Market brings fresh produce, sense of community to Clairton
Just after noon on Tuesday, a woman ducked into Clairton’s Produce Marketplace and asked whether any bags of spring mix salad were on the shelf.
“No,” replied market manager Felix Fusco. “We just have spinach today. But leave your number and I will call and let you know when it will be here.”
That simple exchange about obtaining fresh greens wasn’t possible in Clairton for more than a decade before the market opened in October 2018.
For years prior, the Mon Valley town was a food desert with grocery options limited to prepackaged foods at Rite Aid, a Speedway service station and a couple of dollar discount stores.
Fresh produce appeared only during seasonal farmers markets.
Now the market on St. Clair Avenue is a much-needed source of fresh food, as well as a center of civic interaction where shoppers and staff share the latest news from city hall, local high school sports scores and what happened at church Sunday morning.
Hometown supermarket Marraccini’s — which was sold in 2001 and operated as an IGA for a few years before it was shuttered — used to be the place where those conversations happened, Mr. Fusco said.
“We’ve transformed that community hub to here,” he said.
While improving healthy food access in Clairton drove Economic Development South to develop the market, the Pittsburgh nonprofit also saw a need for a traditional corner store where the atmosphere would foster community relationships.
“Everything in the store speaks to our model and mission,” said Josh Berman, director, community food initiatives for EDS.
With a welcoming sign above the door that features bright green and orange, the market is tough to miss in a business district marked by many empty and run-down buildings.
Decades ago those structures were filled with mom-and-pop enterprises.
‘Top of the list’
Clairton’s population peaked at 25,000 in the 1950s, and a complex of U.S. Steel plants along the Monongahela River employed as many as 7,200 during a World War II production boom.
The collapse of heavy manufacturing hit the city so hard that it operated under state oversight for distressed communities for nearly 30 years, emerging in 2015.
Economic Development South in 2017 received $2.85 million from Pennsylvania’s Neighborhood Partnership Program tax credit program to be used over six years on initiatives, such as food access, housing and social services, that would boost the town.
Partners on the NPP program are BNY Mellon, which invested $2.25 million, and Highmark, which invested $600,000.
EDS is also a funder in Clairton Inn, a proposed retail-housing development a few blocks away from the market that will include 49 affordable rental units and which EDS expects would provide new customers for the market.
Even before it emerged from state oversight, EDS had engaged with Clairton residents and leaders about the community’s needs.
“Food access was at the top of the list,” Mr. Berman said.
Also in 2017, EDS won UpPrize — a competition among nonprofits and startups to find solutions to social problems in the region. Its winning pitch was a plan to acquire a site in Clairton and develop the market.
Bridgeway Capital, which funded the healthy foods category
of UpPrize, provided a $200,000 loan and $20,000 in grants for the market.
The market is “breaking down barriers to healthy food access and promoting food entrepreneurship,” said Blair Schoenborn, associate director of strategy at Bridgeway, a nonprofit loan fund based in Downtown Pittsburgh.
‘Hyper-curating’ the inventory
When EDS began scouting properties for the market, barbershop owner Stuart Price offered to sell his building in a spot along a main street just a few blocks from the town’s post office and high school.
“He thought this was the best place for a store,” Mr. Berman said. “It was in good shape so we were able to get it open much faster.”
EDS acquired the building for $80,000 and spent $100,000 on renovations and equipment.
The market’s 1,000 square feet of retail space includes an array of products sourced locally: fresh-cut meats from Weiss Meats in Pleasant Hills; cheeses, milk, eggs, butter and juices from Turner Dairy Farms in Penn Hills and Carrick; bread, rolls and buns from Pittsburgh bakeries Cellone’s and BreadWorks; and fruits and vegetables distributed by Jordan Banana of Dravosburg.
Specialty products like pints of Mt. Lebanon’s Betsy’s Ice Cream and Cop Out Pierogies made in Etna draw customers from nearby communities including Elizabeth, Glassport and Jefferson Hills, Mr. Fusco said.
Shelf staples include cereals, rice, pasta, tomato sauce, flour and cake mixes.
The market launched with 250 unique products, now has 375 and will eventually carry a maximum 425, Mr. Berman said. He and Mr. Fusco query customers about the sizes and brands they like and “hyper-curate” the inventory, he said.
Most of the demand has been for produce, Mr. Fusco said.
“We were founded on fresh fruit and vegetables,” he said.
They also monitored foot traffic when it opened and polled customers to establish store hours.
The original plan was to close on Sundays, but since crowds showed up after church services, EDS is now closed Mondays.
Hours are noon to 3 Sunday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Tuesday, 2-6 p.m. Wednesday, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Thursday, 3-6 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m-5 p.m. Saturday, the store’s busiest day.
Mr. Fusco — who has managed Home Depot and Giant Eagle stores — is the only paid employee.
Volunteers help stock shelves and bag groceries, Mr. Berman works Sundays, and other EDS staffers pitch in when needed.
“We are pulling together to manage it,” said JoeyLinn Ulrich, EDS’ executive director.
Revenues for its first full year business totaled just over $74,000. That amount covered inventory, and EDS subsidizes “keeping the lights on and keeping Felix employed,” Mr. Berman said.
With close to 30% of the city’s population living in poverty, the market has a strong focus on social mission as well as fresh foods.
It accepts Philly Food Bucks that are used at farmers’ markets but cannot accept the federal government’s supplemental nutrition benefits for women, infants and children (WIC) because it is not open eight hours a day, Mr. Berman said.
Walk to the store
Its central location attracts shoppers who can walk or who may lack a car to get to Giant Eagle or Walmart stores located several miles from Clairton.
Shawn Lyle, 42; his son, A.J., 23; and A.J.’s daughter Savannah, 3, visit the market several times a week because they don’t have a car, A.J. Lyle said.
They live over a mile away in the Century Townhomes complex.
“If we’re a dollar short here, they help us out,” said Shawn Lyle, who buys lunch meats, fruits and vegetables at the market.
Mary Ross, of Clairton, tries to stop in weekly “to see what they have,” she said.
“If I buy something, I know it’s a help to the market. Clairton definitely deserves this.”
Ms. Ross works as a cashier at a Home Depot and owns a car, so she was able to shop outside of Clairton before the market opened.
During the years the town lacked fresh foods, some elderly residents and others “would be in Dollar Store buying bad food, and their diets suffered,” she said.
First National Bank installed an ATM in the market and is among the organizations that provide information on consumer topics such as finance and health during Tune-Up Tuesday events.
A “community table” where customers can prepurchase items for shoppers in need “was born out of a spirit of wanting to pay it forward,” Mr. Berman said.
Last Tuesday, items left there included orange and red peppers, a couple of potatoes, and some hand-crocheted hats.
For those who take the donated items, Ms. Ulrich said, “It allows people to do what they need to do in a dignified way.”