Gem City Market | Photo by Makenzie Hoeferlin | The Wright State Guardian
Gem City Market opened in May of 2021 after six years of planning, giving the community of West Dayton a new hope.
“The people were ready,” Amaha Sellassie, Gem City Market President, said.
From idea to reality
Sellassie, a Wright State University and Sinclair graduate, first had the idea for Gem City Market in 2015. He realized the market was necessary to fill the need for a proper grocery store in the area.
“People had to either take two busses, one bus downtown and one to Krogers, or they had to go to the corner stores and dollar stores,” Sellassie said.
West Dayton is known as a food desert, meaning affordable and healthy food is hard to access. However, Sellassie favors using the word apartheid instead, which is a policy of discrimination.
“The reason why is that food apartheid identifies that there’s a structural mechanism that was man-made. When we say ‘desert’ it implies a natural phenomenon, but we want to show that it was the direct result of public policy and the result of redlining,” Sellassie said.
The term “redlining” dates back to the 1930s when President Franklin D. Roosevelt implemented the New Deal to aid the American economy after the Great Depression and help citizens—white citizens—buy homes through mortgage loans. Maps were marked in red to indicate predominantly Black areas to show banks and insurance companies the “risky” areas to loan money to, effectively keeping Black Americans from buying homes.
Today, redlining is when services and resources are withheld from predominantly Black or low-income areas. West Dayton continues to deal with the implications of this discrimination.
The market took six years to become a reality, opening in May of 2021. Sellassie said that he and his team learned what it meant to run a grocery store, teaching themselves as they went.
The time invested in opening the market was well worth it, as Sellassie recalled that people were overwhelmed with joy at the grand opening.
“When we opened a lot of people were crying. I don’t fully understand it, but a lot of people cried,” Sellassie said.
For the community, by the community
Gem City Market is a place “for the community, by the community” according to Sellassie and he hopes that it will give power back to the people in that area.
One way Gem City Market hopes to give power to the people is through its member-owner program. By becoming a member-owner, members of the community can vote on issues regarding the market at annual member meetings and can run for a position with the board of directors.
A long-time volunteer for Gem City Market, Corrine Sanders, bought her membership in 2018 after the first market meeting she attended and recently became a part of the board of directors.
“My favorite part is that I get to meet a lot of different people and it makes me feel warm to see how people come together for the market and to serve the community,” Sanders said.
According to Sellassie, the community was involved in all stages of the market including naming, creating the mission statement and even designing the building.
“We’re more than a market, we’re a movement. We’re trying to meet the needs of the community and be rooted in the community,” Sellassie said.
Gem City Market is invested in the people it serves, setting it apart from chain grocery stores.
“Because we are rooted in the community, we’re going to be there as long as the community wants us there,” Sellassie said.
Room for improvement
As the market approaches its one-year anniversary, community members recognize ways for it to improve.
Some members of the community feel that the cost of food is too high for what those in West Dayton can afford.
Right now the market has a three-tier pricing system that accommodates different income levels and “produce perks” where shoppers get a dollar of free produce for every dollar of produce they spend. However, Sellassie and employees recognize that there is still a pricing issue that needs to be fixed.
Butcher Adrian Harris explained that the manager is currently working with the board to reduce prices in the store and expects that prices will change by April to better accommodate the needs of those in the area.
“It’s something that we’ve heard a lot and we do talk to a lot of people. Especially since I’m in the meat department, I literally talk to every person that comes through here,” Harris said in regards to pricing.
Another way shoppers suggest the market improve is by adding more options for different dietary restrictions.
“I have some specific things like celiac so I need gluten-free stuff and they don’t necessarily have the most selection. But it’s right around the corner and I love coming here for things like eggs and stuff,” Dayton resident Sam Robinson said.
Robinson shared that he has to go to Kroger, which he comments is “a little ways away,” for most of his grocery shopping because he cannot find what he needs at Gem City Market.
Not just a market
The market also has a teaching kitchen with nutrition classes, a health clinic, a community room and a coffeehouse. Local chefs hold cooking classes at the teaching kitchen, giving members of the community the tools and knowledge they need to cook nutritious food for themselves.
“We’re big on not food shaming, we let people eat what they eat. We’ll show healthy alternatives, but we’re not shaming anybody,” Sellassie said.
The kitchen, clinic and community room take Gem City Market from just a grocery store to a place for the community to come together and support and care for one another.
“People are caring more for each other and are concerned more for each other,” Sanders said.
Sellassie and Sanders want people to realize that change is possible as long as people help and support one another.
“As a community, we’re not going to survive without helping each other out,” Sanders said.
Gem City Market not only helps the community by providing a market, clinic and other amenities, but it also gives them a sense of hope and pride.
“Another world is possible and change is possible. I always believed it, but I didn’t know it. But now I know and nobody can tell me otherwise,” Sellassie said.
