Shoppers who have been wondering about empty shelves at an iconic local market might get some answers soon.
Records indicate an initial case management conference in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court is set for March 18 for a case involving the building that houses Clifton Market.
Further legal proceedings in that case could shed new light on the future of the well-known community grocery store.
What we know
The foreclosure proceeding is one of several civil cases the owners of the market face in Cincinnati and beyond.
Gurmukh Singh has owned the building at 319 Ludlow Avenue since 2019, when he purchased the property under Lyjaad LLC from the Clifton Market Co-op.
Clifton Market opened in 2017 to replace Keller's IGA, which closed in 2011 after 70 years in business. But the cooperative market soon ran into its own financial difficulties and faced foreclosure. Singh was already managing the market when he bought it, according to media reports at the time.
Now the store's fate is again in question. Recent visits found little in the way of produce or other staple items. Some aisles are almost entirely empty.
Singh has attributed the lack of product to the closure of some of the market's distributors.
"The downturn in Clifton Market was triggered by Laurel Wholesellers unexpectedly shutting down and conducting a mass layoff of employees in April 2025," a statement by the market posted to social media reads. "This left us and countless other independent grocers throughout the Midwest and Southeast regions of the US scrambling to find suppliers who could: stock our shelves at an appropriate price point, provide us with the product offerings our customers desire, make regular deliveries, and offer credit terms that allow an independent grocery store to thrive in a low margin and highly competitive industry."
But there are also other difficulties, court records show.
Wesbanco Bank, Inc. filed foreclosure proceedings on the building and others owned by Singh and his wife, Genet Singh. That foreclosure was filed in 2024 in Warren County, where the Singhs reside.
The action involved multiple loans on several Clifton properties. A Warren County judge issued a certificate of judgement against the Singhs, but WesBanco filed to have that certificate released in April 2025, after the two parties apparently came to an agreement.
In a new foreclosure filing in Hamilton County Court entered in November last year, WesBanco alleged the couple were still delinquent on payments on those mortgages and moved for foreclosure sale of the properties.
WesBanco's filings allege the Singhs are behind on payments on a $1.6 million mortgage involving the Clifton Market building and mortgages worth hundreds of thousands of dollars on three other residential properties in Clifton.
In a response filed in late January seeking dismissal of the foreclosure proceedings, the Singhs said they've made $900,000 in payments to the bank under the previous deal to bring their mortgages current.
Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge Wende C. Cross has not dismissed the case and proceedings have gone forward since that filing.
WVXU reached out to the Singhs via contact information on court documents and for the market. A reporter also reached out to attorneys representing WesBanco and has not gotten a response.
Other difficulties
The legal action is one of several cases involving the Singhs and the market.
The largest is a decision by Hamilton County Judge Jennifer Branch in January finding the market owed Lipari Foods more than $119,000 for product the company supplied but the market hadn't paid for in a timely manner.
The Erie Insurance Company also filed a lawsuit in Hamilton County against the Singhs in May last year alleging they owed $12,000 for insurance on the market. The court ruled for the plaintiffs in October and ordered garnishment in December last year in that case. The case has been continued, however, with the next hearing in April.
And in January this year, the Northside Meat Company filed a lawsuit against the market alleging its owner wrote more than $8,000 in returned checks for meat. That case is ongoing.
Hamilton County Sheriffs records indicate Gurmukh Singh was in the Hamilton County Justice Center March 9 for writing a returned check for about $1,000 to Martin & Company Wines in January. Court records allege that after Singh failed to pay the company back by a Feb. 28 deadline, a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Hamilton County Clerk of Courts records show he was held briefly and then released on his own recognizance. It is unclear if the wine was for the market or another business Singh owns.
In a statement, Clifton Market says Singh tried to cancel the wine delivery but was unable to.
"Mr. Singh did not learn of the check being issued, or the warrant and criminal complaint, until March 9, 2026," the statement reads. "As soon as Mr. Singh learned about the criminal complaint, he immediately made the payment to the merchant the same day. Mr. Singh went into the sheriff’s office in person to update them on the cleared case, but he was wrongfully arrested as soon as he arrived at the sheriff’s office."
Not the only struggling store
According to Lorain County Clerk of Courts records, another roughly $3 million foreclosure case is unfolding in Oberlin, Ohio, around an IGA the Singhs own there. The Singhs purchased the store in 2022.
Media reports say Lorain County Health inspectors found temperatures there were 55 degrees in December. Reporting also says a county inspector heard allegations from employees they were not being paid, something Singh has denied. The store closed "indefinitely" last month.
Singh also ran another IGA in Butler County that closed last November. He purchased Ross IGA Plus, which was operating out of a leased building, in 2024. Butler County Clerk of Courts records reveal Singh faces ongoing legal action related to that store as well.
Other filings in Hamilton County Courts allege another LLC owned by the couple, Ghuman Investments, owes a local law firm about $22,000 for legal representation on an unsuccessful property deal in Clifton.
In response to the firm's lawsuit, Genet Singh claims her husband suffered from significant medical issues late last year.
In its statement, Clifton Market said the health issues have further impeded its ability to recover from its issues, but that it would not be closing.
"We know we have a lot to remedy," the statement reads. "We also know we can turn around Clifton Market again, but we cannot do this without the faith and support of our local community."
This story has been updated with a statement from Clifton Market and to add information about Ross IGA Plus.
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