Life: The Feast: Little Italy showcases the heart of Italian-American culture (pg. 3)
The Case Western Reserve
Observer
Friday, August 22, 2025 Volume LVII, Issue 1 Est. 1969
NEWS
Plum Market is replaced by Spartie Mart
Bon Appétit explains their recent decision to convert Plum Market into Spartie Mart in an effort to improve the local market. One of the market’s new implementations includes a robototic espresso machine. Tyler Vu/The Observer Alyssa Wang News Editor In August, Case Western Reserve University’s local market, Plum Market Kitchen, was replaced by Spartie Mart to bring new improvements for CWRU students and faculty and the local Cleveland community. In March 2021, Plum Market Kitchen opened in University Circle’s Uptown to provide full-food service management and produce to the Cleveland community.
CWRU’s food service company, Bon Appétit, signed a contract with Plum Market to manage the Uptown Plum Market. In 2025, Bon Appétit, in partnership with CWRU, decided to take full control of the store, converting it to a Bon Appétit-managed store model. “The underlying reason for the conversion is to better position the store to serve the needs of both the university and local communities,” Richard Jamieson, the vice president of Campus Services at CWRU, said.
Since Bon Appétit is no longer under a contract with Plum Market, Bon Appétit, CWRU Auxiliary Services, and University Marketing and Communications renamed the grocery store Spartie Mart, a recognition of CWRU’s Spartan mascot. “The name is intended to strengthen the connection to the Case Western Reserve community, and in particular, our students,” Jamieson said. However, the name is not the only change the market made for the Cleveland community. Bon
Appétit will include its homemade grab-and-go meals for students’ convenience. In September, Spartie Mart is introducing a robot barista to prepare customizable espresso drinks, with hopes to add even more technology to better its customer services. Bon Appétit also plans to partner with Stonehouse Teas and AllCLE Coffee to add a wider variety of tea leaves and coffee beans. Continue reading on page 2
OPINION
Editor’s Note: Turning the page to a new volume with The Observer Darcy Chew Executive Editor Coming into college, I never imagined I would be the executive editor of The Observer. Like many others at Case Western Reserve University, I thought my time in college would be spent solving mind-boggling complex equations, volunteering at the three local hospitals and spending hours upon hours in a lab doing groundbreaking medical research. (Yes, I’m one of the many failed BME premeds.) Yet over the past three years at CWRU, what had begun as a hobby and a method to decompress after hours of STEM classes had turned into one of the most defining experiences of my college career. I joined The Observer as a staff writer my first year, covering
news topics pertaining to the campus community with articles such as the new shuttle hotline number and the creation of Swipe Out Hunger. As an extremely introverted first-year, The Observer was my way to connect with CWRU. Writing for The Observer allowed me to meet members of our undergraduate student government, interview administration, and it even encouraged me to go to various sporting events while I was copy editor and later sports editor. Not only did I foster a connection with our campus and community, I also became more aware of the role the media plays in our everyday lives. Now, I am hyper-cognizant of the media I consume. As a writer, I paid attention to how others write, their diction and how they craft a story. And now as the publisher of
The Observer, I have spent a lot of time pondering and scrutinizing the choices of major news outlets and watching the impact it has on their followers. Today, one of the biggest issues with journalism is the valid distrust in mainstream media. It is unfortunate that journalism is plagued by the sensationalization and monetization of stories that stem from a lack of adequate funding. While journalism and journalists often have a bad reputation, journalism in its pure unadulterated form is one of the most powerful things we have as a society. Knowledge is power. Staying connected to one another and being informed is one of the most valuable things one can do. So, as I step into the position of being executive editor of The Observer, I want to acknowledge the impact of our writing and recog-
nize the responsibility we carry as student journalists to be truthful and representative of actual voices on campus. As a student-run newspaper, our stories memorialize our years here at CWRU. The stories we write and publish, the sources we interview and the pictures we use all tell a story within themselves. Our goal at The Observer is to represent the diverse school community—to record and share important events and stories, but to also facilitate discourse. One of the beautiful things about the college experience is the ability to interact with people of various backgrounds and share, discuss and debate topics. Continue reading on page 5