Akron Life March 2022

LOCAL MARKETS

FARM STAND

Something kept drawing Kayleigh Keller to a condemned 50,000-square foot historic Medina building.

“I kept sitting in the dilapidated parking lot, having a conversation with God,” says the Keller Meats owner. “What could we do with this building? How could we put a butcher shop into it?” Keller got her answer when Jon and Patty Stahl, the owners of P.J. Marley’s Restaurant & Pub, called, saying they were looking to open a local fare-focused restaurant. She began envisioning not only a Keller Meats butcher shop, but a complex featuring other farm fresh businesses. The rich agricultural history of the 1904 build ing, where farmers traded supplies through the Medina Farmers Exchange and a grain mill and feed store operated before being condemned in 2016, could flourish again. “We are a fifth-generation farm family in Medina County,” Keller says. “We can tell that story inside of a building that helped other farms survive and thrive.” She teamed with the Stahls, developer Beacon Marshall Co. and others to purchase the structure and embark on a massive $5.5 mil lion remodel. The hub opened in early 2020 with tenants including Jon Stahl’s rustic Farmer’s Table restaurant, Medina Brewing Co., 16 apartments and the Exchange Market anchored by main vendor Keller Meats. Where silos once stood, a sleek Keller Meats counter displays fresh beef, pork and poultry from crop-fed livestock raised at its 130 acre Medina farm. Head butcher, Gary Quesada, who was a chef at Main Street Cafe in Medina, is known for his artisanal cuts like bone-in tomahawk steaks and prepared foods such as smoked bacon-wrapped corn. “He has an exquisite palate,” Keller notes. Enjoy that same craft at the 1904 coffee bar, another vendor in the Exchange Market. Sip custom drinks like the Alotta Colada, a take on a Cuban breakfast coffee. Also browse the marketplace for small batch goods like Wooster-based Ol’ Dirty Sheets Hot Sauce products and Medina-based Ravine’s Edge carrot glow antiaging cream. The Exchange Market led to a Main Street Medina-run seasonal Sunday market, the Mill Street Makers’ Market and the burgeoning South Town entertainment district. It embodies Medina’s legacy of supporting its own. “The city has used this building as an exciting piece to revitalize on,” Keller adds. “Medina turns up for local businesses.” KP 320 S. Court St., Medina, facebook.com/theexchangemarket.com

photos by Alan Chavez

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