About:

 

For 18 years, the location of the current Renaissance Community Co-op was left empty after the Winn Dixie grocery store closed in 1998. Residents of Northeastern Greensboro desired a new grocery store to replace the last one for nearly two decades before the Co-op opened in 2016.

 

The Renaissance Community Co-op, is comparable to any consumer-based model co-op, in which community members pay for a $100 minimum investment, giving them a stake in the store’s profits. Community owners will have a chance to vote on what to do with the Co-op’s profits after the store breaks even in seven to 10 years.

 

“You are able to use that pot of money that you generate and you don’t have to do too much extra - just shop, just eat,” said Casey Thomas, one of the board members for the Co-op, who described what you get when you invest in the store.

 

However, the Co-op is not exclusive to community-owners, it is open for every resident to purchase conventional groceries, with some organic and local options available. Thomas said the main goal for organizing the Renaissance Community Co-op was to give Greensboro residents a chance to purchase affordable and healthy food, especially in a part of the city that is under funded. As any other major grocery store, the Co-op has weekly deals.

 

Workers at the Renaissance Community Co-op are paid more than other nationally-known grocery stores, starting workers at $10.50 an hour. After right-sizing the staff since their opening, there are currently around 13 staff workers who work solely under managers and one general manager. More importantly, any full-time employees have their health insurance completely paid for in full, and their families are eligible for this incentive as well.

 

A major achievement is being able to open the Co-op and just keeping it open.

 

Bringing the Co-op to the location required the community and the Co-op’s board members to go through many obstacles. Thomas said many residents fighting for the grocery store were constantly nervous about the Co-op falling through, as they had seen happen many times before when nationally-known grocery stores declined building a grocery store in the location.

 

“We didn’t start up in a vacuum,” Thomas said. “Just because you have an idea and a plan, doesn’t mean that other folks don’t have ideas and plans and things that they are trying to enact at the same time.”

 

However, after four years of hard work - the Renaissance Community Co-op opened.

 

Prior to opening, Co-op board members were responsible for outreach and getting residents to become owners. Now, board members work more on driving sales and continuously educating people about the Co-op. Board members are learning about management and governance as well.

 

“When we first opened this grocery store we had been working on it for so long and were so relieved that it was open, we were so happy and euphoric,” Thomas said. “I feel like a lot of us who had been working on it were like, ‘Oh good, we can kind of go on autopilot mode.’ But, actually keeping a functioning business open is a lot harder than starting a business.”

 

Though the Renaissance Community Co-op is not in need of volunteers, they are always looking for people to help by shopping at the store to raise their profits and making a membership investment.

 

For those unable to afford $100 at one time, a pay-plan can be created, in which owners can pay for their stake in installments. The pay-plan requires a $20 down payment, and $10 every month after until the investment is paid off.

 

For more information about the Renaissance Community Co-op, visit their website.