Lorain residents push back against loss of grocery store, rezoning application

This story has been edited to reflect the following correction: Defender Self-Storage wants to expand into the Apples space. LORAIN — Lorain already lost its industrial center, Nellie Caraballo said sadly; now it is losing its food access, too. Caraballo, who lives across the street from the Meister Road shopping center where Apples Market served customers for upward of 20 years, spoke during a Ward 3 town hall meeting Thursday evening about the need for a grocery store in central Lorain. "Where do we shop now? You are creating a (food) desert," she said She joined nearly three dozen attendees filling the pews at Grace Community Church to hear about — and push back against — the shopping center owner's plan to convert the vacant grocery space into a self-storage facility. Steve Weisbrod, senior vice president of real estate and operations for the Kossman Development Co., presented the proposal, which would require rezoning the 50,000-square-foot space's parcel from business to light industrial to conform to city zoning codes. Defender Self-Storage, which opened in June 2020, hopes to expand into the space formerly occupied by Apples — but to do so would mean losing its legacy status under the city's old zoning code. The self-storage facility opened before the city's code update in 2021 that required self-storage facilities to operate in light-industrial zones. The company's push to expand the self-storage business is not because it did not try to find another grocery store to replace Apples, Weisbrod told attendees. He listed myriad stores, from Marcs and Discount Drug Mart to retail like Savers or fitness centers it has tried to entice to the lot. Investors may do market studies prior to locating in an area, Weisbrod said, looking at loss prevention, demographics and revenue projections before signing a lease. "So far, we've come up empty," he said, standing in front of an aerial view of the plaza. "So what we're trying to do here is run two things in parallel." Moving forward with the rezoning effort does not mean it is no longer open to a grocery store tenant, he said, just so long as the space does not sit vacant. He said if the area languishes unfilled for too long, the Rainbow clothing store and Dollar Tree could vacate as well. Councilwoman Mary Springowski, D-at Large, stated flat-out she would not support the rezoning. "It is very much a community, neighborhood store and I just find it very hard to believe that we cannot attractively market this for such a thing and then you're expecting us to go and do spot zoning for something that will not add to the quality of life for people that live in that area," Springowski said. She alleged the Kossman Development Company raised Apples' rent to make it unsustainable, which Weisbrod countered. He said the company actually lowered Apples' rent after the store reached out due to declining sales across a couple of years. He said the company even offered to sell Apples the grocery store outright, but the chain declined. Springowski said whether the space is empty or a self-storage facility, it is the same for nearby residents who will have to go to another city to do their shopping. The next closest full-service market in Lorain is Fligner's Market, about 1.7 miles away on Broadway. While that store is still in the International City, it is a far longer walk for residents on Estelle or Ashland avenues or at the Oberlin Manor apartments. The Meijer, Walmart and Grocery Outlet on Leavitt Road are even farther away, taking at least 45 minutes to an hour to walk one way. Attendees suggested a host of other stores Weisbrod could reach out to, as well as bringing in a West Side Market-style farmer's market or vendor space. Matt Kusznir, city Building, Housing and Planning director, worked at the Apples Market as his first job in the mid-2000s. Even then, he said the store cut a quarter of its staff when the Walmart on Leavitt Road opened, and cut employees again when Meijer opened years later, because sales decreased each time. "It's really, really difficult to run a small-scale grocery store," he said. "(This) is a trend that is not just happening in Lorain, it's happening across the country because of these larger big box stores, they can afford to buy in massive bulk while some of these smaller ones can't." In late 2024, Lorain spent $22,500 on a contract with Alabama-based Retail Strategies in hopes of attracting a grocery store or pharmacy to underserved and low-income communities. Despite those efforts, most retail has continued to locate closer to Amherst than the city's center. Caraballo argued that it seemed the far west side and its higher-priced homes are the ones that get taken care of, while the older parts of the city are left behind. "We don't need storage facilities," she said. We've got enough of them. What we need is things to help us take care of ourselves — whether its a pharmacy, groceries, that is No. 1 on our list, not where I'm going to put my boat." The Lorain Planning Commission and Zoning Board of Appeals will meet 9 a.m. Feb. 4 in Council chambers. City Council will have the final say on a zoning change at a later date. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.