Editor’s Note:
This is the first installment in a four-part series centered around grocery options within the City of Shelby — specifically aimed at level of access, variety and nutrition. The series will also discuss ongoing efforts to attract a new grocer to the city, along with the challenges that presents.
SHELBY — More than 400 Shelby residents feel the city is in need of a new full-service grocery store.
In January, Richland Source opened a survey to find out how residents of Shelby felt about their local grocery options — specifically aimed at levels of access, variety and nutrition.
Out of the 459 total respondents, 95.6 percent — or 439 respondents — answered “yes” when asked if the city needs an additional grocery store.
The city of about 9,200 residents, according to population estimates from the United States Census Bureau, lost arguably its most well-known grocer in June 2023 with the closing of Shelby IGA — known for decades as Cornell’s IGA.
Laurel Grocery Company bought the business from Gene and Olga Cornell in 2017, but decided to sell it six years later. A prospective buyer was ultimately unable to secure the financing needed to purchase the store.
The shell of what was once a community staple continues to cast its shadow along the heavily-traveled Mansfield Avenue.
“The loss of Cornell’s (IGA) has not been replaced,” a survey respondent wrote.
Currently available for purchase or lease, the vacant property at 140 Mansfield Ave. has remained a topic of discussion among residents and city officials alike.
Low-income, low-access food areas
Losing IGA meant a reduction in residents’ access to food items such as fresh meat and produce within city limits.
More than 80 percent of the 400-plus survey respondents said they shop for groceries most frequently at stores in neighboring communities — largely in Ontario at Meijer, which is about a 15-minute drive from the heart of Shelby.
“Not everybody has transportation to get them to Ontario, Mansfield or wherever the closest full grocery store is,” said Gillian Olsen, director of environmental health at the Shelby City Health Department.
🛒 Supermarket defined
How does the USDA define a supermarket?
A supermarket reports at least $2 million in annual sales and contains “all the major food departments found in a traditional supermarket, including fresh meat and poultry, dairy, dry and packaged foods, and frozen foods.”
Limited transportation, among other challenges, can create barriers to accessing healthy and affordable foods — creating areas often referred to as food deserts or low-income, low-access food areas.
The United States Department of Agriculture defines food deserts as “low-income census tracts with a substantial number or share of residents with low levels of access to retail outlets selling healthy and affordable foods.”
The USDA identifies these areas based on “certain low-income and low-access criteria,” basing food access “largely on the distance to a supermarket.”
Dr. Julie Chaya, health commissioner at Richland Public Health, said more often than not, rural counties and areas have the hardest time dealing with food insecurity.
“We not only see this with food, we see this for health-care services or emergency services (too),” Chaya said.
Census tracts qualify as food deserts if they meet the low-income and low-access thresholds identified below, according to the USDA:
- Low-income (LI): poverty rate of 20% or greater, or median family income at or below $55,744 — which is 80% of Ohio’s statewide median family income, according to 2019-2023 data studied by the U.S. Census Bureau.
- Low-access (LA): a low-income tract with at least 500 people (33%) of the tract’s population living more than one mile (in urban areas) or more than 10 miles (in rural areas) from the nearest supermarket or grocery store.
Below is a map, created using the USDA’s Food Access Research Atlas, displaying the geographic portion of Shelby which meets food desert qualifications.
(Click the arrows for closer views of the map.)
Issue not unique to Shelby
Olsen, who’s actively working on her master’s degree in public health, joined Shelby’s health department in June 2024.
She’s worked in environmental health for more than 16 years, most recently in Jefferson County, West Virginia, before coming to Shelby. After spending about 10 months in the city, Olsen agrees Shelby would benefit from another full-service grocer.
“It would be nice if we could find somebody that wants to set up shop (at 140 Mansfield Ave.),” said the director, who is a Willard resident. “We have the same issue there. (Willard has a population of 6,197 as of the 2020 census.)
“We have the exact same stores (as Shelby). Basically dollar stores, a Save A Lot and Drug Mart — that’s what we have for groceries and we normally drive to Norwalk or something to get our (groceries),” Olsen said.
Increased access to healthy and affordable food was an issue highlighted in Richland Public Health’s 2023 Community Health Needs Assessment.
When asked what resources were lacking in the county, 40 percent of respondents answered affordable food and 33 percent ranked access to healthy food as a top health concern.
While not a unique-to-Shelby issue, grocery access has been on the mind of residents for years.
For example, Shelby’s health department in its 2022 community health assessment asked residents what a healthy community looks like to them. It also asked what community improvements could be made to improve the overall health of the city.
Four residents in their answers specified a need for another grocery store or increased access to affordable fresh and healthy foods and produce.
These answers were submitted near the end of 2021, about two years prior to Shelby IGA closing.
⬇️ More to come…
Tomorrow’s installment of the four-part series will dive deeper into survey results, including several follow-up interviews with respondents. The story will also discuss current options for groceries within the city, focusing on what is available and what’s lacking.
