After spending 33 years in Illinois Disciples Foundation’s basement, Common Ground Food Co-op is bursting from the seams. So, they’re packing their bags.
Come July 1, the local grocery store will open doors in its new digs, and although Common Ground is mum about the new address, Jacqueline Hannah, general manager, says the food co-op will set up shop in one of the two downtown regions. Common Ground will announce their new location officially in mid-January.
“We are in this tiny little space in what is, politely put, the basement of a church, and we’re kind of hidden and hard to find,” Hannah says. “We’ve really outgrown the space.”
The cooperatively owned grocery store, now serving approximately 950 active members, focuses on local and organic foods and products. Common Ground is currently in the midst of an extensive relocation effort that will more than double its size, encompass a deli and small café, expand the local meat selection and most likely include indoor and outdoor seating.
The entire project will cost a little more than $600,000. The co-op’s members will pay $250,000 of the total by putting in loans to Common Ground. The relocation price tag will be paid with help from city funds, the county through job creation money, and bank loans. Common Ground’s popularity is up, and according to Hannah the co-op is doing twice the sales it was pulling in five or six years ago.
“We’re growing all the time, and we don’t have space. We haven’t for years,” Hannah says. “So it’s time for us to expand and make more of the community aware of us and be a resource to more of the community.”
Parking was another factor in Common Ground’s decision to pack up their Springfield Avenue location. In its current locale, the food co-op enjoys a decent amount of spaces — especially for Campustown — but shoppers must walk upstairs and through doors that don’t open on their own (not an easy feat while toting a shopping cart).
Both spots Common Ground is considering have more than 20 parking spots that would be designated specifically for the co-op. The possible sites are accessible to pedestrians, bikers and bus routes.
“We certainly didn’t want to end up on North Prospect or in a strip mall on Philo Road,” Hannah says. “The idea is to be central so we are a community center.”
Chatter about a possible move began in 2005, when the co-op got together to do a strategic visioning for the future.
In the new store, Common Ground’s current 900 square feet of space will double to a comfortable 2,200 square feet. The offerings will increase, predominately in the food selection. Currently Common-Ground’s goal is to stock 17 percent local produce — the highest percentage in town — but the target for the next few year is to carry 25 percent.
“Over the summer, every single week we had a new producer trying to get into the field locally who [was] approaching us,” Hannah says. “More and more local food will be becoming available, and anything we can do to support it, we will be doing.”
The “local” movement is gaining steam. With the cover of Time magazine proclaiming “Forget Organic. Eat Local” in March, more mainstream Americans are sticking their forks in local food now, and Common Ground is ready to strike while the iron is hot. When the co-op moves in July, they hope to have between 1,300 and 1,400 active members.
So, what does it mean to “go local?”
“Supporting the local food system and helping local farmers to have an outlet to sell their food so that we have food that’s from here, that is enriching our economy, and that is allowing farmers to continue to exist,” Hannah says.
On April 1, Common Ground will begin transforming its raw new space into a grocery store. Hannah has already received a dozen or so offers from members ready to load boxes. Due to Common Ground’s “co-op status,” other cooperatives from around the region will send volunteers to lend a hand — and all Common Ground needs to do is feed them.
“It’s kind of like a barn raising,” Hannah says.
The food co-op will be closed for a maximum of 48 hours, Hannah says. But it is reaching for a 24-hour closing period.
When Common Ground announces its new location in mid-January, Hannah says, the group plans on hosting a neighborhood meeting to help them successfully become a part of whichever community Common Ground sets up shop in. The co-op hopes to become an integral part of the neighborhood.
Photos by Justine Bursoni