'Super' Markets: Highlighting Specialty Foods Shops in The 330
Whether you’re looking for organic produce, fresh meat or exciting spices, these specialty markets have what you need to level up your cooking.
Farm Stand
Something kept drawing Kayleigh Keller to a condemned 50,000-square-foot historic Medina building.
“I kept sitting in the dilapidated parking lot, having a conversation with God,” says the Keller Meats owner. “What could we do with this building? How could we put a butcher shop into it?”
Keller got her answer when Jon and Patty Stahl, the owners of P.J. Marley’s Restaurant & Pub, called, saying they were looking to open a local fare-focused restaurant. She began envisioning not only a Keller Meats butcher shop, but a complex featuring other farm-fresh businesses. The rich agricultural history of the 1904 building, where farmers traded supplies through the Medina Farmers Exchange and a grain mill and feed store operated before being condemned in 2016, could flourish again.
“We are a fifth-generation farm family in Medina County,” Keller says. “We can tell that story inside of a building that helped other farms survive and thrive.”
She teamed with the Stahls, developer Beacon Marshall Co. and others to purchase the structure and embark on a massive $5.5 million remodel. The hub opened in early 2020 with tenants including Jon Stahl’s rustic Farmer’s Table restaurant, Medina Brewing Co., 16 apartments and the Exchange Market anchored by main vendor Keller Meats.
Where silos once stood, a sleek Keller Meats counter displays fresh beef, pork and poultry from crop-fed livestock raised at its 130-acre Medina farm. Head butcher, Gary Quesada, who was a chef at Main Street Cafe in Medina, is known for his artisanal cuts like bone-in tomahawk steaks and prepared foods such as smoked bacon-wrapped corn.
“He has an exquisite palate,” Keller notes.
Enjoy that same craft at the 1904 coffee bar, another vendor in the Exchange Market. Sip custom drinks like the Alotta Colada, a take on a Cuban breakfast coffee. Also browse the marketplace for small-batch goods like Wooster-based Ol’ Dirty Sheets Hot Sauce products and Medina-based Ravine’s Edge carrot glow antiaging cream.
The Exchange Market led to a Main Street Medina-run seasonal Sunday market, the Mill Street Makers’ Market and the burgeoning South Town entertainment district. It embodies Medina’s legacy of supporting its own.
“The city has used this building as an exciting piece to revitalize on,” Keller adds. “Medina turns up for local businesses.” KP
320 S. Court St., Medina, facebook.com/theexchangemarket.com
Come Together
Kent Natural Foods Co-op opened in 1971, during a time when residents were working together to brighten the community and bring people together following the shootings at Kent State University on May 4, 1970.
That effort to cultivate positivity became the Kent Community Project, through which residents met to brainstorm and eventually launch multiple local businesses.
“They met in people’s houses and just said, Let’s do something that’s more community-minded ... and do something out of kindness,” says Jeff Ingram, the facilities coordinator at Kent Natural Foods. “A bunch of folks just wanted to create something positive after such a harsh tragedy.”
One of those businesses was Kent Natural Foods, a general store that focuses on healthy living by selling products that are primarily organic and locally sourced. Patrons can find items like fresh produce, meat, herbs, vitamins and supplements and household goods — many of which were found by Kent Natural Foods staff at the year-round Haymaker Farmers’ Market.
Go-to options for many regulars include meat and eggs from Tierra Verde Farms in Deerfield and soaps and essential oils from Emily’s Soaps in Ravenna. “Tierra Verde Farms, the way they treat their animals — they just have a beautiful philosophy,” Ingram says. “[Emily’s Soaps] has all these wonderful scents, all natural.”
Another popular pick is the organic produce that’s delivered to the store each week.
“People can come in here and get food that’s going to be good for them and good for the planet,” Ingram says. “A lot of our shoppers are concerned about the health of the planet as well as the health of themselves.”
The Kent Natural Foods staff works to facilitate conversations and increase education about healthy eating and sustainable choices. “People come here asking questions all the time, and we’re willing to research it if we don’t know or haven’t had an experience ourselves,” he says.
In addition to emphasizing education and eco-friendly practices, Kent Natural Foods still has that original mission of community at its center.
“The bottom line is about sharing the knowledge of everybody in the community and sharing locally made products,” Ingram says. “It’s really a community vibe when you walk through the door.” AS
151 E. Main St., Kent, kentnaturalfoods.org
Boosting Tradition
If you’ve been around Copley much in the past 20 years, you’ve probably stopped in for a sandwich and some cheese at Shisler’s Cheese House, located on South Cleveland Massillon Road, just off Copley Circle.
When restaurateur Beau Schmidt heard Shisler’s was closing, he saw an opening for a new market-themed restaurant and deli. Schmidt, along with his business partners, Rennick Andreoli and Jeff Lynch, aimed to create something new without losing what Shisler’s offered.
That’s how the new Beau’s Market came to be.
It’s a slightly different endeavor for the three partners, who own spots like Beau’s Grille, Beau’s on the River and some local hotels. Beau’s Market is similar to Shisler’s, only a bit more “amped up.” Shoppers can expect more wine labels and more groceries, according to Lynch.
“We want to keep the country market feel, but also add a bit more on the gourmet side,” he says. “We’re going to bring a lot more cheeses, like a mini-West Point Market.”
The market is certainly stocked with experience.
“We’ve hired two co-managers to run the facility,” Lynch notes. “One is Jamie Boyd, who used to manage the wine department at West Point Market. We also hired Christina Lusk, who managed the cheese department at West Point. I also worked at West Point for about five years in the wine department as a consultant.”
Schmidt adds that Beau’s Market features a variety of fresh foods for quick service. “You will be able to stop, get some hummus, some cheese, some carrot sticks, a cucumber and whatever else you might want to take home — perhaps a sandwich and a bottle of wine,” he says. “There will be plenty of variety.”
Like at Shisler’s, patrons can still order things like Boar’s Head meat from the deli counter and get a sandwich to-go, but as a new addition, there is also a full-service restaurant.
“We will still have the counter service to purchase sliced meats, cheeses and grocery items. But then we’re going more towards specialty food,” Schmidt says. “We’re trying to bring a cozy restaurant experience and tie it in with the market and deli.”
Beau’s Market plans to expand beyond its 53 seats in the spring or early summer, with 40 or 50 more seats on the patio. As for what they might call the new motif?
“It could be country chic,” Lynch says. “We didn’t want to move too far away from the country feel, but we wanted to freshen the place up with more table seating, some new fixtures. We’ve also got wine racks that will dress up the area around the steps.”
Schmidt envisions happy hours from 4 to 6:30 p.m. with some tastings of cheeses or sandwiches and wine. “We’ll do events as we’ve done at the Sheraton and Hilton,” he says. “We’ll have about 40 to 50 different craft beers to choose from, as well as specialty sodas from Norka.”
The market also features items like unique hot sauces — since Lynch is a self-described “chili-head” — and products like Cleveland Ketchup, specialty pickles and local pasta and sauces.
“We’re taking the systems that [Shisler’s] did well and enhancing them. We did a lot of research,” Lynch says. “We want to become a destination like it was before.” BB
1275 S. Cleveland Massillon Road, Copley, beausmarket.com
Healthy Harvest
When Mike and Jean Krieger started their business in 1963, they didn’t even have a name for their farm stand, which was just an open-air market selling fresh produce. After a few years, however, Mike got the idea to call it Krieger’s Ranch Market, as he had seen one out in California during a trip.
Now, Krieger’s Health Foods Market is a landmark in the community where generations of customers have shopped for fresh, local produce and Ohio-made products for nearly 60 years.
“We pride ourselves on having a wide variety of Ohio products,” says the owner’s daughter, Susan Krieger Kraus, who has worked at the market since she was 12 years old and is now the general manager. “We promote products like Ohio Amish cheeses and baked goods, pies, maple syrup, Ohio honey, and when in season, a wide variety of Ohio produce that’s grown right here.”
Owner and president Jean Krieger adds that throughout Krieger’s Market’s 50-plus years, customers’ shopping habits have changed a great deal, now shifting towards organics and dark, leafy greens.
“When we first started, shoppers wanted to buy 50-pound bags of potatoes and 50-pound bags of onions. They wanted cabbage and head lettuce. You could hardly sell them enough,” Jean says. “We stocked some Romain and Bibb lettuce, but it was a tiny percentage. ... There’s been a lot of changes over the years.”
Other changes include the whole front of the building. Mike built the original farm stand with his bare hands. Despite renovations, that part is still there when you walk in, offering the feeling of a farmer’s market. “That’s the way my parents wanted it,” says Krieger Kraus. “And that’s what our customers love, too.”
Krieger’s Market still has a lot of customers that have been coming in from the beginning, when there was a gravel drive and a chain-link fence. “Customers still remember my kids running around on gravel floors,” Jean says. “We weren’t big for many years. It wasn’t until 1986 when we did the addition.”
While Jean says she didn’t necessarily see the market growing to what it is today, she believes her husband had the vision for it. “I think that was always a dream that both of us had,” she says. “Whatever he wanted to do was my dream too.”
Krieger Kraus notes that her parents have lived the American dream. “Both my father and my mother always appreciated the opportunities of this great country,” she says. “They really have lived the American dream.” BB
Item to buy: Buckeye Basket $57.99, 615 Graham Road, Cuyahoga Falls, kriegersmarket.com
Spicing It Up
A conversation on Christmas Day 2004 led to a new venture in specialty foods for Karen Marks. “As the story goes, there was probably a little too much eggnog involved,” the Heather’s Heat & Flavor owner laughs. “[My son] said he was going to have trouble leveling inventory with just one store. I said, No problem, I’ll open another store. But it is a little like having a baby. It takes about nine months from the time you find the spot and then open for business.”
The first store was opened in Beachwood by Marks’ son and daughter-in-law (Heather) about a year before the second location opened in Hudson. Marks initially offered the same products as her son’s store. But the front window didn’t “pop” enough for the retail traffic in Hudson, especially during lunch hour when people were out browsing the storefronts.
“I realized that the front window was just dull,” she says. “I started bringing in colorful pottery. Eventually, colorful teapots were added along with the [loose-leaf] tea.”
But the store has evolved even more since the early days. Heather’s has expanded its tea selection from the basics to varieties like Liquid Jade, Lemon Myrtle, Tippy South Cloud and Second Flush Darjeeling — most of it organic.
“We probably have four times as much tea in here today,” she says. “They’re good organic loose-leaf teas — much better than the bags. The stuff that’s at the bottom of the teabag is very much like the stuff that we throw out.”
Other staples include a wide assortment of hot sauces and spices. Heather’s doesn’t carry just one of anything — the shop has multiple kinds of peppercorns and at least four types of paprika! It also stocks a complete section of hot sauces from mild to inferno for chili-head patrons, some of its most loyal shoppers.
Then there is the selection of spice blends, which Marks points to and says is the best part of the store. The dry rub, called Heather’s Butt Rub, is the most popular, and Marks notes it can go on just about anything, including popcorn and baked potatoes.
“We’ve won two awards for it,” she says. “This rub was designed for a pork roast, pulled pork or a rack of ribs. There’s enough in this bag for a rack of ribs or a 7-pound shoulder roast. But people put it on anything.”
Today, Heather’s stocks a treasure trove of spices, teas and other specialty products that the grocery stores just don’t have. “You can buy virtually any kind of spice here and more,” Marks says. “Grocery stores only carry the basics, and people want more than that.” BB
94 First St., Hudson, facebook.com/Heathers-Heat-and-Flavor
+3 More
Seven Grains Natural Market:
This Tallmadge market offers extensive vegan and gluten-free organic food options like produce, seafood, meat, bakery items, prepared foods and the largest organic wine selection in Northeast Ohio. Co-owners Gina and David Krieger aim to keep organic food accessible at affordable prices in an environment that isn’t intimidating. “It’s just everyday food that the average person can relate to,” Gina says. “We see all walks of life in here, and they’re comfortable.” Keep an eye out for Easter family dinners of no-nitrates spiral ham, scalloped potatoes, dinner rolls, veggies and dessert, also available in vegan and gluten-free versions. 92 West Ave., Tallmadge, sevengrains.com
Family Groceries:
For high-quality Asian ingredients, visit this family-owned international market in North Hill. Whether you’re looking for Nepali, Thai, Burmese or Indian foods, find them all under one roof. While there, also browse delicious African and Hispanic options. 768 N. Main St., Akron, facebook.com/family.groceries
The Farmer’s Rail:
Shop for poultry, pork, beef, lamb and more at this farmer-owned artisanal meats and butcher shop. Sustainable practices at Brunty Farms in Akron and Ashland make for fresh, healthy options at the Akron, Cuyahoga Falls and Hudson Farmer’s Rail locations. 1572 N. Cleveland Massillon Road, Akron, 2231 Front St., Cuyahoga Falls, 98 Main St., Hudson, thefarmersrail.com AS