A group building out a community-owned grocery store in Winchester organized its second annual picnic on Sunday, welcoming guests of all ages for food and activities. As WMRA previously reported, the Winchester Co-op Market is currently in the planning stages, after its co-founders began meeting in January 2024. WMRA’s Ayse Pirge reports.
Despite the heat and humidity that late August day, folks gathered at Willow Grove Farm in Winchester for the picnic.
BERTHA THOMAS: So, we started at noon… we started setting up, and we have tents up… we had the flower bar here, and the face painting station. It all kind of came together. And we wanted to have like this little bubble where everybody could be together.
Bertha Thomas is one of the founding members of the Winchester Co-op Market, and its board president. There was also some rain, which caused difficulty with the live music, but –
THOMAS: We still have some tai chi going, and then people are still here engaging, chatting, having a good time. That’s the goal of the picnic. And celebrate what we’ve achieved, and invite more people to join. I’ve spoken to a few people who are like, “oh, I’ve never heard of this.” This sounds amazing, I want to join, and so, hopefully we get more members.
The purpose of co-ops, also known as cooperatives, is to serve community needs, and that can include economic and social demands. Some utility companies, for example, are co-ops. Unlike for-profit organizations, co-ops are owned and controlled by the people who use their services or work there.
The Friendly City Food Co-op in Harrisonburg is one example of a grocery store co-op. It was initially incorporated by 20 community members in 2007, and opened a physical location in 2011. The Winchester Co-op Market is currently in its organizing phase, and Thomas says they still have a long way to go before they can secure a physical location.
They need at least 1,500 members to make it happen, and currently have 152 members. The goal this year is to reach 200 members. Compared to last year’s picnic, Thomas says that more and more people have –
THOMAS: Either heard about us through other events … or they came because their friend told them. So, it’s just a mix of just more people knowing about the co-op. And so, it makes this event even more engaged, I think. Because people are here, and they realize, oh, it’s nice to be out here, to talk to other people, and to get flowers, and to get the food, and it’s just a nice thing to do.
She says there’s much more outreach to be done.
THOMAS: But I am making sure that we make people aware of this. It’s like, this is not magically going to happen. We need membership by membership. It’s going to help us get to those numbers.
She says they are working on their business plan, and exploring ideas such as whether they should start with an initial, smaller store downtown before building their final location. And they’ve been hearing from other peers that –
THOMAS: They’re starting with smaller stores. Like a bodega style store. It’s still the same print, like the same idea, it’s just… on a smaller scale. Just so you can get something running.
Claudia Viens became a member of the co-op at last year’s community picnic.
CLAUDIA VIENS: I just support the idea. Like the idea of having local food that’s available. And we, I think, have a little bit of a food desert in downtown Winchester. We don’t really have too many places to buy fresh fruit, and vegetables in downtown Winchester. And I live in downtown Winchester. So, I would like to have a store that’s walking distance from my house that has local food, and local fruits, and vegetables.
She also hopes that they have a physical location soon.
VIENS: And I know they’re working hard to reach out to local vendors, local farmers to kind of offer like a variety of products. So, I think there’s a lot of really good ideas out there.
Kay Hallett is a founding member of the co-op. She’s pleased with the progress the Winchester co-op is making.
KAY HALLETT: As far as our organizational skills, our goals for what we want to accomplish in a certain timeframe. So, yes I’m very satisfied. And I think that the other members are too.
Hallett says that the other co-ops they’ve visited have distinct personalities – and the board hopes to create that in Winchester, too.
