For $150, you can co-own a Columbia grocery store

Want to be a part-owner in a store that could help feed your hungry neighbors – and jump-start new life in north Columbia?

Recent news of a community-owned cooperative grocery store planned for West Beltline Boulevard in north Columbia has generated a buzz, particularly after the closing of a Piggly Wiggly grocery store dealt a big blow to a community that struggles with food insecurity.

There are few other nearby stores that offer quality food, placing a burden on many low-income residents with unreliable transportation.

The co-op store could be an answer to bringing a healthy, affordable grocery option to the thousands of people who live in the 29203 zip code, city leaders believe.

“It’s going to mean that families will be able to walk to the grocery store and not only buy healthy foods ... but they’ll also be able to own that grocery store,” Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin said.

A one-time pledge of $150 will buy you membership – that is, equal co-ownership – into the co-op store. And it’ll make you part of a bigger plan that aims to bring new life to the area and the people who live, work and visit there.

City leaders are hoping the co-op will be just the start of a new development off West Beltline Boulevard and Farrow Road, near the Colony Apartments, that could add an urban farm and outdoor recreation areas.

“We’re focusing hard on that north Columbia area and wanting to help transition it and help not only the residents, but the businesses,” assistant city manager Missy Gentry said.

The Beltline corridor is poised for a greater revitalization, with other elements including:

▪ A $15 million city water and sewer management facility that just opened on Beltline in a former car dealership, near the closed Piggly Wiggly, bringing hundreds of city employees to the community every day.

▪ A community center, park and police station planned for Busby Street at the base of the James E. Clyburn pedestrian bridge over I-277. Construction could begin soon.

▪ Facade improvement grants to boost the appearance of businesses on Beltline and Two Notch Road.

The co-op grocery store should fit into the revitalization by providing low-cost food and grocery items for nearby and citywide residents and by encouraging the community to literally invest in itself by buying memberships. People who have a financial stake in the store will work to see it succeed, organizers and city leaders believe.

It’ll offer jobs to community members with wages higher than many private stores pay, Benjamin said.

And once the store turns a profit, all its co-owners will share it.

You won’t have to be a member to shop there.

And you don’t have to live nearby to be a member.

Low-income residents make up much of the community immediately surrounding the co-op site, and the city plans to somehow help them financially invest in the store as members, Gentry said.

“We want it to (serve) the entire city, but also the targeted community, and we want them to be members and to be engaged in it,” Gentry said.

At the earliest, the store could open in May 2019, said Tina Herbert, who is consulting with the city on the co-op project.

Already, about 30 people have committed to become members and co-owners of the store, the city says. The goal is to have 300 members on board by the end of the year, Herbert said, and at least 1,200 members by the time the store opens.

To become a member of the co-op, or for more information about joining, visit www.cityfoodscooperativemarketplace.org/membership or call the city’s Office of Business Opportunities at (803) 545-3950.

This story was originally published October 25, 2017 at 3:25 PM with the headline "For $150, you can co-own a Columbia grocery store."