HAN member Cleveland Clinic partnered with Meijer Grocery and the Cleveland City Council to open Meijer Fairfax Market, a brand new grocery store that has been in planning since 2018. The store focuses on local business products and offers a variety of classes. Cleveland Clinic views the store as part of a larger effort to bolster economic activity, create jobs, and address food insecurity in the Cleveland Innovation District.
From the WKYC story:
The market is also an important step in addressing food accessibility in the neighborhood. Years ago, when Cleveland Clinic CEO Dr. Tom Mihaljevic and Cleveland City Council President Blaine Griffin took a walk through the neighborhood, they heard residents name access to food as the biggest need in their neighborhood.
Mihaljevic says the neighborhood hasn’t had a grocery store in decades.
“There are very many urban food deserts, where residents of large parts of cities do not have access to fresh and healthy food,” he noted. “Fairfax used to be one of those areas – not any longer.”