About two years ago, the Moscow Food Co-op“s owners decided two of their highest priorities were supporting local food producers and growth of the cooperative.
Since the second-highest number of co-op owners are from Pullman, General Manager Melinda Schab said she began looking west. She said she began researching options and discovered that opening a branch in Pullman was within the budget.
Alex Brizee | Argonaut
Elise Clausen and Sadi Grossum enjoy a cup of coffee in the Moscow Food Co-op.
When the co-op opened in 1973, Schab said sales were about $800 in their first month. This past December, 42 years to the month since the co-op opened, Schab said the sales were about $950,000.
The idea of growth didn”t come directly from the high sales, though. Since about 26 percent of owner sales come from Pullman, and with some customers driving to Moscow from Colfax, a Pullman branch would be just as, if not more, successful, Schab said.
Schab said the Moscow co-op employs over 120 people and buys around $500 million in locally-sourced products annually. With another location, Schab said they could put even more money into the local economy.
“Growth is a way to increase our impact,” Schab said.
Schab said she hopes college students and people of the community recognize the power of spending money locally. Choosing to buy from the co-op benefits the whole community, Schab said.
Schab said she and the co-op board are in the process of finding a suitable location for the Pullman store. She said she is looking into everything that is available, from empty lots to useable buildings to buildings that would have to be razed and built on top of.
“The city of Pullman and the Pullman Chamber of Commerce have been very helpful,” Schab said. “They also seem excited to be working with us.”
All the preliminary data Schab has collected in terms of projected sales and time to construct was based on a building of a similar size to the Moscow co-op – approximately 15,000 square feet. Some of the owners have said they would like a similar look and structure to the Moscow location, but Schab said everything will depend on the site they can purchase and the space allocation for that site.
The owners in Pullman said they would like a downtown location, Schab said, but the main concern with that is there isn”t much property for sale and parking in downtown.
“We want to make the best decision,” Schab said.
After they announced the possibility of opening a branch in Pullman, Schab said people in Lewiston contacted her asking if they could be next to get a co-op. Schab said while she was pleased they asked, she and the co-op board want to focus on the Pullman project for a few years.
Schab said she would like to see the Pullman branch open in the next 18-24 months.
Claire Whitley can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @Cewhitley24