Open Source: Why is The Woodward Kitchen closing its doors?

MOUNT VERNON — The Woodward Kitchen will close it doors to businesses on July 15 after four years of welcoming local vendors to rent its space.

Located in the basement of the Woodward Opera House Conservancy (WOHC), the kitchen serves as a shared commercial space for small food businesses that require access to a licensed kitchen. It enables food trucks, street vendors and independent businesses to safely prepare, cook and distribute food products.

The space was crucial to vendors unable to build, afford or maintain a kitchen of their own.

The kitchen was part of the larger Woodward Opera House redevelopment project. Ariel Foundation is among those who provided grants to support the construction and management of the opera house and annex.

Yellowbird Foodshed managed the kitchen for four years in exchange for using it for free.

Benji Ballmer, co-founder of Yellowbird, said the goal of the partnership was to help manage and develop the Woodward Kitchen for the benefit of the Woodward Building, its users and the broader community.

Since 2022, the facility acted as an asset to the community and provided a “vast array” of entrepreneurs and food businesses with access to equipment “they needed to fulfill what we understood the original mission of that kitchen and building to be,” Ballmer wrote in an email.

During this time, Carol McCartney was in charge of managing and facilitating the use of the space. The aim was for the foodshed to use the space for events and various culinary activities while also renting the space out to local businesses.

“Our intent was to use it much more than we did,” McCartney said. “… Yellowbird left because we were not using the kitchen as we had originally intended.”

Earlier this year, Yellowbird declined the opportunity to continue operating as a tenant of the Woodward kitchen, according to the WOHC Board of Directors.

Board cites financial concerns about continuing community kitchen

The existing arrangement was no longer a financially sustainable option for the Woodward, according to the WOHC Board.

“We sincerely appreciate the time and effort Yellowbird Foodshed invested in operating the commercial kitchen through the entity it established, known as ‘The Woodward Kitchen,’ ” the WOHC Board said in a statement to Knox Pages.

“After careful consideration, the Board of Directors determined that the existing arrangement was no longer sustainable, as it did not provide funding to The Woodward Opera House to offset utilities and overhead expenses. As a result, the Board has decided to move forward with leasing the space to another local business.”

At least 20 local businesses have been affected by this, according to a post on The Woodward Kitchen’s Facebook page. This includes Chef Meagan’s Food Truck, owned by Meagan Stewart.

“We suggested to the Woodward that Chef Meagan, who works in the kitchen, would be a good person to lease it to. … They went a different path,” McCartney said.

Stewart declined to comment for this story.

Dinner Club owner Brook Maikut said he also approached WOHC with an offer to take over the lease. The conservancy denied his request.

Vendors were emailed on May 2 that the kitchen was closing; however, three weeks later they received another message stating the kitchen was to stay open. They were told on June 29 the kitchen was under new management.

“At first we were told that we would be able to continue being members, but then the new management told me that is not true and that we need to move out immediately,” Maikut said.

“Through our collective efforts, I believe we fulfilled our mission and presented the (WOHC Board) with an understanding of both the opportunities and challenges facing the facility and a clear path forward to keep it operating and available to any current and prospective tenants,” Ballmer wrote.

Avalos Foods, a Columbus-based food company owned by José Avalos, will lease the space beginning in August. The company owns Fiesta Mexicana and Lola’s Fresh Taqueria located in Mount Vernon.

José Avalos confirmed the company entered into a lease agreement for the Woodward Kitchen.

“Avalos Foods was approached by representatives of the Woodward regarding the opportunity to lease the kitchen space. … Our company currently operates a commissary kitchen, and our existing space has become too small for our growing needs,” Avalos wrote in a text.

Avalos will operate the facility under an exclusive lease approved by the WOHC Board, and the kitchen equipment will be used exclusively by Avalos.

“The decision to lease the kitchen was made by the Woodward’s leadership and board. Avalos Foods was not involved in that decision-making process. Our understanding was that the Woodward was seeking a tenant for the space, and we were offered the opportunity to lease it,” Avalos wrote.

Avalos Foods has been a part of the Mount Vernon community since 1997.

“We are grateful for the opportunity to continue being here. The kitchen will be used as a commissary and food production … (we) look forward to being a positive contributor to the local community,” Avalos wrote.

‘I fear this may end my business’

McCartney said an undisclosed number of businesses are likely to shut down as a result of this change. She has been actively working to help the businesses find new places to work.

“I’ve been doing my best for the last two months or so to find new homes for all the businesses, to help them out as much as I could,” she said.

Despite this, she said closures are still likely. This is largely due to a lack of local community kitchens and high prices at other options, such as church commissaries.

Chelsee Barlow, owner of Barlow Board Co., is among those who used the kitchen. She said the end of the community kitchen may cause her business to end operations.

“My business started less than a year ago. I was only able to start it because of the Woodward Kitchen. I was so excited we had this kind of resource available for small businesses in the area,” Barlow wrote in an email.

The next closest commissary kitchens are located in Mansfield and Columbus. Other options, such as church commissaries, cost more to rent.

“I don’t do a volume large enough to rent another space, and my profit margin isn’t large enough that I can afford to spend the extra money on gas to rent a kitchen out of town,” Barlow wrote.

She has no future prospects for a space to run her business.

“I fear this may end my business. Mount Vernon seems like a town that tries to support small businesses. This change feels like a slap in the face to all of us small businesses that utilize the kitchen,” Barlow wrote. “The decision feels like it’s in opposition to small businesses.

“My only hope is that a similar space could be opened somewhere else so that businesses don’t close.”

Community Roots, a therapeutic horticultural organization, used the space for programs such as USDA Farm to School and recidivism reduction initiatives. These programs encouraged independent living skills and workforce development.

A Community Roots representative said the loss of the kitchen leaves the organization without a space to host these programs or raise the funds needed to run them.

“As a former contracted ‘Kitchen Client’ of the Woodward Kitchen, Community Roots was saddened by the change from a shared community asset to its sole use by a private, for-profit business entity,” the organization said in a statement.

A number of other vendors who used the kitchen declined to comment on the situation due to fear of retaliation from WOHC Board of Directors.

As for Maikut, he is moving his business out of Mount Vernon and to Columbus. He sees the situation as a loss to the community and city.

“I’m just really disappointed … we were never given a chance to discuss it with the (WOHC Board) or given a fair chance to lease it ourselves … I was told that it wasn’t for lease, and that if it ever was, I would be (given a chance). That did not happen,” Maikut said.