Erie Food Co-op adds 2nd location at Flagship City Public Market
For years, LeAnna Nieratko, general manager of the Erie Food Co-op on Erie’s west side, has entertained ideas of opening a second store downtown.
“People have been asking for this forever,” Nieratko said. “The main problem was money. It was cost-prohibitive. We’re a small operation with a low margin and we’re not sitting on a lot of cash it would take to build out a space like this.”
Along came the Erie Downtown Development Corp. The fund was launched in 2017 with $27 million put up by local businesses, universities and nonprofits. Since then, it has grown with federal Opportunity Zone investments from Erie Insurance and Arctaris Impact Investors. It funded the recently opened Flagship City Food Hall and the Flagship City Public Market, 34 North Park Row, which is expected to open by March 15.
The market space previously housed Coconut Joe’s, a bar, and a restaurant named Casablanca.
History:Flagship City Market: Butcher, distiller and a grocery named for downtown Erie venue
“(EDDC CEO John) Persinger came to a (co-op) board meeting in 2018,” Nieratko said. “We started seriously discussing the idea in 2019.”
After years of discussion, Nieratko suddenly found herself shopping for food coolers for a second location for the Erie Food Co-op, formerly called the Whole Foods Cooperative.
On a whim, she asked Persinger for Sally the Salad Robot, which will let guests build their own salad with any ingredients the robot is stocked with.
“She’ll be here soon,” she said.
“We’re going to have a cafe,” like the location at 1341 W. 26th St., she said. “But it just won’t be made to order.”
Cooks will prepare customer favorites at the West 26th Street store and stock coolers at the public market for pickup. In addition, they’ll have breakfast options, coffee, rotisserie chickens and more.
Recent History:Whole Foods Co-op moving forward with plans for new market at EDDC’s downtown property
Nieratko said there’s a popular conception the prices at the co-op are high, maybe too high for the area’s intended clientele, but smart shoppers can save by shopping in the bulk section and getting on a payment plan for becoming a member, which is a one-time fee of $100. Membership is not required to shop at the store, but it comes with discounts and other rewards that Nieratko said make it pay for itself quickly.
“We know how to make it more affordable,” she said. “We never stop having that conversation.”
Gordon’s Butcher & Market
The market will also include second locations of Gordon’s Butcher and Market and Luminary Distilling.
Gordon’s history:Gordon’s Butcher & Market reboot includes open-concept restaurant, beer and wine store
They’ll be moving in soon to walls lined with gleaming white-and-black tile, crystal-clear coolers and modern store cubbies of black-and-blonde wood that will be filled with the inventory of the co-op’s signature blend of foodstuffs.
The co-op brings to the table expertise in catering to people with dietary sensitivities and who prioritize sustainably produced and organic foods. They also have established relationships with local purveyors such as Middlefield Cheese, Grabski’s Farm Market and Pot-O-Gold Dairy, a priority for the market organizers, including Persinger, Nieratko said.
The co-op doesn’t have much experience with carrying meat, however. Enter Kyle Bohrer, owner of Gordon’s, and Matt Zacour, who will serve as the general manager of the downtown location.
“I appealed to John Persinger when I first heard about the Food Hall,” said Bohrer, who is a McDowell High School graduate like Zacour. Bohrer graduated in 1999 and Zacour in 2004. “I asked (Persinger) to keep us in mind if an opportunity presented itself,” Bohrer said.
It wasn’t long before Persinger called and said the EDDC was adding a grocery store and they were looking at Gordon’s to be part of that.
“I was blown away when he called,” Bohrer said. “I mean, we get to be part of the solution.”
Zacour, now a manager at Gordon’s, at 4815 Peach St., will run the downtown location, stocking high-end deli items from Smith’s and Boar’s Head, hand-cut beef and pork, sausage and restaurant-grade seafood in addition to its own brand of sauces, rubs and seasonings. At the public market, he plans to stock both high-end and middle-of-the-road foods, to serve a diverse audience.
Zacour said he’s eager to serve the downtown clientele, as well as work with food hall restaurateurs, adding that Gordon’s is already the source for meat cooked by Dina’s Dominican restaurant, and he and Bohrer are talking about stocking halal meat for the Shawarma Station as well as walk-in Muslim customers.
“You can’t get more fresh than next door,” Zacour said.
In addition to raw meat products, Gordon’s will also carry ready-to-cook items, such as rolled flank steaks, stuffed peppers and stuffed pork chops that people can take home and cook without the hassle of preparation.
Luminary history:Fuhrman’s business sold to nearby Summit Distilling
Luminary Distilling
Joel Normand and his wife, Maria DiSanza, owners of Luminary Distilling and Fuhrman’s at 8270 Peach St. in Summit Township, also have a foot in the door of the market.
DiSanza said they’ll have a bar and a bottle shop for their spirits, as well as canned cocktails (made with Blind Tiger nonalcoholic cocktails, a product recently launched by Rebecca Styn of Room 33 Speakeasy, 1033 State St.). They’ll have a craft cocktail menu and, in season, products made with Fuhrman’s cider.
Blind Tiger:Jennie Geisler: Erie restaurants, patrons slip the bonds of COVID with more hours, choices
DiSanza said they’d never have been able to set up a downtown location without the help of the EDDC. She said they can’t wait to have access to the city of Erie and visitors just across the street from Perry Square.
“The idea is to draw them in downtown and let them know of our much bigger operation down here” in Summit, DiSanza said.
Normand said Luminary will stock their most popular products such as Apple Pie Moonshine, 814 agave tequila and rye whiskey.
What’s next
Nieratko and Vivian McCullum, the newly hired general manager for the co-op’s downtown store, said they’re already thinking ahead to the additions of delivery service and a small gallery for local artists.
“I’m most excited we’re here to help people who can’t get access to fresh produce and other foods,” McCullum said.
Contact Jennie Geisler at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @ETNgeisler.
