Dear George,
Recently, for the fun of it, I made a list of places I frequent most often. Our house, of course, was number one. Number two was Keller’s IGA which is three blocks down the street from us on Ludlow Avenue. When my parents-in-law, Helen and Buck, moved to Cincinnati and took an apartment on Bryant St., Buck would make a daily trek to Kellers to pick up a half-pint of cream or a dozen eggs. It got him out of the apartment, provided a little exercise, and added a sense of purpose to his daily routine. I find myself doing the same thing. I go to Kellers just about every day, and I like to buy our groceries in quantities of three or four items per trip. Kellers is the mainstay of the community. It not only provides Cliftonites with their life essentials, but the personnel are friendly and it’s sort of a gathering place for the neighborhood. There’s no other location where you’re so likely to run into persons you know, or even just see familiar strangers.
You can imagine my dismay when a friend called twelve days ago to tell us that Kellers had been shut down. The story soon hit the news. Keller’s was $136,000 in arrears in its taxes, and the county commissioners had padlocked the door. Revenues had dropped 8 or 9% in the past two years due to competition with mega-grocery stores as well as shoppers shifting to less expensive generic products. We hoped that the closing would be for two or three days, but nearly two weeks have gone by. A printed notice from the management on the front door says they’d tried to negotiate a plan for repayment with the state, but the deal had fallen through.
Keller’s mostly empty parking lot
Our neighborhood without a grocery store is hard to imagine. All neighborhoods need a grocery store. Its potential loss makes Clifton a less desirable place to live, and, as the biggest draw to the business section, the store’s departure would harm all the adjoining businesses. Even the panhandlers who have clustered around Kellers high-traffic entrance for years must be feeling a severe pinch. There’s a Kroger superstore a mile and a half away, but the many elderly persons and students in the neighborhood don’t have transportation available, and there’s not even a bus line that goes there. Plus the biggest building in our business district is sitting there dark and closed, a symbol of community loss and decline.
For the most part, the recession for us has been something abstract we’ve read about each day in the newspaper, but now its consequences stare us directly in the eye. We desperately hope that Kellers will reopen. But each day that goes by gets us more nervous about its prospects.
Love,
G-Mail Comments
-Vicki L (1-15): Hi David, At first I thought these were old pics from Menominee - our very own IGA story (Nieman's?).... and then along came Angeli's. My neighborhood market which is also a very social spot may go under because Whole Foods Market has moved into the territory along with a newly expanded Staff of Life....both of which have more to offer than Shopper's except for meeting friends. Alas, sorry for your loss. I briefly fantasized you investing your savings in Keller's - it could become a version of L**** Drugs ... the doggies could hang out there and greet the happy customers. Why build a portfolio when you can offer a half barrel of kosher pickles?... Love, Vicki
