About Your Store
Hello! We’re the Whitewater Grocery Co., your (future) friendly neighborhood grocer supporting fresh and local products. In 2016, a group of individuals shared a vision for a grocery store that was highly involved with serving the community's food needs. We agreed that a cooperative business model made sense. Now, we’re a team of deeply dedicated volunteers halfway through the process of opening a full-service, cooperative grocer for our city. Cooperative stores rely heavily on gaining Owners (that could be you if you desire!) and community-wide support (also you if you like to cheer others on!).
When you become an Owner of Whitewater Grocery Co., you become a part of something bigger: a community of people taking matters into our own hands to nourish our community.
Why a Co-op?
A food co-op looks and offers products like any other grocery store, but it is owned by members of the community. Co-ops are based on values not unlike those we subscribe to individually, including self-responsibility, democracy, equality, honesty and social responsibility. In addition to these common values, seven basic international principles serve as guidelines to provide a democratic structure for co-ops around the world. While adoption of these principles is not required, most co-ops choose to adopt them for their business.
“Our movement was sparked out of a challenge.”
— Founding Owner and Former Board of Director, Lacey Reichwald
