The Free Press, Mankato, MN

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August 9, 2010

Our View: St. Peter Food Co-op a success story

The Free Press

MANKATO — The St. Peter Food Co-op makes it look so easy.

The co-op has always, it seems, been bustling with activity and customers — a smooth, successful operation.

And the co-op made it look easy to generate money for a new building — an effort that was successfully reached last week.

But, of course, that appearance of success is anything but easy or accidental.

The Food Co-op is an exceptional story. It began in 1979 when 60 volunteer members opened a small co-op in a rented building. Using volunteers only, the group had a goal of selling $100 of items a day to break even.

The group eventually moved to a more traditional membership model (raising membership fees from $5 to $80), hired staff and moved to its current location in the early 1990s.

In recent years, the co-op began looking at moving into a new, larger location that it would own instead of rent. The co-op found a building — the former Nielsen Chevrolet building downtown — and embarked on an effort that would bring about $1 million in cash to what is to be a $3.3 million project.

Current and new members responded in spectacular fashion, buying newly issued memberships that brought in $750,000. That, along with some $250,000 in reserves means the project can move forward, with opening expected next spring.

That kind of success is not only difficult but unusual. Co-ops across Minnesota and the nation have had mighty struggles and often fail. Mankato — a city much larger than St. Peter — has over the years seen co-ops start up, or be planned. But those efforts never succeeded.

Most established co-ops that survived early struggles are seeing a surge in membership and interest these days, spurred by the rocky economy and a growing interest in buying local foods and supporting community-based efforts.

Co-ops have gone from being a fad supported by “health nuts” to important businesses enjoyed by a broad array of consumers.

A current exhibit at Minneapolis City Hall documents the state’s history of food co-ops, from how a movement on the Iron Range in the 1970s helped spur their development to the current success and expansion of many co-ops.

St. Peter’s amazing early and ongoing success is a tribute to the co-op’s board of directors, its volunteers and its longtime general manager, Margo O’Brien.

The co-op, and the larger community that supports it, deserve congratulations. Now, they can look forward to the next successful chapter with next year’s opening of a new, larger co-op.

 

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