On a recent morning, Michael Allen waited for the bus outside of Dave鈥檚 Market in North Collinwood on Cleveland鈥檚 East Side. As he waited he chatted with his neighbor, Lindira Barron, about the closure of the grocery store on Lakeshore Boulevard.
The two live across the street from the market in a senior housing complex.
鈥淭hey don鈥檛 care,鈥� Allen said while shaking his head, his frustration visible. 鈥淭hey just don鈥檛 care.鈥�
Many in the North Collinwood neighborhood are dismayed, angry and worried about the closure of Dave鈥檚 Market on April 30. The news came as a shock to the community, who depend on the grocery store not just because it has fresh food, but also because it鈥檚 within walking distance in a neighborhood where half the households don鈥檛 have a vehicle. Half of the resident households are also eligible for food bank benefits, according to the Cleveland-based Centers for Community Solutions.
Although Allen frequently walks across the street to get food, he expressed more concern for others in his building who have mobility issues.
鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be bad,鈥� he said. 鈥淧eople all over there shop here.鈥�
About 23% of North Collinwood has a disability, higher than Cuyahoga County鈥檚 average of 14.8%, according to data from The Center for Community Solutions.
鈥淚 see some older people walking, and I say, 鈥楪ive me the bags.鈥� I walk with them, or they鈥檙e on their electric chair,鈥� said Allen. 鈥淲hen this shuts down it鈥檚 going to be really bad.鈥�
Candelario Delara, 66, is partially paralyzed on his left side from a stroke. He uses a cane and often walks to Dave鈥檚 from his apartment nearby.
鈥淚鈥檓 new here, to Cleveland, and this is the only store I know,鈥� he said.
Delara and others in the area can take the bus to the nearest full-service grocery store, Save-a-Lot, about a mile and a half away. There are two bus routes that could get shoppers from the area of the Dave鈥檚 store to the Save-a-Lot, but both routes would require shoppers to walk about 10 minutes with their groceries, according to the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit.
There aren鈥檛 any stores within a quarter-mile of the soon-to-close Dave's, a distance considered walkable , that sell fresh food, an Ideastream analysis of shows.
Roger Sikes, Program Manager at Cuyahoga County Board of Health, has worked for years to prevent food deserts. The closure of Dave鈥檚 Market goes against everything he鈥檚 worked for, Sikes said.
鈥淚n this acute neighborhood, half a mile around the store, almost 50% of households did not have a vehicle," he said. "That鈥檚 relative to Cuyahoga County, you鈥檙e looking at 13% of households don鈥檛 have vehicles. So when something like this closes here, it hits people in the gut.鈥�
About half of North Collinwood鈥檚 residents are eligible to receive food bank benefits, according to the Center for Community Solutions. The average household makes about $28,000 a year, a few thousand less than Cleveland鈥檚 average.
For these families, there are 106 stores within a five-mile radius of the current Dave鈥檚 location, according to an Ideastream analysis of data. But the majority 鈥� more than three-quarters 鈥� are convenience stores, dollar stores and gas stations that typically sell prepackaged food and limited selections of fresh items.
A store is eligible to accept SNAP benefits if they sell 鈥渟taple foods鈥� like fruits and vegetables, dairy products, meat, poultry or fish, and bread or cereals and meet certain criteria, according .
Sikes is concerned about residents鈥� health after the grocery store closes. There鈥檚 a direct correlation between neighborhoods that don鈥檛 have grocery stores and those with higher rates of chronic disease, he said.
鈥淗eart disease, diabetes, obesity, and cancer,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f you map Cuyahoga County, you鈥檙e more likely to have higher rates of those and to die from those if you are in a food desert or have low supermarket access.鈥�
published in the journal of Mayo Clinic Proceedings shows a strong association between living in an area with high levels of socioeconomic deprivation and death before age 65 by cardiovascular disease.
"As you increase the social deprivation or as you go down when the socioeconomic status or position you have, you have higher rates of premature cardiovascular disease," said Dr. Sadeer Al-Kindi, a cardiologist at University Hospitals in Cleveland, who wrote the paper.
It's about more than just health
The issue isn鈥檛 just about health and longevity. The area will also lose an ATM and check cashing service when Dave's closes.
鈥淚t鈥檚 all these basic neighborhood functions,鈥� said Sikes. 鈥淓ven just like newspapers. They鈥檝e got newspapers upfront. Grocery stores, they鈥檙e such community hubs.鈥�
Grocery stores also have economic impacts on the neighborhood, Sikes said. Other businesses will pop up nearby grocery stores, or 鈥� without one 鈥� nearby stores could close. That could create a cycle of disinvestment in the community, which would then lower property values.
According to 2017 data from the home buying app Zillow, in food deserts.
The store鈥檚 closure will also have an economic impact on the employees who work there, who will either be transferred to another store or quit.
Many, like Audrey, live in the neighborhood. She asked that her last name not be used in the story. Audrey will have to drive to the Dave鈥檚 Market in Euclid, which is farther away.
鈥淚t will really impact me because the gas prices are high,鈥� she said, laughing. 鈥淎s to where I can come around here on fumes. It really is a mess, but what are we going to do?鈥�
Dave鈥檚 owners 鈥� the Saltzman family 鈥� have been silent in their public comments about their reasons for closing. They didn鈥檛 respond to 海角破解版's request for comments, but they told city leaders it鈥檚 an issue with low sales volume and higher rent. The landlord disputes this, according to , saying they wouldn鈥檛 have raised the rent if the store had committed to a longer-term lease. The owners and city will partner to provide a free shuttle, according to city council members.
But Sikes said a shuttle is at-best a temporary solution.
"It鈥檚 definitely not a long-term, strategic solution for the city. It鈥檚 more like a stop-gap," Sikes said.
For now, no long-term solutions have been presented to the community.
