PHOTO BY DEBBIE SADLON

Saturday January 10, 2026; West Side Market’s Key Bank Produce Arcade: The first Saturday at the new Key Bank Produce Arcade which opened on Friday January 9^th. Kerlos Salib, owner of the Habib’s Produce stand, offers some vegetables to a customer.

On Friday January 9^th the newly renovated KeyBank Produce Arcade opened to the public. The next day, on Saturday the 10^th of January, the KeyBank Produce Arcade was filled with shoppers marveling at the West Side Market merchants’ colorful displays of fruits and vegetables in their new digs.

   The KeyBank Produce Arcade is on the east side of the West Side Market. It stretches from Lorain Avenue to the parking lot. Customers can enter either from Lorain Avenue or from the West Side Market Parking Lot.

   The KeyBank Produce Arcade will now house eleven produce merchants. The stand names of the produce merchants are Greg’s Produce, Luca’s Produce, Mena’s Produce, Brothers Produce, Harb’s Produce, Habib’s Produce, Ehab’s Produce, Boutros Brothers Produce, Angelo’s Produce, A-1 Quality Produce, and A & J Produce.

   In addition to the produce stands, shoppers will find Greenleaf Floral’s stand and a West Side Market information stand by the Lorain Avenue entrance to the Key Bank Produce Arcade.

   Over the past seven months this portion of the West Side Market has been closed for the renovation. The renovation of this portion of the produce arcade represents the first piece of a $70 million dollar transformation of the West Side Market planned by the Cleveland Public Market Corporation, a nonprofit corporation that has now been given the responsibility of managing the West Side Market.

   The newly renovated KeyBank Produce Arcade represents a vast improvement in the working conditions for West Side Market produce merchants. The produce arcade is now enclosed with glass windows and doors. It has a heating and cooling system that makes for more comfortable working conditions for the merchants whom in the past braved the Cleveland weather conditions with little to protect them from the elements.

   Merchants also have running water and refrigeration units. The new stands are at waist level to allow for easier access for customers.

   The West Side Market Transformation Project’s website says the next phase of the West Side Market’s renovation will be the basement overhaul. It says, “More than $30 million of the project budget addresses long-needed updates and improvements to the Market’s more than century-old basement. These include the construction of an entirely new network of food storage coolers, updated and expanded cleaning and prep spaces, and the creation of the Market’s first-ever onsite commercial kitchen.”

   Once the basement overhaul is complete, produce merchants will have easier access to food storage in the basement.

   While the basement renovation is underway, Cleveland Public Market Executive Director Rosemary Mudry says the North Arcade, which is now closed to the public, will be used to serve some of the functions that merchants now do in the basement.

   On the Transformation Project website, Mudry explains each phase of the transformation project in short videos. (transformationproject.westsidemarket.org)

   Mudry says the Market Hall will benefit from a new Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system, new electrical services, elevators up to the office spaces and new first floor restrooms.

   She says the women’s locker room will be converted into a teaching kitchen and educational space.

   Mudry says the alley between the Market Hall and the North Arcade will feature an outdoor seating and gathering space.

   The men’s locker room space, Mudry says, will become an event and programming space that will feature a mezzanine with public seating with views of both the Market Hall and downtown Cleveland.

   Once the other renovations of the West Side Market are complete, Mudry says the North Arcade will reopen as a food hall where local culinary businesses can offer on-site served food and drink.