City-style market moving in on Forbes

Lisa Campbell remembers walking from the Giant Eagle supermarket in Squirrel Hill to the… Lisa Campbell remembers walking from the Giant Eagle supermarket in Squirrel Hill to the nearest bus stop carrying several grocery bags, when the weight of her food became too much for two of her paper bags to take, and the handles ripped off.

She then stopped to transfer some of her food to the bags that had not broken. She tucked the handle-less bags under her elbows while carrying the unbroken bags by the handles to the bus stop.

Experiences like this one have been somewhat common among students in Oakland since the loss of its Giant Eagle supermarket on Forbes Avenue 11 years ago.

But this August, a new supermarket will open on Forbes Avenue in Central Oakland.

Market on Forbes is in its final stages of development on the second floor of the Strand Building containing the Laga Apartments at 3906 Forbes Ave. It is expected to open on Aug. 15.

Ron Levick, the owner of the supermarket and the Strand Building, said he decided to open Market on Forbes because he saw a need for a supermarket in Oakland and had a vacancy in his building.

“I’ve been a part of the Oakland community for 15 years, and it needs a grocery store,” said Levick.

Having a supermarket in Oakland will save many students time and make grocery shopping more convenient, he added.

The store hours will most likely be 11 a. m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Levick said he does not see a need to be open later than 4 p.m. on weekends but that these hours could change. Market on Forbes, an independent supermarket, is part of the Independent Grocer Alliance.

There are currently four IGA stores in the Pittsburgh area and about 4,000 in the world, said Levick.

Market on Forbes will carry fresh produce, frozen food, deli meats and other groceries not readily available in Oakland.

Levick said he does not plan to carry fresh meats at first because he needs to find out how many perishables he can sell. He said he will carry pre-cooked frozen meats because he feels most students will prefer those over raw meat.

Besides being independently owned, this supermarket will be unique in that Levick expects almost all of his customers to walk, rather than drive, to the store, because there will be no parking spaces designated for shoppers.

Levick said he is bringing the concept of a “smaller city-style market,” which is commonplace in cities like New York, Boston and Chicago, to Pittsburgh.

“It’s new to Pittsburgh. It’s something that doesn’t exist,” said Levick.

In addition to the loss of the Forbes Avenue Giant Eagle in 1997, Oakland residents also lost a Giant Eagle store located on Centre Avenue and Craig Street in North Oakland when it closed in 2006.

When Campbell, now a Pitt graduate student, was carrying torn grocery bags to bus stops as an undergraduate student at Carnegie Mellon, she said she wished there was a more convenient way to do her grocery shopping.

But since she now lives in North Oakland at Fifth Avenue and North Dithridge Street, Campbell said going to Market on Forbes will be no more convenient, because she would still need to walk with her groceries.

Campbell also said she thinks other, more distant markets will offer a larger variety of food.

“I feel doubtful that the selection will be as good [at Market on Forbes],” said Campbell.

Levick said that last week, at a transportation meeting among members of the Oakland Business Improvement District, he brought up the idea of making his store a stop for local university shuttles and that everyone at the meeting responded positively, especially officials from Carlow College.

Some students are excited about the store’s opening.

Kevin Kovatch, who is subletting in the Laga Apartments, the same building as Market on Forbes, said he plans to shop there when he lives in Bouquet Gardens as a junior this school year.

“I think the word will get out pretty quick,” said Kovatch. “I think it will get a lot of business.”

John Croumer, an alumnus who earned an undergraduate and graduate degree at Pitt, said he would have liked having a supermarket in Oakland before he had his car on campus.

“I think it’s awesome,” said Croumer. “It will really allow kids to not be as dependent on the meal plan and to be more independent.”

Levick said he plans to hire 15 to 20 employees, most of whom will be students, partly because there will be no parking outside the store for workers from outside of Oakland.

He said this will work perfectly because most of his positions will only be part-time, and most students only want to work part-time.

The store’s location on the second floor of the Strand Building was previously the location of The Upstage, a nightclub that opened in the 1970s and that Levick re-opened in 2000.

That building was also the location of a bar and restaurant called The Attic and a nightclub and concert hall called Club Laga. Levick owned both of these venues before he bought the building and turned it into an apartment complex in 2005.

Market on Forbes will feature a variety of items from the IGA brand. Levick said that most of these items are made by the same manufactures that make famous brand-name items, but that IGA brand items are less expensive.

“I am going to be pushing the IGA name, and we’re going to be pushing the IGA products, because it’s a great value, and I think the college students will really, really, love it,” said Levick.

Levick said his tenants in Laga Apartments are enthusiastic about having a market in their building.

“They get on a bus and they have to go over three miles to go grocery shopping,” said Levick. “They’ll be able to come down here and go shopping in their PJs.”