Banding together for broccoli

August 13, 2009 9:23 AM

Are there books or resources for starting a co-operative grocery store in the United States?
posted by parmanparman to Work & Money (3 answers total)

yep. start here, which will lead you to things like this.

good luck! we've (er, i should say THEY'VE since i'm just a $ donor at this point) been working on ours for some time in new orleans. lots of work, but tremendous rewards.
posted by msconduct at 9:38 AM on August 13, 2009

You should email the people behind NYC's Park Slope co-op. They are very helpful and it's one of the largest and most successful true co-ops in the US. It's an unusual co-op because it relies so heavily on members to do all tasks, not just provide financial support.
posted by melissam at 9:39 AM on August 13, 2009

A student-run food cooperative is just getting off its feet in Berkeley, CA. They recently threw a website together and also run a wiki. You may want to explore the following sites or even get in touch with some of the key players for their thoughts/advice:

Website: http://berkeleyfoodcoop.com/
Wiki: http://sites.google.com/site/berkeleyfoodcoop/

Good luck with your venture!
posted by mahoganyslide at 10:15 AM on August 13, 2009