After half a decade operating on Harford Road, Hamilton’s beloved Green Onion Market is closing its doors.
Co-owner Rich Marsiglia posted the somber announcement on Facebook on Monday.
“Over the past 5 years, the Green Onion Market has provided fresh meats, dairy and produce to our N. E. Baltimore Neighborhood,” he wrote. “It is with mixed feelings that we have to announce the Green Onion Market will be closing.”
The grocery store and café will be closing “within the next two weeks,” he wrote. During that time, the store will be liquidating its inventory of fresh and locally made goods at discounted rates.
Even if you’ve never been inside, you’ve probably seen the Green Onion Market’s iconic carrot impaling the building’s brick exterior while driving up Harford Road through Lauraville and Hamilton. The business, launched in 2011, was a joint endeavor between Marsiglia, Clementine co-owner and executive chef Winston Blick and Baltimore Tattoo Museum owner Bill Stevenson.
Like Clementine, which lists the market as a partner business online, the market has placed a premium on quality, becoming a grocery staple for many Hamilton and Lauraville residents. Shoppers could also grab sandwiches and other pre-made goods at the store’s counter and café.
Marsiglia, Blick and Stevenson couldn’t be reached Wednesday morning. No one answered the phone at Green Onion Market.
Marsiglia shared his gratitude toward customers in the Facebook announcement. “I want to say from the bottom of my heart to our many loyal customers, I am truly sad to make this unavoidable business decision and will miss seeing you on a regular basis,” he wrote.
He noted he’s a resident of the neighborhood and still owns the building at 5500 Harford Road, adding, “I am sure I will see you in the neighborhood as a neighbor, volunteer or a customer at a local business.”
The closing marks a significant loss for the Northeast Baltimore neighborhood, which has a tight-knit residential and business community. Clementine, Blick’s popular restaurant and catering business located a block away, just reopened five months ago after the restaurant portion had been shuttered for nearly a year and a half. It began serving patrons again in January after Blick and his business partner filed for bankruptcy, restructured their business plan and raised money to renovate the space.
Marsiglia wrote on Facebook that he plans to lease the Green Onion space to another business.
Asked by a commenter on the post if its emblematic life-sized produce will remain at the corning of Harford Road and Hamilton Avenue, he wrote enthusiastically, “Yes the Carrot stays!”
