Grocery War

Kellers was the neighborhood grocery store here in the part of Cincinnati known as Clifton. This is a small area near a university and a two-year college. It’s a mix of young and old, students, professors, professionals, non-professionals. The business district is likewise a patchwork quilt of restaurants, bars, small stores, a tiny corner library and post office.

Kellers was the anchor and heart and soul of this place. It lasted over seventy years and was a small grocery store that tried to cater to the changing tastes of the locals, by upping the supplies of healthier foods for instance. It was a place to run into those you really want and possibly don’t want to see. 

The floor was well worn. The ceiling leaked on occasion. The refrigerated cases sometimes went on the fritz. But you could circle through there and usually find what you need and be on your way. Unlike the mega-stores that seem to be getting ever larger, Kellers was human-scaled.

I often walked there. Up a good-sized hill. It was great exercise.

Suddenly in January the state tax people showed up and shut the place down. It seemed the owners ( one the grandson of the founder) owed nearly 200 thousand dollars in property and state taxes. Lots of people rallied to their defense. I attended a meeting where we signed petitions, listened to speeches, felt drawn to a noble cause: getting Kellers re-opened.

A friend of a friend warned me that there was more to the story. The owners weren’t telling the whole tale. After a delegation went to the statehouse to appeal to the governor, after bank accounts were set up for donations, after weeks turned into several months - we found out that, indeed, darker deeds had occurred. Employee social security and medical deductions had been used elsewhere. Other things beyond my knowledge went on. It was a mess.

Then two owners of three area grocery stores bought the place. They promised to listen to the locals about what kind of store they wanted. They said the wine section would be enlarged (yes!). They plan to remodel the place with new roof, floors and refrigerated cases.

It is good news for all of us in Clifton. The other businesses have suffered in sales as well. We are all happy that a grocery store will remain in this spot.

But I will miss the old, familiar, ragged place nevertheless.