Estevan and Toncia Chavez, owners of ETC Produce & Provisions
Years after Walnut Hill’s Kroger store closed due to declining revenue, a local grocery store is slated to open in the neighborhood next year.
ETC Produce & Provisions has announced it will open its second location in Walnut Hills, targeting a summer 2024 opening. The 3,500-square-foot store will be in Model Group and Walnut Hills Redevelopment Foundation’s Paramount Launch building at the site of the former Kroger. ETC will be the anchor tenant in that building.
Matt Reckman, president of property management at Model Group, said the 2017 closure of Walnut Hill’s Kroger came as a big shock to the neighborhood. Model Group, along with Walnut Hills Redevelopment Foundation, has been working for years to bring a new grocer to the neighborhood.
Conversations started with ETC a few years ago, Reckman said. ETC founder and owner Estevan Chavez is a graduate of Purcell Marian High School, and he and wife Toncia Chavez were interested in expanding their operations to the neighborhood.
“When we started having conversations with ETC, we felt the store concept they were going for, their offering, their background and their business acumen … was the right approach for not only Walnut Hills, but also just the changing landscape of grocery and what a local, smaller scale grocery store looks like and how they operate,” Reckman told the Business Courier.
Estevan Chavez told the Business Courier he and his wife have long held a love for Walnut Hills and have wanted to open a storefront there – even before ETC opened in Findlay Market. He described ETC’s Findlay Market location as a prototype where the grocer could work out all the kinks. Now, Chavez sees Walnut Hills as a new chapter for ETC.
“This being our first standalone store in a neighborhood where it's really starting to come up, we feel like our growth is going to be tied to the neighborhood,” Chavez said. “We’re just invested in this neighborhood.”
The Walnut Hills store, located 954 E. McMillan Ave., will provide an extensive selection of locally sourced, organic and sustainably grown produce, according to a news release. ETC partners with local farms to sell and deliver their products, with the grocer currently collaborating with over 100 farms. Chavez said it’s his hope the Walnut Hills store helps inspire more farms to partner with them.
ETC also has a farm in Felicity, and Reckman said that aspect of sustainability also attracted Model Group and Walnut Hills Redevelopment Foundation to the grocer.
“We welcome ETC Produce & Provisions, and we look forward to how they can serve the food needs of our diverse neighborhood,” Walnut Hills Redevelopment Foundation Executive Director Samantha Reeves told the Business Courier.
The Walnut Hills store will have staple food brands. The large space and additional cooler storage will allow for a wider variety of products, Reckman said – including ETC expanding its array of prepared food bundles.
Kroger’s store in Walnut Hills operated for 33 years before its closure was announced in 2016. The downtown-based grocery giant cited significant profit losses, with the location losing $4.9 million in the last six years leading up to its shuttering.
Paramount Launch will now be one piece of the extensive redevelopment work Model Group and Walnut Hills Redevelopment Foundation are doing at and around the former Kroger site, with the building containing 56 apartments and commercial space.
There are two additional storefronts ranging between 1,500 and 1,700 square feet available for lease at Paramount Launch, Reckman said.
ETC is ready to continue its investment in the community and working alongside Model Group and Walnut Hills Redevelopment Foundation to benefit the neighborhood. For Chavez, it means a lot to bring ETC to Walnut Hills.
“I ran around there as a teenager when I went to Purcell,” he said. “It’s got this old school feeling – being a part of a community, really investing in the neighborhood. It’s a wonderful thing.”
