Press

New businesses are popping up in Shaker Square.

Developers don’t want to lose the momentum, which is why they are pushing to fill the remaining vacant spaces in the square.

Rey Galindo and his nephew Jorge Sierra Galindo are back in business in Shaker Square. The former owners of Luchita’s, a long-standing Mexican restaurant in Shaker Square, are opening a restaurant in early June. Different from Luchita’s and under a new name called Coyoacan Taqueria & Brew.

“We left about 20 years ago, and we are coming back. It’s a historic area. I just love this place. There is the rapid right in the middle and it is European,” said Galindo.

Shaker Square hopes to attract diverse businesses to its historic district with its new request for proposals.

The RFP, titled “A New Era for a Cleveland Classic,” was announced this week by Shaker Square co-owners Cleveland Neighborhood Progress and Burten, Bell, Carr Development, Inc., in partnership with FASS Real Estate Services.

The RFP seeks businesses from within the Cleveland-area and beyond the region to set up shop in the square, which has several vacancies.

Shaker Square co-owners Cleveland Neighborhood Progress and Burten, Bell, Carr Development Inc. have launched a Request for Proposals (RFP) for new retail and restaurant tenants at Shaker Square.

The RFP, released in partnership with FASS Real Estate Services, is the first step of the retail center’s plan “A New Era for a Cleveland Classic,” unveiled in January, Tania Menesse, president and CEO of CNP, told Crain’s.

“One of the first things that we want to do is ensure that the tenant mix of the square that we’ve worked really hard to better understand is continued to be reflected in the new tenants that we’re bringing in,” she said.

Shaker Square is launching a comprehensive initiative aimed at attracting a vibrant mix of storefront tenants. Titled “A New Era for a Cleveland Classic,” Shaker Square co-owners Cleveland Neighborhood Progress (CNP) and Burten, Bell, Carr Development, Inc. (BBC) in partnership with FASS Real Estate Services, are building off community input received throughout the recently completed Vision Plan to seek a retail mix that aligns with neighborhood demand.

Those interested in leasing opportunities can learn more by viewing the RFP at this link or by contacting tenant@shakersquare.com 

For the past two decades, the corner of Shaker Square and N. Moreland has been home to a coffee shop. For most of that time, it was the site of Dewey’s Coffee, which closed in 2019 after 15 years. Biggby Coffee took over the space soon after but closed in 2022.

As of last month, a cafe has returned to the northern side of the square. Café Indigo (13201 Shaker Sq.), which opened in late February, brings coffee, ice cream and light fare to the square as plans for revitalization take shape, but anchor tenants like Edwins and Edwins move out.

Shaker Square patrons have gone a little over two years without a coffee shop, but that ended on Tuesday, Feb. 25, with the opening of Cafe Indigo.

“I’m excited for the community because I know they’ve been waiting,” said Melissa Hirsch, owner of the shop at 13201 Shaker Square. “And I kind of felt like the delays that I experienced, unfortunately, impacted them, but we’re going to be good for the spring and summer. We’re going to really fly.”

Shaker Square hosts a monthly series of community events to be held throughout the summer in the historic retail destination’s public space. The free-to-attend and family-friendly events will feature local businesses, organizations, artists, authors, and creators.

The Summer on the Square series will take place on the third Saturday of each summer month, with programming beginning at 9 a.m. and continuing throughout the afternoon.

Shaker Square will kick off its new “Summer on the Square” monthly series of free-to-attend, family-friendly events this Saturday (June 17).

Taking place on the third Saturday of each month through August and featuring local businesses, organizations, artists, authors and creators, the first installment will focus on health and wellness, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

“The Summer on the Square series is an exciting opportunity to bring the community together and showcase the great amenities that Shaker Square has to offer,” said Joy D. Johnson, executive director of Burten, Bell, Carr, Inc., one of the new nonprofit owners.

Cleveland Neighborhood Progress, in partnership with Burten Bell Carr, is ready to move forward with a new vision for the area.

“Our goal is to build on the progress made in 2019 and hear from the community about their vision for the Square. To do so we are seeking experienced urban design and retail professionals to work collaboratively with us and the community in developing a long-term plan.” 

Shaker Square was the latest word in upscale urban innovation when it opened in 1929 as one of America’s first automobile- and transit-oriented shopping centers.

Built by the Van Sweringen brothers, the tycoons who went bust in the Depression, the square featured Georgian Revival-style buildings wrapped in an octagon around a five-acre central landscape. The “square” is bisected by a rapid transit line connecting the suburb of Shaker Heights to the east, and Terminal Tower downtown, to the west, both of which the brothers also built.