Southern Oregon’s newest grocery cooperative is taking steps toward an early fall opening date.
Southern Oregon’s newest grocery cooperative is taking steps toward an early fall opening date. The Medford Market Cooperative signed a lease for the Hubbard’s Brothers Building downtown and is pushing ahead in its fundraising, which mainly consists of selling $100 subscriptions to the cooperative, which will convert to ownership shares once the store is open. The newly elected board of directors plans to have 500 subscriptions sold this month and 1,000 by Memorial Day. “People told us they wanted a central location,” says Velda Welch, market board president. The market is getting advice from the neighboring Ashland Food Co-op, but will be an autonomous store. Welch says the market, which will focus on locally produced and organic goods along with a selection of ready-to-eat foods for busy customers, will need to raise between $1.6 million and $2 million to open its doors.
