Cermak Fresh Market

About this location

A few stories people tell about this place

1. One morning, while stocking shelves, a delivery driver noticed something peculiar in one of the crates: a small package wrapped in brown paper and tied with string. Curious, he opened it only to find a note that read, ‘Take what you need, leave what you can.’ The delivery driver took a banana and left the rest, thinking nothing of it. Days later, everyone in town was talking about the mysterious crate. A neighbor joked, 'I hope they don’t run out of bananas!' The store manager shrugged, smiling, 'Guess we'll just have to trust people.'

2. Late one night, as an overnight cashier scanned groceries, she heard a faint humming coming from the produce section. Curious, she walked over and saw nothing but empty shelves. The next day, every banana had mysteriously changed color. Soon enough, bananas started turning different colors daily—some yellow, some greenish-blue. People began calling it ‘the market’s rainbow experiment.’ Then one morning, all the bananas were purple with little polka dots! A regular customer joked, 'Finally, Cermak Fresh Market has its own brand of fruit!'

3. One day, while scanning cans of beans, an employee wondered aloud: ‘Why does that pickle smell so familiar?’ Finally, it clicked—those pickles were from his grandmother’s garden! He ran over to the produce section and found a delivery driver loading jars. Turning to him, he asked, ‘Aren’t those your mom’s famous dill pickles?’ The driver smiled sheepishly, ‘Yep, she sends them every month.’

4. One foggy morning, as a produce clerk sorted apples, she heard an odd whisper over the store’s intercom: ‘Apples are people too, you know.’ Curious, she followed the voice and found only an empty hallway. But later that day, while restocking bananas, she noticed one banana had a tiny note: 'I’m not yellow, I’m just wearing a costume!' From then on, whenever customers asked for help finding fruit, she’d wink and say, 'Just ask—we’re all here.'