Statement from Councilman Polensek on Dave's Markets Closure

Mar 28, 2022

Cleveland (March 28, 2022) – Mayor Justin Bibb and my office were officially notified by the owners and operators of Dave’s Markets on Monday, March 21, 2022 at 4:15 PM in the Mayor’s Red Room that Dave’s Markets will be closing their Euclid Beach Store located at 15900 Lakeshore Blvd., on April 30th, 2022.  The announcement was made public after Dave’s themselves announced the closure to their associates, employees and vendors at the end of last week.

After 34 years, Dave’s Markets have made the choice to close this location and consolidate their operation at their Euclid store located on Shore Center Drive at Babbitt Road. At present they employ approximately 75 employees, both full and part-time, at the Ward 8 Lakeshore store.

They cite numerous reasons that led them to this decision: low sales volume; drop in revenue; decrease in customer base; and, the fact that people’s shopping habits have changed with the advent of “dollar” stores and on-line sales cutting into their bottom line. They were also hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic and never fully recovered. In addition, they cite that they are seeing more economically disadvantaged customers than ever before which accounts for over 60% of their customer base. With a landlord, who has not been responsive to their needs, the fact that their lease was up, and based on the economic realities they were confronted with, they decided to close the store.

At this point, the Saltzman Family indicated to that their decision is final. The Mayor offered assistance to which they declined, stating that they “needed to consolidate their operations to survive economically.” I wish to thank Mayor Bibb for the offer of City financial assistance and support.

Obviously, this news is a shockwave to the neighborhood. I myself, am a Lakeshore Dave’s shopper, and unfortunately, have witnessed the drop in their customer base, at the same time hoping that the economy would turn and things would improve for their bottom line. We know now that has not happened.

However, at this point there is the bigger question as to what we collectively do on the east side of the city to provide an economic environment for full-service grocery stores to survive and grow.

The customer group who will feel the pain the most will be the 1200-plus seniors and low-income families who live immediately adjacent to the grocery store in the five (5) Euclid Beach high-rises and the nine- building low rise family apartments across the street. Dave’s has been their grocery store for the last 34 years.

Dave’s is the only major full-service grocery store in the entire northeast side of the City. It serves not only our neighborhood but residents from four (4) adjacent wards and the Village of Bratenahl. Save for numerous convenient-type stores and “dollar” stores, there will be no name brand full-service grocery store available to our residents except for those in the City of Euclid. 

Mayor Bibb and I have asked that they implement a transportation program to their Euclid Store, approximately 10 minutes away, especially for seniors and disabled residents from the high-rises who lack basic transportation for access to fresh groceries.

What has become very clear is that the City needs to come up with a realistic plan to address the food deserts and lack of full service grocery stores on the east side. If we can subsidize the Cleveland Browns, The Cleveland Cavaliers and the Cleveland Guardians to the tune of tens of millions of dollars each year, then we should be able to come up with a plan to subsidize and /or attract grocery stores to our communities.

Any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. As always, I may be reached through my office at (216) 664-4236 or via email at mpolensek@clevelandcitycouncil.org.

Michael D. Polensek

Councilman, Ward 8