Market Basket: Co-op eyes downtown store

4:04 p.m. EDT, June 9, 2012

Liz Dube has lived in several towns with co-op markets and they have long been her preferred grocery shopping experience.

She applauds their focus on healthy, organic, locally grown food products.

She appreciates their small size and well-edited selections of fruits and vegetables.

And the South Bend resident values the member-community focus and not-for-profit nature of food cooperatives like Purple Porch. The South Bend co-op, which launched in 2009, gives customers the chance to meet farmers and producers face-to-face during their weekly product pickup.

Currently, Purple Porch is open Wednesday nights and Saturday mornings at the LangLab building at 1302 High St. Greg Koehler, a market co-founder and general manager, knows the hours are clearly limiting to many area consumers.

That's why the co-op is hoping to secure a new downtown South Bend site where it would operate its market, a small grocery store and cafe.

A retail-grocery store would have many of the same products, Koehler says, but with many more hours to fit many more people's schedules.

Customers like Dube are thrilled to hear the proposal.

"The planned downtown location is a special bonus, as it will provide a needed basic service for downtown and near downtown residents, and will undoubtedly add to the vibrancy of downtown," Dube says. "Their impact will be exponentially greater with a storefront market. It is a very exciting development that I have long wished for."

For now, Koehler and other member-owners want to keep the downtown property they are targeting for the co-op under wraps. But the more member-owners join in the days, weeks and months ahead, the greater the likelihood the project will happen.

Koehler says the co-op recently changed to a member-owner model. Members pay an equity share of $200, a one-time payment as opposed to an annual fee that makes them eligible for patronage rebates.

The goal is to reach 500 member-owners, he says, before taking the
next step toward a relocation the co-op has been working on with South
Bend city officials.

"We have been in close contact with the folks over at Purple Porch and are very supportive of their plans," says Aaron Perri, executive director of Downtown South Bend Inc., who says he is a proponent of the co-op concept and its products.

Most of its locally produced foods come from a 60-mile radius. Purple Porch offers seasonal fruits and vegeta-bles, grass-fed and ethically raised meats, free-range eggs, honey, baked goods, gluten-free and vegan items and other products.

"We are looking forward to serving as a resource throughout their site selection and relocation process," Perri says. "I firmly believe they would be an excellent addition to the downtown."

David Matthews, the developer of the new East Bank Townhomes and planned River Race Townhomes, says purchasers want to do something more than live somewhere. They want to have things to do.

Every new project in and around the downtown area, Matthews says, builds momentum and confidence for the greater community.

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