Cooperating on a grocery store

Vancouver Food Co-op may be able to satisfy needs of downtown business owners

BY JESSICA SWANSON of the VBJ

You just never know which way people are going to go. I really thought the downtown Vancouver businesses adjacent to the indoor Vancouver Farmers Market would be outraged, or at the least, deeply disappointed that the market is dissolving after two years of failed attempts to secure produce vendors at the space. (See “Space Available” on page 1.) The market, which obviously never became financially solvent, will close at the end of September.

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But the area business owners are pragmatic – the indoor market was such a bust, having it gone won’t be any different than having it there, and the bottom line of these Esther Short anchor retailers just won’t be affected, they say. Heck, one business owner didn’t even know it was vacating.

These business owners are also optimistic. They say with the market gone, there is room for what they really want – a grocery store. A constant refrain among downtown residents and businesses, there is a belief that a small high-end grocery would be supported. However, repeated attempts to attract such a grocer to the area have been rebuffed.

One organization that has a plan to locate a grocery store downtown is the Vancouver Food Cooperative, in existence since 2003 and incorporated in 2006. Part of the organization’s stated mission is to locate a retail grocery co-op west of Interstate 5 and south of 39th St. A capital campaign and membership drive kicked off July 1. The co-op has a new website (www.vancouverfood.org) with details on membership, which is a one-time fee of $180. According to the minutes of the last board meeting, the organization needs $25,000 to apply for a Food Co-op 500 loan of $25,000, and meeting a goal of $100,000 will trigger a hunt for space. Only 555 people would need to purchase a single share to make this happen and any one adult can purchase up to 20 shares.

There are many creative ways to bring a viable grocery store to downtown Vancouver, and this appears to be one of the simplest. Several vibrant and very long-standing co-ops exist in the metro area – and sell high end items such as those found in a Zupans or Wild Oats. It would not be a stretch to bring one here. Downtown businesses could lead the charge, if they were motivated to – and it sounds like they just might be.

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