Hello North East Ohio! I’m Ash O'Connor, Founder of Made Cleveland. We are a community market featuring local, quality goods. We are starting this fundraiser to help us get our plans for expanding our grocery section across the finish line!
Made Cleveland has been serving the region and elevating the voices of local creators since April 2020. Yep. That’s right! We started our business at the beginning of the pandemic - and on purpose!
The original plan was to launch our online platform closer to the holidays of 2020, but the universe had other plans. The pandemic forced many businesses and events to shudder, so as a way to assist those that would be losing out on revenue from all the market cancellations, we decided to accelerate our timeline.
Last year, in June of 2022, just two years, a dozen markets, and three pop ups after launch, the doors to our first brick and mortar shop opened in the heart of Coventry Village. Coventry Village was a natural choice for us because of the rich artistic history, strong sense of community, and diverse neighborhoods in which it’s situated.
The goal of this space was essentially to create a little box store. For us, this means offering all the same things you’d find in a big box store, but just sold by independent entrepreneurs. These are things like apparel, stationary, health & beauty items, home goods, jewelry, accessories, cleaning products, pet goods, and of course GROCERIES!
Cleveland Heights, much like many cities in the greater Cleveland region, experience some fun challenges in the way of access to fresh, healthy grocery options. There are many people that do not have personal vehicles and rely on either walking or public transportation to be able to access their grocery needs. We’ve recently lost one grocery store, and some of the other nearby options don’t have great choices in the way of fresh produce and healthy choices which has forced people to have to travel greater distances to get the food they need.
Over the past several months we’ve heard the community and experienced for ourselves how necessary a grocery store that offers fresh, healthy, sustainable food choices is in this area. Our goal was always to include this robust line, and once again, we’re accelerating our timeline to meet the needs of our community.
This space will include a cooler & freezer area for dairy/dairy alternatives, ice cream, pasta, proteins, and beyond! There will also be a grab and go section for salads, sandwiches, breakfast, pastries, breads, and plenty of options for all dietary considerations / allergies.
A huge check box for us is sustainability. With this in mind, there will be a bulk section to purchase as much or as little as you’d like in the way of locally milled flour, grains, legumes, coffee, tea, spices, olive oil, vinegar, sweets, and the list goes on! The best part is the majority of these items will be sourced from Ohio, but a handful may come from outside the state. Any of these 'not as local' offerings will be ordered through a local non-profit food hub doing the good work of supporting regional farmers and food artisans for the past six years. That's right! The Oberlin Food Hub!
We've also started to bring back the refill shop for better access to clean, sustainable products like hand soap, dish soap, multi purpose cleaner, health & beauty products, and beyond! We're excited to curate an even bigger, badder selection of items to help you along your sustainability efforts, no matter where you are in your journey!
We’ve already started to build a seating area, and will be increasing the capacity so you can grab a bite or a beverage, work in a fun creative space, take in some live music, poetry readings, and beyond!
Be sure to follow us on social media and sign up for our mailing list to be kept up to date on the progress as we approach our grand reveal! Thank you for your support in bringing this much needed resource to the community. So grateful to be a part of Coventry Village!
