Green Grocery: Honest Weight Food Co-Op Builds New, Green Building

The Honest Weight Food Co-Op has decided to tear down the Watervliet Avenue building they bought last year in order to build a new, greener store.

Lowering the store's carbon footprint is part of the store's overall mission of ecological sustainability, said Nate Horwitz, Membership Coordinator. "We see helping the environment as a very important part of what we do," he said. The co-op is seeking the highest LEED-certification, he said.

The Central Avenue grocery store was feeling cramped in its current building, located behind Dollar General. Last year, they bought a much larger $1.35 building on Watervliet Avenue, with plans to remodel it and move in as early as 2009. But remodeling the building would cost almost as much as building new, so members decided it would be better to start fresh, and build a greener, more efficient structure on the new property. That will push the move-in date out to 2010, said Horwitz.

The new $5 million building will be three-times larger than the current store, and will boast a full service deli, a larger community space and cafe, expanded office space, and a teaching kitchen that will offer cooking classes. "That's something people have really wanted from us for a long time--cooking classes," Horwitz said.

The new store will also be easier to navigate and offer more parking for customers, he said. It could also feature facilities for cyclists, he said.

Members will vote on design plans for the new store next month, on October 19th.

The co-op has 5,400 members, and many more shoppers who are not members. Members enjoy many benefits, including free classes and voting privileges. Members can also work at the store in exchange for discounts on groceries.

Last year the co-op did an $10 million in sales. The store offers a wide range of local and organic produce, dairy products, and free-range and grass-fed meat, as well as bulk goods and organic groceries. The store also features an award-winning cheese department.

The co-op has been at the current location on Central Avenue behind the Dollar General Store for 12 years.