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Enjoy a special meal with your sweetie for Valentine’s Day! We’ve got plenty of delightful recipes. Get inspired…
Enjoy a special meal with your sweetie for Valentine’s Day! We’ve got plenty of delightful recipes. Get inspired…
Owner Appreciation Days, February 9-17, 2019
Save up to 20% on a shopping trip
It’s a great time to stock up on household staples and try all those new items you’ve been wanting. Co-op owners save up to 20% on a shopping trip February 9-17.
Here’s how it works:
Enjoy special food and drink tastings with local producers and vendors. See our calendar for tastings times.
Not a co-op owner? No problem, you’re always welcome to shop, but joining is easy and it pencils out quick! Learn more…
Please note: discount applies to items in stock at time of purchase and does not stack with case/special order discounts. Your ownership must be in good standing with equity payments up-to-date. One discount per household.
WELLNESS DEPARTMENT SALE – SAVE 20% on vitamins, supplements, bath, body care and more, Thursday January 24 – Sunday January 27. Shoppers, owners, and board members share some of their favorite wellness items, to help illustrate all this vast department has to offer!
Did you know our wellness department sale includes soap? Herb is picking up some of his favorite Dr. Bronner’s. It’s effective, versatile, earth-friendly and you can even refill bottles in bulk.
The sale includes toothpaste. Jessika and Baby Willa are picking up their favorite kind from Desert Essence. It not only tastes great, but it’s made from good stuff like baking soda and essential oils.
The sale includes supplements too. We asked Angela Sidlo for one of her personal favorites. (She should know what’s good because she’s not only a co-op board member, but also has her own business as a health coach.) Angela really likes CALM from Natural Vitality for managing stress.
Due to its popularity, we’re also going to point out that the sale includes CBD, which stands for cannabidiol. This cannabis compound is said to have a host of benefits without making people feel stoned. From relaxation to pain relief, there are lotions, chocolates and many other products to try. Learn more about CBD.
These are just some examples of the awesome products included in our wellness department. If you’re not sure what’s included in the sale, just ask a friendly staff person.
Why are we doing this sale? The new year brings a fresh opportunity for taking great care of yourself. We wanted to make it a little easier to do that by putting our entire wellness department on sale for four days this week.
Please note, the discount is limited to items in stock at time of purchase. Does not stack with case discounts or owner discounts.
Construction begins on bigger store
Click here for a construction timeline
There was a great turnout at the groundbreaking for our bigger new store and the rain even held off during the ceremony. Board members, city officials, shoppers, neighbors, local officials and construction workers were all there as we broke ground with green shovels. The event celebrated the official start of construction.
“The city has been instrumental in the project, including a complex land use process, getting permits on time and also decades ago having a vision to turn the closed-down Astoria Plywood Mill (a worker’s co-op), into a new mixed use development to serve Astoria,” Co-op Marketing Director Zetty Nemlowill said, as she introduced City of Astoria Mayor Bruce Jones.
Jones congratulated all on the co-op team for the vision and hard work to reach this point.
“As mayor there’s no more important economic development priority for me than encouraging and facilitating growth of locally-owned businesses, especially those using locally sourced materials and benefitting our community,” Jones said.
Jones said it’s fantastic that those from the surrounding mixed neighborhood—with apartments, single family homes and senior living—will be able to walk to the grocery store. He then introduced our new board president, Andrea Larson Perez.
“This is the culmination of five years of due diligence that has been put on by board, staff and the community. At every turn we have invited participation, received it and incorporated everything that we’ve collected from all the stakeholders. I’m so proud of our organization,” Perez said.
Perez has been a co-op shopper, employee, board member, and now leads the board. Perez introduced our other board members in attendance before handing the microphone to our general manager, Matt Stanley, who she credits with working for the co-op for more than 10 years and seeing the expansion project through.
Stanley said it was an awesome turnout despite the weather and thanked the co-op board, staff, city staff public officials, developer partners, and investors. The co-op raised more than $1.6 million from its owners in just eight weeks.
“This is truly a grassroots project. It’s not unlike 45 years ago when a small group of people came together to build a small storefront to provide something that none of them as individuals could do. Even though we’re going to have a new and efficient building for the next evolution of the co-op, we’re still owned and directed by our community,” Stanley said.
The new facility will be about four times bigger than the current store, and Stanley says it will be more accessible and welcoming, increase impact to the local economy and local food system, and improve access to healthy food choices in the region. There will be more space to shop, expanded fresh departments and a full service deli with indoor-outdoor seating, and 48 parking spaces.
Stanley said R & H Construction out of Portland is overseeing the project and local contractors are going to complete most of the work including Big River Construction, Terry’s Plumbing, and Bogh Electric.
The new store will result in the creation of about 30 fulltime equivalent jobs with an average wage of $16 an hour with benefits. He encouraged the community to follow the co-op’s web page for future job postings as we get closer to an opening date, which he hopes, will be in time for the holidays.
Clad with hardhats and green shovels, Stanley joined board members, the mayor and city councilors and the construction superintendent to break ground.
“Here we go! New food co-op, best coop on the west coast coming up,” Stanley said.
The new store, an approximate 12,000 square foot building at 23rd and Marine Drive, will replace the current co-op store at 1355 Exchange. The store will remain open during construction and Stanley asked for the community’s support, by shopping and/or taking part in investment opportunities which are still available.
During the event, site surveying was happening to provide data needed to start excavation and site prep on Monday, so expect to see construction as you drive by and look for regular updates on social media and our web site.
Our vision for a bigger new grocery store is becoming reality! We’ll be hosting a groundbreaking ceremony Friday, January 18 at 11 a.m. to celebrate construction beginning. The 12,000 square foot new store at 23rd and Marine Drive in Astoria’s Mill Pond Village, a redeveloped plywood mill, will quadruple our retail space for added services and provide needed amenities such as a loading dock.
Your co-op is a consumer-owned cooperative, governed by a board of directors and staff-run. We are a full-service grocery store and deli open to the public and known for sourcing from coastal farmers and other local producers. The additional space will broaden local economic opportunities and provide the community with more fresh, healthy food including an expanded organic produce section, meat and seafood department, ready-to-eat foods with indoor-outdoor seating and ample parking.
The new store will be a half mile east from our current location at 14th and Exchange Street, which remains open through construction.
“It is so fulfilling to see this vision—one that so many of us in the community have been working on—finally become a reality. We welcome all shoppers to visit us at our current location and be a part of this exciting new chapter,” General Manager Matt Stanley said.
The new store is part of our strategic plan and has been in the works for about five years. The process included extensive public outreach and survey of our owners and broader community, reflecting resounding support for expansion.
We raised more than $1.6 million in 8-weeks from owners via preferred shares. This successful capital campaign was instrumental in leveraging additional financing. The total project cost is about $9 million dollars, with the co-op and property owner/developer splitting the cost. For those wishing to invest, there are still opportunities.
Anyone interested is welcome to attend the groundbreaking. More information about the development including construction timeline will be announced at the event. Parking is available across the street in the parking lot of the former NAPA Auto Parts. The event is rain or shine so please bring a raincoat or umbrella if needed as there will be limited tent space.
Selling groceries might keep our store in business, but giving back to our community is at the heart of what we do. In May 2018 we launched a new giving program to reap big reward for local non-profits, Change for Community. It’s been a great success and due to your generosity—rounding up your purchase total, donating pocket change and reusable bag credits (beans)—we raised $7,359 in donations! There’s even more potential to make a positive impact in 2019 and beyond as we build a bigger new store!
A slight change in 2019 is that we’ll be merging the Beans for Bags program into Change for Community in order to simplify communications and bookkeeping. Nothing besides the name will change about our popular reusable bag incentive program. You’ll still get a bean worth a nickel for every reusable bag that you can donate to a local non-profit. Change for Community becomes a community giving and reusable bag incentive program.
Fun fact: Beans for Bags has incentivized the use of 144,045 reusable bags and supported 35 different community organizations with $7401 in donations since May 2015. The co-op will continue to incentivize reusable bags and raise funds for community with Change for Community.
Based on 2018’s success, and what we’ve learned from other food co-ops doing similar programs, we think Change for Community is a powerful tool for doing good. With your help, we can be the positive change for community!
We welcome your feedback and questions about this program or anything else happening at your co-op! Contact Marketing Director Zetty Nemlowill [email protected]
We are excited to announce that building permits and external financing for the project have been secured and construction is set to begin early in the new year. Our delays this year associated with land use issues have coincided with increased costs in the construction industry. We’ve created a financial plan that accommodates for these increases and we are excited to build you what is sure to be one of the neatest food co-ops on the west coast. Stay tuned for details on groundbreaking festivities and a timeline for opening our new store!
Just in time for gift-giving and the extra need for self-care around the holidays, stock up and save 20% on all soaps, cosmetics, essential oils and more Thursday-Sunday November 29-December 2.
Everyone can shop and everyone can save!