CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Dave's Supermarket opened its first full-service grocery store on Payne Avenue in the late 1970s, at a time when most chains had abandoned Cleveland or were making plans to leave.

Three decades later, the family-owned chain has 13 stores in Northeast Ohio.

The Saltzman family business is more than a story about success in commonly accepted measures like profits and expansion. Dave's has endeared itself to much of the Cleveland area by not only refusing to give up on areas others had deserted, but by generously giving to local groups, often by donating merchandise or selling it at cost.

Perhaps no one personifies the business as much as the man many customers call "Mr. Dave." His name is Burt Saltzman, the company's chief executive office. (His father was Dave, who also worked in the business which was started as a fruit and vegetable store about 90 years ago on Payne by Burt's grandfather Alex.)

"I believe in doing what you can to help the people, and be part of the neighborhood," said Saltzman, 75. "Sometimes you feel you are being taken advantage of -- I don't know how many turkeys we gave away for Thanksgiving -- but that is part of being in the community."

Bernadette Walsh, a former community hero and director of the UpStage Players, a children's theater group, nominated Saltzman this year. She said she has seen him cut deals for nonprofit groups, including hers.

"Are you sure that is enough?" she remembers asking him when he gave her the price for merchandise. "He is a very generous man. The problem with Burt is that he doesn't say no."

Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson agrees that Saltzman's generosity appears unlimited. He said Saltzman kept extending credit to the Mayor's Holiday Food Basket Give-Away, even though the program owed Dave's "thousands." The account is now current, Jackson said.

When Jackson was a councilman, he had tried for 15 years to get a supermarket in Central, one of the city's poorest neighborhoods. Every chain said, "no" or "never."

Saltzman said "maybe," but only if certain conditions were met. He said a supermarket could be possible if the then-sparsely populated Longwood apartment complex was revitalized.

When the subsidized complex was rebuilt as Arbor Park Village, Jackson approached Saltzman again. The grocer agreed to give it a try, even though the East 40th Street store would draw the same customers as the Payne location.

Jackson is grateful the grocer was willing to take the risk.

"He did it because he believed it was the right thing to do," the mayor said. "He is a traditional businessman, who services his customers beyond just making money."

Balancing the bottom line with civic responsibility has generated much goodwill for Dave's. For example, each dollar lost on the discounted turkeys Saltzman has given to churches to feed the needy, has probably come back to the business several-fold.

I think it is part of why we are successful," he said. "When the ministers and the priests talk nicely about you, I think it is the best advertising in the world.

"It's good to have a good name and be respected," Saltzman added.

Besides, making a good living is good enough for him. He doesn't aim to maximize profits at the expense of violating his principles of compassion and helping others.

"I don't mind giving people a break," Saltzman said.

About 20 years ago, the self-confessed workaholic was persuaded to join a country club. Listening to members name-drop and talk of African safaris bored him. Saltzman spent more time chatting with the cooks and other staff, who were Dave's customers.

They told him they didn't see him as the country club type. Mr. Dave was the guy who worked the register at the Payne store.

A few months later he dropped his membership in the club.

It was taking him away from where he was happiest -- on Payne Avenue, making a difference.

With Plain Dealer news researcher Jo Ellen Corrigan

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: operkins@plaind.com, 216-999-4868