LEAF has made a loan to Apple Street Market Cooperative for the development of their full-service grocery store in north-central Cincinnati’s diverse neighborhood of Northside.
Apple Street Market will be fulfilling a much-needed gap for healthy and accessible food. The Northside neighborhood of Cincinnati abruptly became a food desert in 2013 when the local Save-A-Lot closed after years of lowered quality and sales, causing a food access problem for local residents.
Knowing that food co-ops have succeeded in areas where traditional grocers have failed, community leaders began organizing residents after the Save-A-Lot closure and the Apple Street Market project was born.
For over four years, Apple Street has been organizing and carefully planning their community grocery store. With the mission to meet “the diverse grocery needs of Northside residents and families,” and the corresponding motto, “For the People, By the People,” Apple Street Market prides itself in being a community-driven store that prioritizes input from its own patrons.
Apple Street’s steering board has negotiated a good location in a new development with partial funding by a New Markets Tax Credit. The co-op has over 1,100 member-owners and has raised $650,000 in member loans and grants. They expect to break ground in the summer of 2018. We are excited to keep updating you on their progress!
