The Old Angle Tavern in Ohio City was a fitting location to discuss produce vendor Tom Boutros’ career at the venerable West Side Market. Only a three-minute walk down West 25th St. from the market, the tavern delivered a tasty plate of house-cut fries paired with Boutros’ favorite aioli sauce as he explained, “They’ve been with us since the beginning.”
Tom and his brother Joe started serving the chef at the Old Angle Tavern shortly after renting their first vegetable stand and opening Boutros Brothers Produce at Stalls 32 and 34 at the West Side Market in 2003. Beginning in the late 1990s, both brothers worked on and off at the market before making the decision to open their own stand.
Since they launched Boutros Brothers Produce in 2003, they moved to stalls 42, 44, and 46 and evolved to supplying many restaurants in Cleveland, Lakewood, and Parma. These restaurants include the West Side Market Cafe, Johnny Mango, and the Old Angle Tavern, their first account dating back to that original stall.
Today, Boutros Brothers supplies an extensive variety of quality vegetables and specializes in fresh, homegrown mushrooms. Throughout his 20-year tenure at the market, Boutros has also served as both vice president and president of the United West Side Market Tenants Association, the group representing business owners at the market.
The more things change, the more they stay the same, Boutros said. What has always made the West Side Market unique is the fact that the stands are run by local owners who know their product and deliver quality service with a personal touch. It’s the hands-on approach that makes the difference, he said.
“What the vendors provide at the market is the experience, the experience that you can’t get anywhere else in the stores,” said Boutros. “You get to go down to the market, you talk to the vendors, they talk to you, they interact with you about your life, about families.”
Boutros said the market is also special because many of its products are house-made. “We do a lot of homemade stuff, especially inside with the cheeses and the jerkies and the meats and the cured stuff,” he said. “All that stuff that we do that the stores can’t do. We do everything in house. So you’re getting real homemade stuff at the market that you can’t get anywhere else.”
With the nonprofit Cleveland Public Market Corporation taking over running day-to-day operations at the market, changes are coming, and that’s a good thing, said Boutros. Even as the new manager makes changes, what makes the market successful will stay the same. “It’s pretty simple what we do — provide a good product with good customer service,” he said.
“Something about hands-on ownership…”
Another long standing vendor, Don Whitaker, owner of D.W. Whitaker Meats and current president of the tenants association, agreed with Boutros. “There is something about hands-on ownership in this business down here,” said Whitaker.
Like Boutros, Whitaker got involved in the market early. At age 13, he decided to move on from his first business venture and sold his Cleveland Press newspaper route to a friend. Then he followed in his older brothers’ footsteps and started working at the market. “Everyone in the neighborhood (Ridge and Snow Roads in Parma) got jobs down here when they were teenagers,” he said.
Whitaker worked for the son of the couple who owned the pork stand, SJ Check & Son, which he eventually bought. He worked there throughout high school and while earning an accounting degree at Cleveland State University, something he resisted but which his parents wanted him to do. “I just didn’t want to do that. But you know, parents, you gotta get a degree,” he said.
Around the time Whitaker finished college, the couple that owned SJ Check & Son retired after 45 years in business. “I worked in the market all this time and you just fall in love with it,” said Whitaker. “It’s a hard living, but you make this choice.” So, at the tender age of 22, Whitaker bought the business and about 6 months later changed the name to D.W. Whitaker Meats.
He has expanded his product offerings quite a bit since he opened in 1991. About a year and a half later, he added fresh poultry. Bacon and cold cuts were incorporated 10 years after that and then in 2022, he added fresh beef after finding a supplier he liked out of Arkansas City, Kansas.
“Before I was in the beef business, I was buying this stuff personally. And it’s just really good beef,” he said. “This company just does an excellent job and I’m just proud to sell it.”
Whitaker has 23 employees, both full- and part-time. Some have been there for over 20 years, and now, some of their children are starting to work for him. Whitaker said this really adds to the shopping experience for his customers. “I don’t wait on every single customer, you know, but I think it’s just the presence of that, it’s a family business being run that way,” he said.
While these vendors know the importance of hands-on ownership for their own businesses, they both know the market must change to survive. They’re excited to see the new nonprofit manager take over running it even as the city continues to be the owner. “It’s got to evolve a little bit, you know, it’s got to change with the times,” said Whitaker.
The West Side Market will be following in the footsteps of other cities’ public markets being managed by nonprofit organizations. Cincinnati, Detroit, and Philadelphia have all transitioned to being operated by nonprofits in the last few decades. “I’m pretty optimistic they’ll do this right from what we’ve seen in other markets and stuff. We’ve got a good foundation,” said Whitaker.
Both vendors are looking forward to the Cleveland Public Market Corporation having more capacity to address building complaints and recruit tenants. In the past, they complained, the market was always understaffed by the city. Meanwhile, the city complained that it couldn’t add staff because it had to subsidize the market to keep it running. The hope is that with a nonprofit manager at the helm, they’ll be able to raise more money and stay in the black while also making much-needed improvements such as better promoting the market, adding events that attract customers, and bringing in new vendors or concepts to fill the empty produce stands.
“With this new group coming in the market should be able to generate more revenue,” said Boutros.
Whitaker pondered the changes the West Side Market has always had to make over the years. “I’m sure they went through this many other times down here, just like when they had to add refrigeration in the 50s. You know, that’s something you wouldn’t even think of now,” he said.
Regardless of the changes around them, both vendors plan to continue to run their own businesses as they always have. Whitaker came back to the hands-on ownership and said that’s what differentiates his business from the dozens of chain grocery stores in the area. “People like to deal with the owner and the owner being involved in the business,” he said.
Keep our local journalism accessible to all
Reader support is crucial as we continue to shed light on underreported neighborhoods in Cleveland. Will you become a monthly member to help us continue to produce news by, for, and with the community?
P.S. Did you like this story? Take our reader survey!
