Erie's Flagship Public Market to close while EDDC looks for a new operator
John Persinger, the former CEO of the Erie Downtown Development Corp. once said that bringing a grocery store to downtown Erie might be the most certain sign of the organization's success.
For the EDDC, a market was a way to attract visitors and a means to address one of the city's most persistent food deserts, a place where fresh food at affordable prices was hard to find.
But by the end of this month, less than two years after the Flagship City Public Market opened on North Park Row in March 2022, the market is expected to close its doors.
But the closure will be temporary, said Drew Whiting, who has led the EDDC since July.
"The EDDC is committed to re-opening a grocery option downtown and we are making progress on identifying that partner," Whiting said in a statement.
The philosophy of the EDDC has been to build it's projects around local talent and local ownership.
That's what led to the partnership that saw the market operated by the Erie Food Co-Op and Gordon's Butcher & Market. Space in the building also was leased to Luminary Distilling.
While both the Erie Food Co-Op and Gordon's will close, the distillery will remain. He said Gordon's might later have the option of moving to another EDDC space.
As the EDDC searches for a new operator for the market, it will be open this time to the possibility of working with a chain.
Whiting said he's already had meetings with five grocery chains and is confident a new operator will open its doors later this year.
Why change is needed
A number of factors combined to make the launch of the food market more challenging, Whiting said.
The store opened its doors in the middle of a construction zone, during a time of continuing concern about both COVID-19 and high inflation. What's more, parking was an issue as the EDDC waited for construction of a new parking garage to be complete.
And while Whiting praised the Erie Food Co-Op for its model of community service, he said it lacked the buying power of a major chain, such as Giant Eagle, Walmart or Aldi.
In hindsight, he said, it was apparent that the deck was stacked against the market's operator.
"In early December we started to have discussions about long-term viability and whether we could continue to support it," he said. "The EDDC had been funding operating losses of $30,000 a month."
The need for competitive prices was always a concern.
LeAnna Nieratko, general manager of the Erie Food Co-Op on Erie's west side, talked about it on the day the store opened in March of 2022.
"There is room for improvement," she said.
In early December, the Erie Food Co-Op launched a partnership with Giant Eagle that would allow the store, located in one of the state's lowest income ZIP codes, to offer certain foods at more affordable prices.
Whiting said the EDDC's board, led by Erie Insurance CEO Tim NeCastro, had planned to revisit its concerns about the market two or three months from now.
Then Christmas happened. The store was closed and when rooftop compressors failed on Dec. 25, tens of thousands of dollars worth of inventory was lost in the market's coolers.
"It was all hands on deck trying to figure out where we go from here," Whiting said. "That accelerated the pace of this conversation by two or three months faster than we thought."
Optimistic about a new operator
In an interview earlier this week with the Erie Times-News, Whiting expressed confidence that a new operator can be found.
He also believes the market will be in a better position to succeed with the end of construction and access to a new parking garage.
Whiting said he already has met with five grocery chains.
Despite the EDDC's original insistence on local operators and one-of-a-kind experiences, it seems likely the next tenant of the market will be a national or regional chain.
"I'm not allergic to that," Whiting said. "I'm extremely optimistic about where we are going."
He continued: "Grocery is a different animal than a pop-up food service establishment. Grocery operates on razor-thin margins."
During difficult times, a larger company is more likely to have the resources to keep the doors open, Whiting said.
"Part of the reason I'm looking at a chain is that they know what they're doing and they have those resources. That's what I'm looking for in a partner."
A front door that never opened
The market's address is on North Park Row, but the entrance on Fifth Street, which opened into the produce department, was always intended to be the market's front door, Nieratko said.
She said worldwide shipping problems delayed construction work on Fifth Street, preventing the front entrance from being used.
"Our front entrance has never been open," she said. "When you walk into a grocery store, you want to walk into a produce area that was fresh and abundant. Here you were walking into the back side of the building."
Nieratko said she's hopeful that the market's next operator will be successful and will benefit by the completion of ongoing construction work.
"I will say that what is happening here with grocery stores and drug stores moving out of urban centers, that is not unique to Erie," she said. "It is happening all over the United States. For businesses like these to survive we do need to see more public support."
That means more customers deciding to support downtown merchants, she said. It could also mean some type of public funding.
Nieratko, who said the Erie Food Co-Op's location on West 26th Street remains successful, had no complaints about the opportunity provided by the EDDC.
"We had great community partners," she said. "I have been so grateful for all the things we have tried. We were very lucky to have public support along the way."
What's more, she remains confident in the market's mission.
"We came down here because we believe in it," she said. "It's necessary. It's possible. I believe our community can do it and I'm going to be here cheering it on."
Contact Jim Martin at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie Food Co-Op, Gordons to withdraw from Flagship City Public Market
