For three West Side Market vendors, family history and the market's history are intertwined. Their relatives were among the market's original vendors in 1912, and someone in their family has had a market stand for all or nearly all of the past 100 years. Here are some of their stories in their own words.
Growing up, the bologna business was huge. Everybody was working, Cleveland was booming. At the steel mills, everybody was packing a lunch. Fridays and Saturdays, there'd be five or six of us in one stand just bagging stuff by the pound.
I was 12 when my grandfather died. He quit school to work in the market in the family business. He took over by the time he was 18, when my great-grandpa died [in 1919]. He was a sharp operator. The story goes, he did incredibly well during World War II in the black market, during rationing.
I could do a lot of things in this world, but I love it here: being my own boss, calling my own shots, talking to people.
Robert W. Stumpf, 75
Kitchen Maid – Apple Cured Meats
[low sodium pork chops, bacon, other cured meats]
I started here in 1950, running to the cooler. We didn't even have refrigerated cases then, just a slab of marble and a sneeze guard.
We had a lot of displaced people from Europe [after World War II]. They knew that if they came here, there'd be somebody here that would speak their language. Probably 50 percent of people came on buses or streetcars. A lot would walk. They'd come on a Saturday, pulling a wagon. Their kids would be coming with them. You couldn't hardly walk through the aisles on a Saturday.
My father was the personality of the market house. Customers would come and wait for him. I'd [say,] "Can I help you?" "We're waiting for your father."
Emery Bacha, 60
Bacha Produce
[carrots, spinach, asparagus, onions, sweet corn]
My father always instilled in us: "Don't worry about the dollar you're going to make today, worry about the dollar you're going to make tomorrow" — meaning that you want to keep your customers coming back.
I know most of my customers by name. [Some] have been with me for 20 to 25 years. They've invited me to their home for dinner. I've been invited to weddings. It's almost like a family.
I always did like the market, but I never thought this would be my career. But the economy was bad like it is now, and I was able to buy my own business. I'm the only one of my brothers and sisters that graduated college. [My father] wanted something better for me, but he accepted it.
