CINCINNATI — Empty grocery shelves at The Country Meat Co. Marketplace in Avondale have residents worried about their main source for groceries.
The marketplace opened in February as Avondale's first grocery store in decades, bringing hope to what had been a food desert. However, what started as a solution has turned into a struggle to keep shelves consistently filled.
"Our mission is to continue to bring them fresh produce and great quality products, and because we are a family-owned small business, we are impacted a lot differently," said co-owner Chanel Bryant.
Bryant says things have been up and down since they opened, with several factors contributing to the supply challenges.
"So, it's factors of the tariffs, we're a small company, and we don't fit in everybody's delivery schedule, we don't fit with their minimums because we're small, so that's been forcing us to find other vendors," Bryant said.
While the market may have appeared understocked earlier in the week, restocking was underway Friday with full shelves expected by next week.
WATCH: The community rallied to get this store opened, now they need continued support to keep it running
Another concern from residents has been grocery prices. A comparison with Kroger and Walmart found that most products are about the same price, if not less.
The store also accepts EBT and offers hot and cold meals every day for less than $10.
"We do not have the same buying power our big box competitors have, so we try to make sure our prices are competitive and aligned with them," Bryant said.
The Cincinnati City Council approved $250,000 for the store to help it open, but community leaders say one of the main sources to keep them running is customer support.
"The community needs to continue to support them. We begged for that store, we prayed for that store, we now have a grocery store that needs our help, we support them 100%," said Sandra Jones Mitchell, President of Avondale Community Council.
The store is planning community engagement efforts to support anyone impacted by the government shutdown. On Nov. 20, they will host a food drive where people can purchase items and gift cards to donate to local food banks.
"People can come out and purchase from us. They can get gift cards. They can buy food from us to donate to the local food banks," Bryant said.
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