THE BLACK GATSBY

STR Corporation & CAREER

After achieving success with his small food store within a few years, Rogers expanded the store’s hours and product lines. He then purchased an additional store in the late 1960s on 81st and Euclid Street in Cleveland, Ohio.

Rogers SuperValus 

Rogers purchased the store at 81st and Euclid, then known as Gale’s SuperValu, with the help of dairy salesman, Fred Henley, who worked for SealTest Dairy, one of the largest dairy operators in the country at the time. Henry gave Rogers extended credit on milk deliveries which he converted to cash to expand business. Rogers purchased the store from Stanley Gale for $136,000 with support from the Greater Cleveland Growth Corporation and other banks that were supporting Black people entering into the business sphere. Rogers borrowed $100,000 from Union Commerce Bank and raised an additional $37,000. Upon buying the store, Rogers did not have enough working capital to pay for the first load of groceries. The previous owner, Gale, vouched for Rogers, guaranteed Rogers’ loan to the supplier, and asked the supplier to give Rogers a seven-day credit. Rogers bought volume at about $700,000 - $800,000 and finished the store at 1.4-1.5 million in sales, doubling their original volume. 

Through this purchase, Rogers was able to become part of a SuperValu co-op at a time when most Black people were not permitted to become members of co-ops. SuperValu support for guaranteeing set groceries for additional stores. With this support, Rogers purchased a former Kroger store. With the SuperValu name at the forefront, Rogers was able to hide his identity as a Black man. 

Soon Rogers convinced banks to lend him up to 2.5 million dollars at a time. From the mid 1960s to the late 1970s, Rogers opened eight stores under the SuperValu name.

S. Rogers Development Company 

Between 1962 and 1972, Rogers started the S. Rogers Development Company, rehabilitating apartment buildings. The Rogers stores that operated in shopping complexes were also developed under this arm. This initiative lasted through the early 1990s. 

Food Central Institutional Warehouse

In 1979, in response to a growing need for a facility that could handle tractors, trailers, groceries, and direct shipments from Proctor and Gamble, Rogers opened the Food Central Institutional Warehouse. Located in the Lee Harvey South Miles area, in a former Buicks parts plant, this facility was 81,000 square feet, had seven loading docks, and contained a meat processing plant. This warehouse provided food to state prisons, colleges, and various institutions on the state level under the Minority Participation Program. 

Rogers IGA

In 1982, Rogers opened IGA in the Green Light Shopping Center. At 36,000 sq feet, this was the largest store opened to date and contained an in-store bakery and deli. The store ran for three years and was ultimately unsuccessful, and burned down in a fire in 1986. Rogers lost two million dollars on the operation.

Mercantile Construction Company

In 1982, Rogers added a construction arm to operations under the name Mercantile Construction Company. The property held 3.6 acres and provided construction services, building curbs and pouring concrete for the city of Cleveland and surrounding county.

Activism & POLITICAL INVOLVEMENT

Black Gatsby Initiatives

In the early 1980s, Steven Rogers began raising money for the United Negro College Fund. This campaign was largely funded through a series of fundraising balls held by Rogers. Assisted in planning by Dr. George Fraser and John Glover (President of the Ohio chapter of UNCF), these balls, held in 1983 and 1984, hosted 600 to 700 people. The all-white and roaring 30’s theme earned Steven Rogers the name, “Black Gatsby” by Cleveland Magazine. “The Gatsby balls,” as these events came to be known, were held in an iconic Cleveland mansion at 2905 Fairmont Boulevard. This historic home was originally built in 1912 by architect Hamilton Mead as a gift from John D. Rockefeller to his niece, Anna Rockefeller.

Throughout the 1980s Rogers continued to host parties for worthy causes, attracting the attention of names like Bryant Gumbel, Dick Gregory, and Jessie Jackson.

First Bank National 

In 1979, Rogers became one of the original investors in First Bank National, a Black bank in Cleveland at the time. John Bustamuntue was one of his strongest supporters and the chairman of the bank. 

First Black Lobby

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Rogers worked with Earl Graves, founder of Black Enterprise magazine, to create the First Black Lobby in the United States. Funded by the Black Enterprise 100 members, the group was created to lobby for Black business interests in Washington D.C. In 1978, President Jimmy Carter invited Rogers, alongside the Black Enterprise 100 members, to Washington, DC to honor the outstanding achievement of Black business owners. 

Nation of Islam (NOI)

Rogers identified with the Nation of Islam as a religious and political organization with an emphasis on Black nationalism and the development of the African diaspora, especially African Americans. 

Jesse Jackson Presidential Campaign   

From November 1983 to 1984, Rogers served as Ohio State Treasurer and sat on the steering committee for Jesse Jackson. Rogers also raised funds for the campaign.