Future of Chatham Food Market Still Uncertain
Future of Chatham Food Market Still Uncertain
BY WENDELL HUTSON
Contributing Writer
After temporarily closing its doors earlier this year for remodeling, the future of the Chatham Food Market appears bleak even though outside signage says it would reopen soon as a meat and produce store.
According to Isaac Reichman, a spokesman for the city’s Business Affairs and Consumer Protection Department, the Chatham Food Market has an active license to operate until October 2020, but management has indicated it may close the business for good.
“This summer, city investigators from the Building Department went there to check for any building code violations and found none but were told by management that it would likely close the store,” contends Reichman. “So it’s unclear right now what the owners plan to do with the business.”
Despite repeated attempts, Chatham Food Market management did not return phone calls, seeking comment.
And Winston McGill, chief of staff to Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6th), whose ward includes the grocery store, did not return calls seeking comment either.
The once black-owned, full-service grocery store at 327 E. 79th St. donated items including meats to the public in July, but beyond that, no activity, such as construction, has taken place at the two-story, 4,000-square-foot store that was founded in 1983 by Leonard Harris and his wife Donna.
Pattilyn Beals, interim executive director of the Chatham Business Association, was unavailable for comment.
Longtime customers like Beverly Shaws, 69, said she had shopped at the store since moving to Chatham in 1990.
“I love shopping in my neighborhood and I loved the fact that it was black-owned,” said Shaws. “And even after the store was sold and was no longer black-owned, I continued to shop there because the original staff remained and the new owners were nice and eventually became a part of the community too.”
But Chatham residents don’t have to travel far to find another full-service grocery store in the area. Located a mile away in West Chatham at 341 W. 79th St., is Discount Meats and Produce, a small, similar store with a butcher counter that sells fresh meats and vegetables and an assortment of grocery items.
“Yeah, it’s a full-service grocery store but it is not in the sixth ward where I live but over in the 17th Ward near Auburn Gresham,” said Hubert Alexander, 71, who has been shopping at the store since Chatham Food Market closed. “The prices are reasonable and it does have good customer service but I still rather spend my money at my own neighborhood store.”
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