In a surprisingly bright and colorful space on the street level of a downtown Cleveland apartment building; a new store opened last week.
And that's where I found Scott Michaels. He's a professional chef who's been preparing and serving up a lot of resumes this year, after finding himself being tipped with pink slips, again, and again.
"The last several places I worked have went under."
Even in this economy, it's tough to imagine finding yourself at three places in a row that can't stay above water - but Michaels has managed to do that.
"I was chef of the Green House Café in downtown, at Tower City… it went under."
His experience and culinary degree in hand, Michaels talked to dozens of places about jobs, and eventually started to do some temporary consulting for 'small places with big ideas.' One of those was "Simply Foods" in Downtown Cleveland, a kind of upscale convenience store.
Michaels handled their menu development, ordered the foods - made the call to serve customers organic sandwich bread; sophisticated cheeses; and a full range of meats and vegetables.
With a promise of creative control, and needing a job, he decided to stay on for a time once it opened.
It's not a chef's salary - but for now.. he's not a chef. He's a deli clerk, with a culinary degree.
"I wanted to work somewhere that was doing it right, with the best ingredients, not cutting corners. You know there is beauty and art even in a simple sandwich when you use the best ingredients and really bring it to its' full potential."
The convenience store is a rarity in downtown Cleveland. And according to area office workers like Jenny Nix - it's a blessing.
"I think it will do well down here because we need something like this. Working downtown here, you need a little place to grab a cup of coffee, or something to eat and not have to hop in the car and go to Tremont."
With all the economic turmoil, you'd think that anyone hiring here...would have had no shortage of applicants.
"I have hired five people in the last five days - and I need some more."
Ashok Patel is an Indian immigrant and a former professor at Oxford University in England. He's the brains and ownership behind "Simply Foods".
He was surprised to find that getting people to work at this slightly up-scale convenience store and deli was much tougher than he expected; even though he claims his pay scale outstrips the competition.
"When I call in somebody for an interview, their first question is 'How much you gonna pay me?'. It's not "What I can do for you". John Kennedy said `What America can do for you is not the question. What can I do for America?' Everybody should be asking each other."
Despite what he considers a poor attitude of job applicants, Patel plans on opening three more downtown locations - they will be mirrors of his existing stores in Lakewood, Canton, and Mentor.
Patel says he is less cynical about the American economy than some shopkeepers, and that his effort here is partly to help the economy, by bringing hope, and jobs, to his adopted home.
"We want to help Cleveland. We believe in Cleveland. We believe in the people here. Because we are here… the community is going to come here to buy stuff, and put money in my pocket. I need to give that money back to a certain degree. We want to help - we are here to stay."
Rick Jackson
90.3.
