Former Convenience Store, Madison Ave, Cleveland OH

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Daniel
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Joined: 11 Nov 2005 04:09

Former Convenience Store, Madison Ave, Cleveland OH

Post by Daniel »

I'm not sure if this the proper forum for this post, but it didn't appear to go in another forum. What was the original tenant of this convenience store building? It's got some sort of colonial motif on it, and a weathervane remains on the roadside sign. I know it was a chain of some sort but I have never seen this style before.

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Toby Radloff
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Joined: 04 Nov 2005 20:48

Post by Toby Radloff »

This was a Convenient Food Mart for a long time...it became "Westside Market" not too long ago. Convenient has many lookalike buildings and signs, some still Convenient Food Marts, in NE OH. In the 1980's and 1990's, Convenient Food Mart, 7-Eleven, and Dairy Mart (which was formerly Lawson's and Open Pantry) closed or sold a large number of inner city and inner ring suburban locations to independent operators, many who are of Middle Eastern descent. Convenience stores in the Cleveland area had their heyday in the 1950's (when Lawson's was opening a new store every week) and 1960's (when Convenient Food Mart, Open Pantry, and 7-Eleven first came on the scene), when supermarkets, because of union regulations in place at the time, were closed after 6:00 PM on weekdays and closed on Sundays. The convenience stores filled the bill if you needed milk, eggs, bread, ice cream, or other items after the supermarkets were closed. By the early 1980's, when UFCW Local 880 finally allowed NE OH supermarkets to open evenings and Sundays, the convenience stores here were in trouble. And many locations were in changing neighborhoods, most of which were closed or sold. And convenience stores, especially late at night, were constant targets for robberies.
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