Ten years ago, Co-op Market Grocery & Deli opened in Fairbanks as the first member-owned cooperative grocery store in Alaska.
Nearly 4,000 Alaskans are current owners of the of the Co-op Market Grocery & Deli. Anduin McElroy is on the board of directors.
“So, shopping here is like shopping your values. That’s why we’re here,” she said.
McElroy says owners pay a one-time, $200 dues payment and get discounts.
“Some people do it for the discounts, but other people do it just ‘cause they believe in the idea,” she said.
Owners also can ask for the store to stock items they want, and they vote in the board of directors.
“It’s not some corporate big wig in another state. It is your local people, your community members,” McElroy said.
Owners also choose the charities that get the money from the store’s innovative “Lend a Hand” program. Customers are asked at the checkout stand if they would like to ‘round up’ their purchase total the next highest dollar, and the extra change goes to charity.
You do not have to be an owner to shop at the store.
It occupies part of the old Foodland grocery building in downtown Fairbanks. Volunteers and staff converted and upgraded the interior before the store opened in 2013.
Rich Seifert was one of the originators of the store. He said it took several years to make a profit, and the store has since weathered changes in the retail landscape in Fairbanks.
”We seesaw back and forth. Sam’s Club stopped and then we had a boom, and then Costco came in and we had a drop,” he said.
The store stayed open during the pandemic, and often had items in stock that had sold out at the large chain grocery stores. During the recent egg shortage, the co-op had eggs from local farmers.
McElroy says the store buys brands that aren’t available in the chain grocery stores like Fred Meyer, Safeway and Walmart. The produce is all organic, and some is grown locally.
“It’s not just a little grocery store. It represents food security, a local economy,” “he said. We have standards that not all grocery stores have.”
Those standards, the organic produce and special brands have a reputation for high prices, but McElroy says they shouldn’t.
”I think that’s a myth that people go in and they think it’s just expensive ‘cause they, maybe they see a specialty product or something, but, but really it’s, it’s a reasonable place to shop,” she said.
“Yeah. It’s always been a perception problem,” Seifert said.
The store is now connected with a Pacific Northwest cooperative wholesale operation, which has brought prices down.
Executive Director Amber Quesenberry says plans for the next ten years include another store and more local products.
“ In-state Alaska products is our highest priority. It would really eliminate a lot of our shipping concerns, plus help support the local economy. Adding an additional location would be beneficial to the community, so it’s easier to be accessible for both sides,” Quesenberry said.
