Gibbs Cheese
Jeff Gibbs & Clare Steele in front of their stand at Historic Findlay Market
Gibbs Cheese is an institution at Findlay Market. This business has been passed down through five generations over more than a hundred years, and to this day, it remains a beloved mainstay for shoppers of all ages.
“I’ve been here long enough that one Christmas, we had four generations of the same family standing in front of my stand. I’ve waited on generations of families and they’ve all gotten to know me,” says Jeff Gibbs, fifth-generation owner of Gibbs Cheese.
He’s a self-proclaimed Market brat, growing up alongside fellow future legacy business owners like the Silverglades, the Geigers, and the Spiess family, among others. Jeff says he was a late bloomer among the Market brats. “We all grew up together, because we started working when we were 10 or 11. I mean, I was an old guy; I didn’t start working until I was 12.”
In the early 80s, Jeff took over the business from his father and uncle, who retired just a few years apart, and has been holding steady ever since. Following in their footsteps, Jeff’s father and uncle Russ were well-known characters at the Market during their time as owners as well. “Russ was a force in this building. He was a big man with a big laugh, and he always wore red suspenders. People still remember Russ,” Jeff says.
A variety of cheeses in the case at Gibbs Cheese
You wouldn’t know it by looking at the case, but in its first few decades in business Gibbs was primarily known for selling butter and eggs. They slowly expanded their selection over time to include more grocery staples, but more or less kept their selection simple in the early days. “I was the white bread guy,” Jeff says. “I had lunch meat and 30 different kinds of cheese. I’m not an entrepreneur, but I can manage anything. You show me what works, I’ll do it better than you.”
Al Silverglade was a big influence on Jeff as he was taking over Gibbs Cheese and turning it into the business he envisioned. “Al took me under his wing and I just looked around his shop and saw what worked,” he says. Over time, Gibbs’ selection grew and changed alongside their customer base and what they were looking for. Expanding into the cheese business was mostly circumstantial, Jeff says.
If guests asked for a certain type of cheese and Jeff didn’t have it, he’d start stocking it. But when a longtime grocer in the Market House went out of business, Jeff and his team had to quickly expand their selection to accommodate an influx of shoppers. “When the Krauses went out of business, I said, ‘I’m gonna need more cheese!’”
These days, Gibbs offers dozens and dozens of varieties of domestic and imported cheeses along with staple groceries like lunch meat, butter, and eggs, as well as Clare’s famous fudge. Fudge was an addition suggested by Al Silverglade, but Clare has been the mastermind behind the fun seasonal flavors and beautiful displays for more than 16 years. “What she’s done with that fudge business is just remarkable,” Jeff says.
Jeff, Clare, and staff members at Gibbs Cheese
Gibbs is run by a steady crew that you can count on to help you find the perfect cheese and leave you laughing all the way home. Much like Clare, many folks who work at Gibbs have been there for quite some time. You can catch the whole crew piled into a pickup truck moseying their way through the Findlay Market Opening Day Parade each year.
Gibbs Cheese and the Opening Day Parade have deeply intertwined histories. “I went to 53 or 54 Opening Days in a row,” Jeff says. “There’s a photo of me, my dad, and my uncle at home plate in 1960. I was four years old.”
Jeff was instrumental in making the Findlay Market Opening Day Parade possible for decades. From training parade marshals and organizing the parade lineup to appearing on the news, he made sure Cincinnati’s favorite holiday went off without a hitch (including during the MLB strike in the ‘94-’95 season!) until he stepped down from the parade committee almost 10 years ago.
Jeff Gibbs is known for many things; being the “Cheese Man,” putting on a great parade, talking your ear off, having the longest tenure of any single employee at the Market, and most of all, being a familiar face to every person who walks through the doors at Findlay Market.
Published February 2026