We don’t need another grocery store

To the Editor:

We have lived in Cleveland Heights as homeowners since 1991. We are opposed to any actions by the city of Cleveland Heights to offer financial support to help open a grocery store in the Cedar Fairmount area.  

Grocery stores have never been profitable businesses at the corner of Cedar and Grandview. Over the years, we saw a procession of grocers in the space—Russo’s, Giant Eagle, and Dave’s. Grocery stores make profits on a low-margin basis, and the space is too small and the competition too great for any grocery to make a profit at the site. Would Dave's have moved out if the location was profitable? Any funding provided by the city would truly be “throwing good money after bad.”  

We don’t need another grocery store here. We have an incredible array of shopping opportunities within a short distance: Marc’s on Coventry, the new Meijer’s at 105th and Cedar, “Big” Dave’s at Severance, “Medium” Dave’s on Lee Road, Dave's at Shaker Square, and Heinen’s on Green Road. We also have three farmers' markets nearby.

There would be no advantage to the city or its citizens in providing support for a private enterprise that is bound to fail and is not needed. I am certainly not against the city providing financial support and incentives for promising businesses, but a grocery store at the corner of Grandview and Cedar is not a promising business.