Salt Lake City is getting its first community-owned grocery store this fall

SALT LAKE CITY — The Wasatch Food Co-op grocery store is planned to open this fall. It stands apart from other conventional stores because it is owned by the community and features locally grown and sourced products. 

The store will be located at 416 East 900 South in Salt Lake, in the Liberty Wells neighborhood. The area will be called The Milk Block and will be the centerpiece of several other small and local businesses. 

What is the Wasatch Food Co-op?

“Conventional grocery stores are wonderful, but they don’t always have the ability to work with small and mid-sized farms, or ranchers or producers, simply because of the scale,” said Wasatch Food Co-op Board Chair Stephanie Buranek. “And that’s what’s wonderful about the co-op is that we can kind of meet those vendors where they’re at.”

Buranek said they have been working to get a location open for the last 14 years, with members buying shares for the store before a location was ever announced.

“Founding members that said regardless of where this grocery store is going to be,” Buranek recalled,” … we want to be a part of it, and we want a vote and a say in what goes on the shelves and the operations of the grocery store.”

That’s part of what makes the store so unique, the members who own the store will be shopping at the store and get to have a say in what will be there.

The Wasatch Food Co-op will look like a regular grocery store with fresh fruits and vegetables, but also feature locally made products like soap. Buranek said that’s not all. 

“We will have toilet paper. We will have bananas. You know, those things are difficult to come by here locally,” Buranek said. “But I do think because the emphasis is on local, some of the benefits that folks are getting is that, you know, it’s all in one place.”

In addition to providing a product, they also have plans to host classes and outreach programs in sections of the store. 

“The thought of the co-op is not just that it’s a grocery store,” Buranek said, ” … but that it’s more of a third space that exists for folks outside of their home and work.”

Giving back to the community

“We signed up, my husband and I signed up to become members way back in the very beginning,” said co-op member Gwin Crist, ” … I think our number is, like, 86, our member number.”

For Crist, it was the idea of community participation that had her buying in. 

“I think it just goes back way into my childhood, so to speak,” Crist said, ” … because we were members of a food co-op when I was a kid.” 

Crist recalled the model she used — the community would come together, ordering large shipments of food to divide up. 

“It was a big potluck and, you know, and it was just like this really great community that was formed.”

Among the vendors is Salsa del Diablo.

“I’ve been a fan of co-ops,” owner Daniel Benites said. “I’ve lived in other places that have had them, so I’m excited for us to get one here, and I love the focus of local products and ingredients.”

The local salsa company boasts over 60 flavors of salsa. By working with several local and seasonal farms, they are able to have fresh seasonal products that support local businesses. He said they also do a lot of work with local refugee companies.

The co-op’s mission of helping, supporting, and giving back is part of what drew him in.

“They love our salsa, and they know, like, our story as far as, like, giving back to the community and partnering with local vendors and farms,” Benites said. “So I think for them as well, that really tied into what they were looking for in vendors.”

Buranek said the grocery store is a simple way that community members can help small businesses grow.

“Working with local farmers and producers, ranchers, and so on,” Buranek said, ” … to bring their products directly to the grocery store, really does have ripple effects throughout the local food economy, which is exciting.” 

Historic building

The building itself is a result of a community-first mindset. Buranek said it was built in 1939 and was almost torn down. But the current property owner, Kathia Dang, decided the restore the building.

“It has a long history, that building does, of providing daily needs to the Liberty Wells neighborhood,” Buranek said. 

Several other local concept businesses will be located along the block.

“The property owner, Kathia, I think is, really community-minded,” Buranek said, ” … that’s sort of what drives her is, you know, best in class kind of Utah concepts.”

Potential funding problems for the Wasatch Food Co-op

Although remodeling is underway and an opening is planned for the fall, Buranek is still a little worried about funding. She said it costs around $3.4 million to $3.6 million to start a grocery store and they had been planning on some federal funding. 

“We had been looking for some grant opportunities through the federal government, and those are temporarily on hold or maybe on hold forever.”

She said they are still on track to open this fall, but if they can’t reach their total funding goal, they will have to postpone.

“I think that this has been a labor of love for so many folks,” Buranek said, “… and that’s how we have seen success and have gotten the grocery store to the point that it’s at.”

To learn more about the Wasatch Food Co-op, visit the store’s website.

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