue-lashing from former Mayor Carty Finkbeiner and ethnic protests over his "Pepe's" logo, but John Skiadas said he can't survive the lack of foot traffic in the Erie Street Market. Mr. Skiadas, owner of New York Diner - formerly Pepe's Mexican Restaurant & Cantina - closed his restaurant Sunday. Now he's in a dispute with the manager of the city-owned Erie Street Market over whether he can take his equipment, furnishings, and inventory. The city says he can't and has changed the locks because he still owes about $15,000 in rent and $28,000 on an economic development loan. "I came over here five years ago with all my dreams and it became a nightmare," Mr. Skiadas said of the Erie Street Market location. He claims he invested $450,000 - a $50,000 economic development loan from the city, $135,000 of his own money, and the rest in a bank loan and credit card debt - in Pepe's downtown. Mr. Skiadas said he's lost money for five years, and he blames the city's failure to generate customers in the market. FULL ARTICLE: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050513/NEWS16/505130359
May 31, 200520 yr From the 5/31/05 Toledo Blade: PHOTO: South Erie Street, home of the Erie Street Market, used to be a busy part of Toledo. Finding the market isn't impossible, city officials and merchants said, but it's not easy. ( THE BLADE/LORI KING ) PHOTO: South Erie Street was a bustling area of the downtown when the Civic Auditorium was built. ( THE BLADE ) Erie Street Market pursues better access More signs, 2-way traffic urged to attract shoppers and tourists By TOM TROY BLADE STAFF WRITER Once upon a time, South Erie Street was a busy thoroughfare. That's part of why the city of Toledo chose that location to build its Civic Auditorium - later called the Erie Street Market. Well into the 1960s, thousands of cars streamed past the market daily. But with construction of I-75, the intersection of the Anthony Wayne Trail and Erie was moved north to Lafayette Street. Erie south of Lafayette was relegated to back-street status. Forty years later, the city is again trying to make its public market in the 200 block of South Erie a destination for tourists and shoppers. FULL ARTICLE: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050531/NEWS16/505310306/-1/NEWS
March 6, 200619 yr Erie St. Market vendors told to go City clears the way for major renovation Article published March 6, 2006 By KARAMAGI RUJUMBA BLADE STAFF WRITER All vendors in the market bay of Toledo's Erie Street Market were told yesterday that they have two weeks to move out to make room for a major renovation project. Larry Boyer, chairman of the CitiFest Erie Street Market Committee, which is under contract with the city to operate the market, said the vendors were given notices shortly before the market's closing last night. They will have to vacate their spaces and storage rooms by the close of business on March 20 to make room for a two-month renovation project that is expected to be the start of a "rejuvenation of the market." "We knew nothing until tonight," said Fred Hockenberger, one of the vendors who will have to vacate the market. Mr. Hockenberg said he was withholding judgment until he knows what compensation plans the city might for the displaced vendors. The renovation will mark just the latest in a series of attempts to help the market, which has been in trouble almost from the day it opened in 1997. The market, which has suffered from a lack of customers and vendors in recent years, has received a federal grant of $630,500 for maintenance upgrades such as thorough cleaning, painting, new lighting, and upgrading decor. The face-lift will also include a redesigning of the demonstration kitchen, which will include new appliances, a complete facade design, a wireless computer network, and new audio-visual components. FULL ARTICLE: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060306/NEWS16/603060344/-1/NEWS
March 13, 200619 yr Cincinnati's 'gem' of a market could offer lessons for Toledo Over-the-Rhine merchants attract both neighbors, tourists Article published March 13, 2006 By TOM TROY BLADE STAFF WRITER CINCINNATI - Some of the people who come to the Findlay Market live in the surrounding Over-the-Rhine neighborhood. Others motor in from beyond to taste the flavors and ambience of one of Ohio's oldest public markets. Part tourist attraction and part neighborhood grocery: it's a function that Toledo's Erie Street Market would like to claim. Located in one of Cincinnati's oldest and poorest neighborhoods, Findlay Market has been open for business continuously since 1855. The neighborhood encroaches on all four sides. People congregate on nearby corners. Brick townhouses dating to the 19th century - a new urbanist's dream - line the streets surrounding the market. The Findlay Market still relies heavily on the city government, which has made the market one of its top economic development priorities. The city government has budgeted a subsidy of $632,000 this year from its Community Development Block Grant to keep the market afloat. FULL ARTICLE: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060313/NEWS16/603130315/-1/NEWS
March 13, 200619 yr Photos: PHOTO: Diana Andrade, owner of Adrian's Place, bags cookies for Nancy Sartor at Findlay Market in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood. ( THE BLADE/ANDY MORRISON ) PHOTO: Findlay Market places a strong emphasis on fresh food, which is a goal the Erie Street Market would like to emulate, according to Larry Boyer, chairman of CitiFest's board of directors. ( THE BLADE/ANDY MORRISON ) PHOTO: Cincinnati spent $7 million in 2002 and 2003 to rebuild the Findlay Market, replacing almost everything in the building. ( THE BLADE/ANDY MORRISON )
March 14, 200619 yr ^You shouldn't be surprised. We all know its hood and mostly abandoned. I'd be more shocked if it were 50,000 today. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
March 14, 200619 yr I'm more shocked that they fit 50,000 in OTR in the first place...thats a city the size of, say, Middletown in the space of a few blocks.
March 20, 200619 yr Erie Street Market not alone in its struggle to stay afloat Article published March 20, 2006 By TOM TROY BLADE STAFF WRITER Practically every city in Ohio has a seasonal farmers market. After all, at a minimum they require little more than a gravel lot to park a truck in. An enclosed, year-round public market is another subject, as Toledo has found out after nearly 10 years of trying to turn the Erie Street Market into a success. Although two independently run businesses in the market, Libbey Glass Factory Outlet and Superior Antique Mall, are thriving, the two bays that have been managed by the city or its nonprofit contractor, CitiFest Inc., have continued to struggle. As of today, the food bay of the market has been shut down. The remaining 11 independent vendors were told two weeks ago to clear out their stands for a two-month renovation. Of the vendors, one was a wine business, two were food servers, and one sold barbecue. The rest sold products such as gifts, computers, jewelry, and liquidated items. The market ran its own meat and deli counter. The vendors will get to reapply, but managers have said the emphasis will be on fresh food and grocery items, not flea market-style vending. FULL ARTICLE: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060320/NEWS16/603200316/-1/NEWS
May 11, 200619 yr From the 5/11/06 Toledo Blade: Erie Street Market revamp will go beyond May 27 Repairs and renovations at the Erie Street Market will take several weeks longer than expected, the facility’s management said yesterday. Vendors vacated the city of Toledo-owned market operated by CitiFest on March 20 so it could be cleaned, painted, have new lighting installed, and upgrade interior and exterior facades. It was to reopen May 27. But Peter Kepler, the market’s new general manager, said renovation crews ran into additional mechanical issues, primarily with the central-city facility’s ventilation and air conditioning systems. Bottom line: The May 27 date won’t hold. But beyond that, Mr. Kepler said he could not commit to a solid date. “It will be a matter of weeks, not months. It’s definitely not indefinite.” http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060511/NEWS16/60511013/-1/NEWS
May 19, 200619 yr From the 5/19/06 Toledo Blade: Erie Street Market will keep food bay shut until late July The food bay of the Erie Street Market won't reopen until late July at the earliest, the chairman of the market's management group said yesterday following a meeting with Toledo City Council. Larry Boyer, chairman of the board of CitiFest Inc., said the board is waiting for a major cleanup and upgrade of the market to be completed to show off the market to prospective tenants. He and new market manager Peter Kepler said a "vendor fair" for potential tenants will be held sometime in June. "We want to open with a splash," he said. Mr. Boyer and other officials of the city-owned public market on South Erie Street in the Warehouse District testified yesterday in front of City Council's budget and finance committee. The committee was holding a hearing on a proposed $150,000 subsidy for the market, which could be voted on Tuesday by the full council. FULL ARTICLE: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060519/NEWS16/605190363/-1/NEWS
August 25, 200618 yr From the 8/25/06 Toledo Blade: PHOTO: Jewelry designer Duane Fisher, working on a ring, says he isn't sure where he will move his shop after the Superior Antiques Mall departs. ( THE BLADE/LORI KING ) PHOTO: Colette Crosby views dinnerware at one of the mall's dealer spaces. The antiques mall has been a part of the city-owned Erie Street Market in the Warehouse District since 1996. Antiques mall to exit Erie Street Market Move to the suburbs blamed on inaction By TOM TROY BLADE STAFF WRITER A mainstay of the Erie Street Market - Superior Antiques Mall - is moving to the suburbs because of stalled activity at the city-owned market in the Warehouse District, the store's owner said. Jamie Thompson, who bought the antiques market 15 months ago, blamed what he said were unfulfilled promises from the Erie Street Market management as his reason for exercising an early-out option from his lease. But he also enthused about the advantages of his new site, the former Globe Furniture store at Airport Highway and Holland-Sylvania Road, which is visible from I-475. Mayor Carty Finkbeiner expressed disappointment, but he promised the space would be filled. Superior Antiques opened in 1996, one of the first tenants of the remodeled city market at 237 South Erie Street. FULL ARTICLE: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060825/NEWS16/608250430/-1/NEWS
August 26, 200618 yr Erie Street Market head turns in his resignation River East Corp. chief will be interim director Article published August 26, 2006 By TOM TROY BLADE STAFF WRITER The Erie Street Market manager's revolving door revolved again yesterday, with manager Peter Kepler stepping out and Don Monroe stepping in on an interim basis. The leadership change occurred after longtime tenant Superior Antiques Mall stunned city officials by announcing it would move from the city-owned market to Holland. Mr. Monroe, the director of River East Economic Revitalization Corp. and special projects manager of the Marina District, has negotiated tenant leases for the market before - including the antiques mall, he said. Mr. Kepler, 27, submitted his resignation yesterday morning in a meeting with the CitiFest Inc. board, which oversees the market. Larry Boyer, chairman of the CitiFest board, and Mayor Carty Finkbeiner announced the management shake-up right after the meeting. FULL ARTICLE: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060826/NEWS16/608260468/-1/NEWS
July 19, 200717 yr Mayor upbeat on Erie Street Market Craft, youth stores, eatery set; other vendors sought BY TOM TROY | TOLEDO BLADE July 19, 2007 PHOTO: Robert Rosencrantz weighs whether to include a model of a ship in the decor of his new restaurant, the Chowder House. The eatery is scheduled to open in three weeks in the place formerly occupied by Pepe's Mexican Restaurant & Cantina at the Erie Street Market. The Chowder House is among the latest new businesses to call the market home. THE BLADE/DAVE ZAPOTOSKY TOLEDO - Far from trying to sell off the Erie Street Market as excess city property, the Finkbeiner administration is renewing efforts to fill it with vendors, including a restaurant. Mr. Finkbeiner yesterday helped launch a new restaurant, the Chowder House, which, when it opens in about three weeks, will take the place of Pepe's Mexican Restaurant & Cantina, which closed in 2005. Bob Rosencrantz, owner of the Chowder House, said he was interested in the location after his previous employer, the Zenobia Shrine, closed in May. Mr. Rosencrantz said he was executive chef for the Zenobia Shrine for seven years, and before that was executive chef at the Maumee Bay Resort & Conference Center. He also operated the former Breakwater Cafe in Point Place.
August 31, 200717 yr http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070831/NEWS16/70831005/-1/NEWS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article published August 31, 2007 Libbey Glass to sign 5-year lease for Erie Street Market The Libbey Glass outlet store will remain the anchor tenant at Toledo’s Erie Street Market under a five-year lease renewal Mayor Carty Finkbeiner is scheduled to announce this afternoon. Tom Lower, the factory outlet store’s manager, and Connie Hoffman, the Erie Street Market’s manager, will join Mr. Finkbeiner at a 2 p.m. news conference to announce the renewal. Libbey has operated its store in the market for 10 years.
March 10, 200817 yr Erie Street Market ends year with loss Debts left shortfall of $7,842, aide says Article published March 10, 2008 By IGNAZIO MESSINA BLADE STAFF WRITER The Erie Street Market lost money during the first seven weeks the city of Toledo operated it, according to a year-end financial report. But city officials said that's because during that period - Nov. 13 to Dec. 31 - they had to cover expenses left over from CitiFest Inc., the former operator. "It showed a negative net income, and the reason for that is we paid $5,714 in bills for CitiFest," said Robert Reinbolt, chief of staff for Mayor Carty Finkbeiner. "Then there were security costs, and part of those costs were associated with CitiFest." The city took over management of the market after CitiFest announced it had run out of money. Revenue for the seven-week period totaled $18,825, while expenses totaled $26,668, for a loss of $7,842. "When you look at it, it shows loss. But in reality, it's a break-even if you don't count the CitiFest expenses," Mr. Reinbolt said. FULL ARTICLE: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080310/NEWS16/803100344/-1/NEWS
April 22, 200817 yr Toledo reports tentative deal to sell Erie Street Market Article published April 22, 2008 By IGNAZIO MESSINA BLADE STAFF WRITER The California company seeking plans to develop and revitalize the area along Swan Creek near downtown will purchase the troubled Toledo-owned Erie Street Market as part of the project, city officials said yesterday. Tetra Tech, a planning and engineering firm from Pasadena with an office in Toledo, has an agreement with the city to purchase the building, confirmed Jennifer Johnson, administration attorney and manager of real estate for the city of Toledo. The sale is contingent upon approval from the 12-member Toledo City Council, which should by Friday have a purchase agreement and legislation to authorize the agreement, Ms. Johnson said. The Erie Street Market, built in 1912, is valued at $1,085,700 according to the Lucas County Auditor's office. FULL ARTICLE: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080422/NEWS16/804220353/-1/NEWS
October 30, 200816 yr Derived from today's Daily News Roundup at UrbanUp: City of Toledo eager to unload Erie Street market Income fails to meet goals; developer hasn't decided plans By Ignazio Messina, Toledo Blade, October 27, 2008 Publicly, Toledo Mayor Carty Finkbeiner praises the city-owned Erie Street Market building in the Warehouse District as a jewel that will be incorporated into his master vision for the area stretching from East Toledo's Marina District to Swan Creek running through downtown. But internally, the mayor admitted to his staff in writing that the building and its concert venue "is languishing - with momentum lost and income not meeting expectations." A series of internal communications last month indicate a growing frustration over the market at 237 South Erie St. - which has cost the city about $150,000 to renovate the southern-most bay into a concert venue during a time the mayor needs to potentially slash $10 million from Toledo's 2008 general operation budget.
July 14, 20159 yr Toledo council votes to sell Erie Street Market BY IGNAZIO MESSINA, BLADE STAFF WRITER Published: Wednesday, 7/8/2015 Toledo City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to sell the Erie Street Market, ostensibly ending a decade-old money drain the historic building has been on taxpayers. Council agreed the market should be sold to IBC Inc. for $600,000. IBC is a known owner of downtown real estate, including the Spaghetti Warehouse restaurant, according to Matt Sapara, city director of economic development. He said selling the Erie Street Market would take a liability off the city's hands. He said the city spends about $275,000 a year to subsidize the building's maintenance and is falling behind in repairs that are necessary to keep it from deteriorating. Council also voted 12-0 to transfer the farmers’ market to the Farmers Market Association of Toledo Inc. for $1. MORE: http://www.toledoblade.com/local/2015/07/08/Toledo-council-votes-to-sell-Erie-Street-Market.html
July 14, 20159 yr Well, whatever works. Erie Street Market is probably the worst market in the state so it needs some upgrades. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
August 2, 20159 yr I agree the market has always been under-utilitzed compared to other markets like it. With recent growth in the Warehouses District, I think the time is right for a revamp. And private owners can't manage it any worse than the city did. :wink: Looking at comparable cities, the Erie Street Market can certainly work. It just needs the right mix of retailers and good management.
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