Chicago Market Co-op: I'd like to see this happen

I found out just yesterday on an Albany Park Facebook page that there's a serious attempt to open up a grocery co-op on the North Side. As much as I'd like something like this to happen, I don't have a spare $250 to throw at it right now, but maybe some of you folks do?

http://www.chicagomarket.coop/

I'm surprised it's taken me this long to get wind of it, but when I passed the info along to some friends, it turned out they'd already chipped in. Why does Chicago have so little in the way of independently owned natural foods stores?

Why does Chicago have so little in the way of independently owned natural foods stores?

There were a number of them in this area until Whole Foods, the Wal-Mart of the niche market, moved in. I still miss the Oak St. Market in Evanston something awful; they and another independent store, as well as the two Wild Oats-affiliated stores in town, were bought out/muscled out.

They have a $25/month option, which we are doing. I served on the board of directors of the Davis Food Co-op in California, and learned a LOT about our food supply system. I wasn't that surprised when we didn't find a co-op in Kansas City, but I was pretty puzzled to find none in Chicago. Please consider supporting this effort. From where I'm sitting, these guys seem to have done their homework and really have their act together.

(I wish I could say the same for another group trying to get a co-op happening in Rogers Park... they don't even have a web site yet, so I can't link to it for you. I hope they find their stride soon, but until they can get their technological ducks in a row, I don't hold much hope for the other organizational skills they are going to need to get a co-op off the ground.)

There was a very important co-op in Hyde Park - one of the reasons I moved to Hyde Park initially but sadly right before it went out of business.

http://www.cooperativegrocer.coop/artic ... r-75-years

I saw folks from the North side effort at GCM recently and hope they can pull it off.

Hi- I actually considered joining a buying club in Evanston a number of years ago. The distributor that they ordered from that was located in Minneapolis,Blooming Prairie, was bought out a few years ago by a larger outfit, and they are not allowing people to form new buying clubs. The problem though is in rural areas where there aren't any Whole Foods.

Once I went to an organic farm tour in the Champaign area, and people that attended this, that lived in the area, said they would love a Whole Foods to open up in Champaign. Once when I was at a town hall meeting that the downtown Evanston had, there were several people there who mentioned how much they missed Oak Street Market. One of the Whole Foods guys that was there from corporate said that they were trying to make their stores feel more personal.

I have found out that in Evanston there is little interest in forming a buying club or food coop. People have told me that since Whole Foods has opened up, they don't feel the need to join a buying club. Isn't there a natural food market where Morse Street Market used to be?

In Ann Arbor the food coop has managed to survive despite two Whole Foods and one Plum Market. I believe that they were forced to close one of their two locations when Whole Foods came into town though. BTW- Grand Food Center in Winnetka has a groupon right now. Hope this helps, Nancy

I grew up in Evanston and remember Oak Street Market, People's Market, etc. well. I also remember Mom, during a period when I was a kid and we had no car, schlepping us on the El to the market that used to be on Morse to help her carry bags home. When I was even younger than that, I remember my parents setting up some kind of buying club with some friends, but it didn't last long. My sister-in-law and her family belong to a co-op in St. Paul, and my brother-in-law and his family have been members of the Ann Arbor one for ages.

I think the combination of CSAs and mail order has taken away some of the demand for a full-service natural/local foods market, and most of the time I can't stomach Whole Foods selling, say, wild salmon for nearly double what it goes for at Fresh Farms or Costco. Unfortunately CSAs aren't a good option for us because of my husband's bizarre and far-ranging dietary restrictions (spinach and chard are verboten, as well as whole wheat? that's the low-oxalate diet for you, but at least it beats kidney stones). If last month hadn't involved 2 transatlantic tickets to visit my ailing father-in-law and the unexpected purchase of a new fridge, I might feel differently about the whole thing. Maybe I can talk him into the $25/month option.

We also have the Dill Pickle Coop, which is near Logan Square:

http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=26942

I've been curious, but never managed to get there.

Jen

Pie-love wrote:We also have the Dill Pickle Coop, which is near Logan Square:

http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=26942

I've been curious, but never managed to get there.

Jen

I asked people here about the Dill Pickle back in June (the last post in that thread) because I've been debating buying into the Chicago Market. I've visited the Dill Pickle only once (not real close to me) so I'd like to know from others who have visited more (or are owners) what they think of it -- i.e., how good is their selection, how constant is the selection, how is the shopping experience, etc. My problem is that $250 is a lot to spend merely to have the right to shop at a store, particularly when you don't know exactly where that store will be, and what they will have to offer. Every time I think I'm ready to buy in, I back off just a bit . . . though I still think I may buy in . . . I just need more convincing.

BR wrote:

Pie-love wrote:We also have the Dill Pickle Coop, which is near Logan Square:

viewtopic.php?f=16&t=26942

I've been curious, but never managed to get there.

Jen

I asked people here about the Dill Pickle back in June (the last post in that thread) because I've been debating buying into the Chicago Market. I've visited the Dill Pickle only once (not real close to me) so I'd like to know from others who have visited more (or are owners) what they think of it -- i.e., how good is their selection, how constant is the selection, how is the shopping experience, etc. My problem is that $250 is a lot to spend merely to have the right to shop at a store, particularly when you don't know exactly where that store will be, and what they will have to offer. Every time I think I'm ready to buy in, I back off just a bit . . . though I still think I may buy in . . . I just need more convincing.

i recently became an owner of the DP. i pay $50/year for 5 years until i'm fully vested. i'm also volunteering there 2 hours a week. i mostly do it because i support the idea of a cooperative, democratically run market. but i do think the selection is quite good, particularly if one is a vegan or a vegetarian (i'm neither). also, unlike most grocery stores, there are several freezers full of midwestern poultry, meat and fish, (which may not be immediately evident when you walk in the front door). i want to practice what i preach; which is not to eat animals that have been mistreated while they were alive, or pumped full of antibiotics. the store will be moving to a larger space soon- i don't know where, but it'll still be in logan square. not everyone can or wants to support a cooperative, but the more owners, the more the store will grow and the more prices will eventually come down and the more affordable it'll be for everyone in the future....

Pie-love wrote:We also have the Dill Pickle Coop, which is near Logan Square:

http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=26942

I've been curious, but never managed to get there.

Jen

I went today, just to check it out, and I don't think it's a good option for us. Produce pickings were pretty slim, and for the price they were asking for green peppers, they were shriveled. There was some good stuff in the bulk bins, but fresh produce is key for us. If it were closer to us, I could see stopping in now and again for dried beans or bread or milk, but we don't eat much in the way of prepared foods.

Eva Luna wrote:

Pie-love wrote:We also have the Dill Pickle Coop, which is near Logan Square:

http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=26942

I've been curious, but never managed to get there.

Jen

I went today, just to check it out, and I don't think it's a good option for us. Produce pickings were pretty slim, and for the price they were asking for green peppers, they were shriveled. There was some good stuff in the bulk bins, but fresh produce is key for us. If it were closer to us, I could see stopping in now and again for dried beans or bread or milk, but we don't eat much in the way of prepared foods.

the DP is getting a new produce section, much bigger, i'm told, this very wednesday. (i think it's new refrigeration). i know the produce manager is very limited by the area in which she can display produce. hopefully, it'll be much improved. i can't speak to the pricing....

We don't live nearby the Dill-Pickle but we are members. I go maybe once every 6-8 weeks on average.

I've signed up as well. Seems like a good all-around idea, and I agree that they seem to have their act together. They send out detailed, info-filled emails, often with events for members, etc.

While the word “co-op” might conjure images of 1970s-era health food stores run by communal labor, today's co-ops are an outgrowth of the modern sustainability and locavore movements, a year-round version of a farmers market.

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/ ... food-co-op

Chicago Market, a cooperative that specializes in locally grown and organic foods, said on Thursday that it wants to open a grocery store in Uptown's historic Gerber Building, currently being restored to its 1920s glory by the CTA.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-g ... story.html

I've been particularly down on the non-Asian specialty grocery offerings in this neighborhood so this is a welcome development.