The West Side Market is still the ultimate icon of local food, a place where many products are hand-picked or homemade, old-fashioned counter service still rules the day, and friendly small businesses anchor Ohio City while feeding all of Cleveland.

Or, as West Side Market Manager Christine Zuniga-Eadie puts it, “We’re so backwards, we’re forwards.” The market has changed, yet it remains a resource for the community.

Even as the market evolves, it continues to serve a critical role as a small business hub in the neighborhood. It is an incubator for 100-plus small, food-based enterprises, many of which – such as Campbell’s Popcorn and Orale – have expanded to other locations. 

The market is also known for its friendly vendors who recognize loyal customers with a smile. Yet while many regular shoppers have built relationships with their vendors over the years, how many of us really know the stories behind the businesses we support?

As part of our ongoing efforts to chronicle the stories of small businesses that comprise Ohio City, The Ohio City Argus recently caught up with four West Side Market vendors. Here’s a slice of life from the people who make the market go, told in their own words. 

Tom Dunderman, Basketeria Produce

My wife and I opened a stand at the market in 2000. We had a background in produce before coming here – I had worked in local grocery stores and knew produce. My wife and I were both nurses, and we wanted the opportunity to have our own business.

When we first started our business, there wasn’t a lot of local produce available at the market. That was important to us, in terms of quality and offering a better product. We thought, ‘Why should we be selling a product from California if we can sell one from Ohio?’ In terms of the economy, we wanted to keep the dollars closer to home.

At first, it was hard to find local farms that were willing to sell directly to us. But over time, we were able to build relationships with six farmers, four of which are certified organic. At our stand, we always try to let people know what’s local and organic.

It’s not easy to sell local produce because it takes a lot of work. For some vendors, their stands are just businesses and they’re looking for the easiest route to get their produce. The Northern Ohio Food Terminal is a couple of miles away from the West Side Market, and it’s a heck of a lot easier to load your produce truck there, but most of it isn’t local.

My trips to the farms are time consuming and there’s a lot more driving involved. Yet it is rewarding and our customers are just fantastic. Some of them are almost like family.

Our business really caters to people who are looking for local foods. Our customers are willing to pay a premium if necessary to buy a local product. My price point may be higher than others, but it’s a different product. There’s a difference in quality.  

As long as there is a level playing field, I think it would be great if there was more local produce available at the market. On the surface, you might look at it and think it was competition. Yet at the same time, it would drive more people to the market for that product. I think my customer base would expand if there were more local options.

Melissa DeCaro, DeCaro Produce

My family has been involved in the West Side Market since 1934, so that’s four generations of family members. I care about my product because it’s a legacy.

I buy good stuff because it’s less work. Some other vendors who buy a cheaper product may have to work it a little more before they put it out. That typically means cleaning it, washing it, clipping it and rubber banding it. If you buy fresh carrots, you can just put them out. If you buy carrots that aren’t fresh, then you have to cut the black tip off.

I definitely get local produce when I can. From now through the fall, I’ll have as much local stuff as I can. I buy zucchini, yellow squash and lettuce from Ohio. Buying local means that you’re supporting the state and where you come from. Of course, it’s also fresher. It also means that sometimes you can only get smaller eggplants from Ohio rather than big ones from California. Mother Nature doesn’t make everything perfect.

I’m concerned about quality. My motto is: ‘It’s your money, you can spend it anywhere.’ If the vendor won’t let you pick it out, I tell people to take their money somewhere else.

The City of Cleveland and the West Side Market have always had a very tumultuous relationship. Ohio City Incorporated has tried to step in and be a liaison between us. We’re trying to find working solutions for everybody. There has been discussion about different hours, charging for parking and other issues. People talk about changes here, but they’ve got to understand that you won’t get older vendors to use an app on their phone like the younger people will. My father never even got on the computer.

I’m all for competition among vendors, because that way you keep your game up. We need to remind people: the market is not just a grocery store, it’s a whole experience.

Vince Bertonaschi, Vince’s Meats

I started cutting meat at the old Central Market when I was 14 years old. People liked me because they knew that I worked hard, and the only way I wouldn’t show up was if I got pneumonia. After that, I became a journeyman meat cutter at Rini’s and worked there for years. I bought my stand here 23 years ago when an opportunity came up.

Sometimes, when people say they want to buy locally raised food, I think they want to know the animal’s middle name. It’s getting a little out of hand. But most of my beef comes from Ohio. I would say about 95 percent of it comes from the area, in fact.

I buy quarters of beef from Mahall’s Packing House off of Route 45 in Amish Country. It’s all USDA choice beef. All of my ground meat (chuck or sirloin) is made from trimmings off of the sides of meat, not from pre-ground tubes of beef.

I’m old school. I think the downfall of the grocery stores was when they stopped cutting their own meat. As they gave you more convenient hours, they found easier ways to do things. There’s no pink slime in my beef at all. It tastes better because it’s fresher meat.

The beef that I sell is grain-fed. The Amish won’t use steroids; they do things more the old-fashioned way. Their farms are not like the larger factory farms. I don’t stock grass-fed beef because it doesn’t have the marbling, and that’s what my customers want.

At the supermarket, the guy does it because he has to. I do it because I want to. At the West Side Market, you know that that guy who sells it to you worked on it in the cooler.

I was raised by my mom. We lived at 6209 Clinton Avenue, upstairs. She worked part time cleaning houses, and then eventually got a job at Dow Chemical. I never met my dad. He came over on a boat from Parma, Italy – not Parma, Ohio – so I’m second generation. Even though she worked, my mom cooked for us every single day.

Whatever my mom made went for food and rent, so the minute I could start scrounging up a buck, that’s what I did. That’s why I got a job at the age of 14 at the Central Market.

I think the city is more responsive to the needs of vendors because we’ve pushed them. In terms of the future, we need more vendors down here that do different things, so that we’re not all competing for the same market. That’s why I make my own beef sausage, because there’s 12 beef vendors at the market, and I want to do something different.

Dave Divoky, Maple Valley Sugarbush and Farm

I grew up on my grandparents’ farm in Hamden Township. My father was born in that house. As time went on, my dad bought the majority of the property. When he died, I bought the majority of what was left. The farm has always been a maple sugar farm.

From that point on, I’ve never looked back. I’ve grown the maple syrup operation year after year, introducing new technologies. Back in 1998, I began working with another farmer who was bringing tomatoes to the North Union Farmers Market at Shaker Square. I realized we had idle land on the farm, and I started raising vegetables.

Over the years, we organized CSA’s (Community Supported Agriculture) and stands at various farmers markets. Beginning in 2006, however, we noticed a decline in some of the farmers markets. So we decided to try a stand at the West Side Market instead. We wanted to reach more people year round, and with our maple products, we can do that.

We opened our stand on Labor Day weekend of 2011, and we’ve developed a really good customer base. We’ve met lots of people from other states and countries, too.

There are a number of forces at work that are keeping more local farmers from opening stands at the West Side Market. A lot of local farmers are part-time farmers – they have a farm stand in front of their house and they go to farmers markets on weekends. For them to commit to a stand here – it’s just not possible. We’ve made it possible.

At the same time, people like to talk to the producer. They ask me where the food is made and I can tell them. They like chemical free food, the fact that they’re organic.

If you want to get more farmers selling their produce at the market, then you have to get them to think in a different way. It’s possible that farmers could get a co-op together and take a stand, but it would be difficult. It may not happen as quickly as people want it to.

I’m thankful and excited to be a part of the West Side Market’s 100 year anniversary.