Good Foods Co-op began in 1972 as a cooperative buying club, where members worked shifts as part of their dues. Today the grocery store is open to all shoppers, and features an array of local products, a bulk foods section, and a café with a salad bar, hot foods and dine-in seating.
Good Foods Co-op started as a cooperative buying club in 1972. Mary Reed, along with the late Lucy Burrows and Michael Noe, founded Good Foods Co-op and based it off successful examples in other states. “There were a lot of young people, including students, professors, professionals, housewives and just everyday individuals who worked hard to make the co-op a reality. As the saying goes, ‘It takes a village.’” Reed said.
Members paid dues, worked a required number of hours, and then could order and obtain products purchased in bulk with their collective buying power. Reed said members would meet in someone’s garage or living room to divvy up food, or sometimes at the cooperative bookstore managed by Don Pratt near the University of Kentucky campus.
“I don’t have numbers, but we grew fast,” Reed said.
While Good Foods Co-op, which this year is celebrating its 50th anniversary, has changed over the years — membership is no longer required to shop at the store, for example — its community-based business model is still fundamental to its longevity.
Because of the co-op’s local ownership and the number of Kentucky-sourced goods on its shelves, money spent at the co-op has a more significant impact on the local economy than shopping at other large grocery stores, said Claudia Goggin, president of the Good Foods Co-op Board of Directors. “For people who care about the environment, sustainability, and healthy food, the co-op does more than any other grocery store in town,” she said.
Good Foods Co-op’s first permanent location was on the third floor of the YWCA building (now home to LexArts). “We had to haul all that food up on the elevator,” Reed said. “We had pallets set up in the hallways for food distribution. People would bag their own orders. And then, of course, there was a massive cleanup.” When the co-op outgrew that space, it moved into a small building on South Ashland Avenue, between High Street and Euclid Avenue.
“I was paid $50 a week,” Greg Doyle said with a laugh, speaking of when he started as assistant manager. “Back then, everybody had to be a member to shop, and everyone had to work,” he said. The co-op was open limited hours several days each week.
The co-op moved to Short Street in 1978. As manager, Doyle oversaw the store — by then open seven days a week — and he implemented a new policy that allowed nonworking memberships to shop there. “We had 220 percent membership growth for that year,” Doyle said.
In 1980, Good Foods settled into a new location behind Woodhill Center. Co-op organizers learned the IRS considered discounts extended to working members as a payment, making it taxable income, “so that’s why we had to stop using working members,” Doyle said.
“We struggled to survive at Woodhill,” Doyle said. He and a core team — including the late Jake Gibbs — worked hard to keep the co-op afloat. One move that helped the co-op survive was opening to the public without the need to become a member.
The next winning move was to relocate to a more visible location on Southland Drive. A few years later the co-op made one more move, just two doors down to a more spacious location in the same shopping center, where it remains today.
“Right now, we have about 9,645 owners,” said Rob Walker, general manager. An owner pays annual dues and gets a discount on all shopping while also earning loyalty points with each purchase, which can be used for future purchases. When the store’s financial performance is good in a given year, the co-op offers rebate payments to its owners. Any unclaimed rebates go to the Good Foods Co-op Charitable Foundation, which contributes the money to Lexington nonprofits.
Community members elected to serve on the co-op’s board lead strategic planning, and decision-making is by consensus. The board also has a self-perpetuation policy, which aims to refresh and sustain the board with new members recruited from engaged owners.
Owners and all shoppers have access to an abundance of local products. “For about 65 percent of the items we carry, you can find a local product,” Walker said. “Local to us means it comes from the state of Kentucky.”
Reminiscent of its early days, the co-op also offers a selection of bulk items where shoppers can bag their own grains, seeds, nuts, flours, mixed snacks and other items. The store also includes an eatery with a hot bar, salad bar, coffee service counter, and tables and seating.
Mary Reed has now been shopping at Good Foods for 50 years. “We’re still members,” she said, speaking of herself and her husband, Robin. “Good Foods has met the needs of people and has led the change in the Lexington area for whole, natural foods and organics. It has changed with the times to still be successful.”
As it’s always been, sustaining the co-op for another 50 years rests in the hands of the community.