What happens if a new grocer can't be found for Lorain's old Apples?

How long should hope keep a storefront vacant? That's the question Lorain officials must answer as they contemplate whether to rezone the former Apples Market at a Meister Road strip mall. The space is zoned for business, but Kossman Development Co., which owns the property, is trying to rezone it to light industrial. Doing so would allow Defender Self-Storage, which sits in a smaller space on the other end of the strip, to expand into the former grocery store, which closed last year. Defender opened in 2020, about a year before the city updated its zoning code, which now requires self-storage facilities to be in light-industrial zoning. It's understandable why neighbors, who spent years grocery shopping at Apples, are opposed to the plan. Quite reasonably, they would prefer another grocery store. "Where do we shop now?" resident Nellie Caraballo asked last week at a town hall for 3rd Ward residents. "You are creating a (food) desert." She was right, although a food desert already exists because of the departure of Apples. Yes, there is a Dollar Tree in the mall. Although some groceries can be had at dollar stores, they generally don't have the same selection, including fresh produce, offered at full-service grocery stores. The closest such store is Fligner's Market on Broadway, which is about 1.7 miles away. Farther out are the Meijer, Walmart and Grocery Outlet on Leavitt Road. As Matt Kusznir, the city's building, housing and planning director, pointed out, Apples cut staff because of declining sales when both Walmart and Meijer opened. "(This) is a trend that is not just happening in Lorain," he said. "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." Which helps explain why Kossman Development, the company that owns the property, has struggled to find a replacement grocery store. Steve Weisbrod, the company's senior vice president of real estate and operations, said it had pursued potential replacements like Marcs, Discount Drug Mart and Savers. "So far, we've come up empty," he said, adding that the company remained open to a grocery store, but its primary intent was to prevent the space from sitting empty for too long. If that happens, Weisbrod said, Dollar Tree and other tenants might leave. We can't imagine nearby residents would be keen on the strip mall losing additional tenants. The company's explanations didn't sit well with City Councilwoman Mary Springowski, D-at large, who said she wouldn't support the rezoning request. "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," she said, "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." She made good points, but, as Kusznir said, Lorain is hardly alone in struggling to replace a shuttered grocery store. Many residents on Elyria's south side long shopped for their groceries at an Aldi just outside the city limits in Carlisle Township until it closed in early 2024. Aldi has since opened a new location in the Chestnut Commons shopping area on the city's southeast side. Elyria has spent years unsuccessfully trying to lure a new grocery store to the south side. It even went so far as to hire Alabama-based Retail Strategies LLC last year to help with the effort. Lorain hired the same company to train city and Lorain Port Authority officials on how to attract specific kinds of retail, including grocery stores. So where does this leave the Lorain Planning Commission and Zoning Board of Appeals, which will consider the rezoning request Feb. 4, and Council, which also will have to weigh in after that? Most important, the search for a new grocery store should continue. However, if, as appears likely, one can't be found, then residents should prepare themselves for the possibility that another grocery store won't be happening. It shouldn't come as a surprise that the owners want to fill as much space in the mall as possible. Allowing an existing business to expand would help with that, even if it's not what residents would prefer. Still, the owners and city officials should be mindful that the strip mall sits in a residential area and work to ensure that any other business that might go in the former grocery store doesn't disrupt the neighborhood. Again, a grocery store would be the best fit for the old Apples, but, when it comes to economic development, something is usually better than nothing.