Grand Opening

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Let’s celebrate our new store! Saturday January 18 at 11am–6pm we’re going to have some cool stuff happening and we hope you’ll stop by. Grand opening events include:

Free reusable bags:

Get one of these bags with any purchase (first 500 shoppers).

Activities for kids:

Bumble Art Studio will be here at 11am–1pm with a variety of crafts for little ones including a collaborative community canvas. Here is a look at what else is in store:

Crazy fruit mobiles
Astoria rainbow mobiles

We will have face painting at 12pm–3pm and North Coast Food Web will host a veggie petting zoo and DIY trail mix at 2–5pm.

Amazing deals all weekend:

We’ve got some crazy low prices on highly coveted items. Juicy organic heirloom navels for just .25 each, organic olive oil for $3 and organic peanut butter for $2. Click here to see all our grand opening deals on sale January 18-19.

Prize drawings:

Enter to win a $250 co-op gift card, co-op organic cotton t-shirts and organic cotton totes. We’ll have some cool other vendor prizes as well like swag from Equal Exchange.

Samples galore:

This schedule is totally subject to change, but here’s the lineup as we write this post:

  • Active Demos (a.m.)
    • Equal Exchange coffee 10am–2pm
    • Organically Grown Co. 11am–3pm
    • Farm Fresh Clothing 11am–6pm
    • Grandma Candy’s jams 11am–3pm
    • Katie’s high fat coffee demo 11am–1pm
    • Dan’s in-house meat demo 11–1pm
  • Active Demos (p.m.)
    • Buoy Beer 3–6pm
    • Little Island Creamery 2–6pm
    • Abiqua Winds wine 4–6pm
    • Cardamom Hills chutney 3–6pm
    • Mitchell Wines 4–6pm
    • PDX/Delicious Wines 4–6pm
    • Fort George 4–6pm

Delicious cake:

Chef Andy Catalano and crew will be preparing chocolate cake with salted caramel, carrot cake and gluten-free cookies. Board members will serve the cake after lunch starting at 1pm until it’s gone.

We hope to see your smiling face at the new store sometime soon. We so appreciate your support!

New Change for Community Recipients

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It’s a new year and we’ve got a new set of local non-profits we’re raising funds for! They are: Clatsop County Historical Society, Northwest Trails Coalition and Astoria Senior Assistance Program. You can support these awesome local non-profits January-March by donating your reusable bag credits (beans) and pocket change.

Each month, one organization gets a turn being the round-up recipient. In January, it’s Astoria Senior Assistance. This program puts funds directly in the hands of local senior citizens who are in danger of becoming homeless. To help, say “yes” when a cashier asks if you’d like to round-up your purchase total.

Learn more about Change for Community.

Great Gifts

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Our wellness department contains vitamins, supplement and body care as well as some really cool merchandise that makes great gifts! Katie, our wellness manager came up with a list of items you may be interested in for last minute holiday shopping.

Blue Bottles: This Blue Glass Water Bottle is ideal for making Blue Solar Water, a Ho’oponopono cleansing tool. Allow sunlight to shine through this bottle filled with clean water for one hour or more to help amplify and accelerate this cleansing and rejuvenating process.

 

Empower CBD infused Soaking Salts: These soaking salts are a luxurious blend of Epsom Salts, Dead Sea Salts, and Pink Himalayan Salts, CBD oil from USDA Certified Organic hemp, and an aromatherapeutic combination of essential oils, including Bergamot and organic Lavender, which soothe the senses.

Himalayan Salt Lamps: These beautiful lamps do more than light up a room. They are thought to support a healthy mood and sleep by purifying the air surrounding it.

“A Coastal Christmas” Santa Drops in at the Mouth of the Columbia: This unique chapbook tells a fun Christmas story while doubling as a decoration. With words by Long Beach Peninsula writer, Lynette Rae McAdams, and illustrations by Sally Lackaff, an Astoria artist, this new classic is a must have for every lover of the coast.

Handcrafted Ornament Candle: Beautifully and intricately sculpted, these hand crafted beeswax ornaments are a perfect addition to your holiday decor. These candles are truly amazing while burning for over 40 hours, casting a luminescent glow through their unique design.

Finally, just a reminder that co-op gift cards are available. Give the gift of great food to the ones you love in any dollar amount you wish.

Co-op Taqueria

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We’ve got made-to-order burritos, bowls, tacos and salad. Everything is made from scratch and many of the ingredients we use are organic. There are options to suit a wide variety of diets and taste preferences.  Click here to see the taqueria menu.

The taqueria is open 10am-8pm daily.

New Store Open

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Our new store is open at 2350 Marine Drive in Astoria! We have more great food, more parking and extended hours, open daily 7 a.m. – 9 p.m. The store opened following a ribbon-cutting ceremony this morning. Once we have a little more time in this space to get our bearings, we will have a grand opening on January 18 with door-buster deals, kid’s activities, samples galore and more! Stay tuned on details, but meantime we hope you’ll stop by to shop for groceries and try some of the delicious new foods our deli has to offer (including a made-to-order taqueria).

Closing Old Store

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On Sunday, December 8 at noon, we closed our store at 1355 Exchange, saying goodbye to a beloved space that we’ve outgrown. This place is an important part of the co-op’s 45-year history. It helped nourish us in many ways for a decade. More than just a place to get groceries, it has been a source of steady income for local farmers and donations for non-profits. We have seen our own children and those who frequent the store grow up right before our eyes. It’s where we connected regularly with cool people in our community.

Our old store provided good jobs and a lively work culture. The little office in the back was crammed with ten workstations and also served as a break room and receiving area. As you can probably imagine, our staff is looking forward to not having to wheel groceries through the front door in the rain and having a nice place to relax and eat lunch without interruptions. Our new building will offer these amenities, but many of us will kind of miss the bonds and energy that came with a small crew and such close quarters.

Now we’ve nearly doubled our workforce in what feels like overnight. Much credit goes to our general manager, Matt Stanley, for wanting to preserve the special work culture that we created at our old store. Using a model from another co-op, he articulated this culture in a training and management document called “the co-op way”. It spells out how we treat one another like saying “hi” and not talking behind people’s backs. It reminds us to be “in the know” about things happening in the store and to strive to be high-achieving.

This is just one example of how your co-op and all the good things it embodies will live on, as we reopen at our new home. There are so many memories our old store on Exchange holds, but we will now have to carry them in our heads and hearts as we grow.

Our brand new building at 2350 Marine Drive in Astoria opens on Wednesday, December 11 following a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 10 a.m. More info…

Moving Sale

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Astoria Co-op Moving Sale

Update: Everything is now 50% off this weekend until we close our current location Sunday at noon.

Your co-op is gearing up for opening the new store by selling down inventory at the current location. Shoppers are stocking up and saving big during a moving sale while supplies last!

During our moving sale, we encourage you to pick up a few extra items to place in donation bins for CCA Regional Food Bank. You can also donate to the food bank by rounding up your purchase total, bringing a reusable bag and donating your bean or sharing pocket change. The food bank’s mission is to eliminate hunger and provide food to those who need it. We can’t think of a better time to raise funds for this awesome organization!  Learn more about our Change for Community program.

Our vision for a bigger new store becomes a reality as we prepare to open the doors to our new space on Wednesday December 11 following a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 10 a.m.

The co-op’s newly constructed 12,000 square foot building at 2350 Marine Drive will provide four-times more space, plenty of parking, and new amenities. Every department is expanding, with a focus on fresh and a deli which will feature a hot bar, salad bar, and made-to-order foods. Read the press release…

Store Opening – Press Release

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 2, 2019

Re: New Store Opening

Ribbon-cutting ceremony planned, December 11

Astoria Co+op’s vision for a bigger new store becomes a reality as it opens the doors to its new space on Wednesday December 11 following a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 10 a.m.

The co-op’s newly constructed 12,000 square foot building at 2350 Marine Drive will provide four-times more space, plenty of parking, and new amenities. Every department is expanding, with a focus on fresh and a deli which will feature a hot bar, salad bar, and made-to-order foods.

“Shoppers with any dietary restriction or preference will be able to find something they love. My busy family will be trusting the organic produce and quality meats we use in the deli when making dinner can’t happen,” Co-op General Manager Matt Stanley said.

The expansion fulfills a major goal of the co-op’s five-year strategic plan which aims to create a welcoming community store and thriving local economy. The plan, adopted by the co-op’s board of directors in 2014, included extensive outreach and reflected strong public support for expansion.

The co-op raised more than $2 million in local investments from its consumer-owners. This successful capital campaign was instrumental in leveraging additional financing to make the $10-million project possible.

The new location is the former home of Astoria Plywood Mill, a worker-owned co-op. The mill shut down in the late 1980’s and the City of Astoria embarked on a major environmental cleanup so the area could be redeveloped into a mixed-use neighborhood.

The co-op, formerly known as “The Community Store,” opened 45 years ago at a storefront near the Columbian Café on Marine Drive in Astoria. While the co-op has grown and evolved over the years, it’s focus on natural, organic and local foods remains the same. The co-op is a community-owned grocery store and all shoppers are welcome, no membership needed.

The co-op’s current location at 1355 Exchange Street in Astoria will close after Sunday, December 8. The co-op plans to hold a moving sale this week, discounting groceries, in order to sell down its inventory.

While the December 11 opening is considered a “soft opening” the co-op encourages everyone to come check out the new store. A grand opening celebration is being planned for January.

Media Contact: Marketing Director, Zetty Nemlowill

[email protected]

(503) 791-8869-cell

Food Bank Fundraiser

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In December (2019), we’ll be asking shoppers to round up for Clatsop Community Action Regional Food Bank. The food bank’s mission is to eliminate hunger and provide food to those who need it. Staff and volunteers distribute about 1.5 million pounds of food throughout the county per year. Almost half of that is fresh food! It was the first food bank in Oregon to do a fresh mobile produce pantry.

Let’s raise funds for this awesome organization! Round up your purchase total, bring a bag and donate your bean, or share your pocket change. Click here to learn more about our Change for Community program.

Opening Date

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Katie, our wellness department manager

We’re stocking shelves, testing recipes and putting the finishing touches on your new store and can hardly wait to welcome you inside so you can check it out! Our new location at 2350 Marine Dr. in Astoria will open on Wednesday, December 11 following a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 10 a.m. The co-op’s last day at the current location at 1355 Exchange will be Sunday, December 8. We will be having a moving sale, so stay tuned for details!