The Alpena Downtown Development Authority (DDA) and United Way for Northeast Michigan are leading these efforts and have formed a steering committee to create a cooperatively owned grocery store in Downtown Alpena.This committee is made up of local business owners, growers, and citizens who are passionate about food.The co-op will hire a professional store manager once we get to opening a storefront.
This work is also being supported by the Healthy Food Financing Initiative, Michigan Health Endowment Fund, and Food Cooperative Initiative.
Who is leading these efforts?
Why are we leading these efforts?
Over the last several decades, Alpena has lost nearly all of our locally-owned grocery stores. In the city limits, there is only ONE grocery store. All the other options require driving to the outskirts of the city. This leads our access to food and what is carried on the shelves to the decisions of outside corporations.
Wouldn’t it be nice to have a grocery store within walking distance of Downtown Alpena, where you can purchase your day-to-day grocery items, with a focus on natural and organic foods that are good for you and for the environment, in a cool space that makes you happy to shop there? This is our vision!
The greater Alpena area is considered a food desert according to the United States Department of Agriculture, meaning our residents don’t have daily access to fresh, nutritious foods. Similarly, there is no daily venue for local growers and producers to sell their products. Most big-box retailers only carry products from big distributors and food grown thousands of miles away.
Alpena is a food desert.
Grocery stores are one of the most-visited places in our daily and weekly routines- what if they were sites of community investment and connection? Right now, decisions about what products are carried are out of the hands of our community, instead left to grocery store chains hundreds (or thousands) miles away.
Grocery stores are in the public interest and can be public institutions, controlled by the community itself that it exists to serve.
Your grocer = your business.
For these reasons (and more!) A group of local, passionate people and partners have been leading the efforts to create a grocery store that Alpena (and the greater Northeast Michigan) is proud of that will enhance daily access to fresh, nutritious, natural, and organic food.
Let’s make grocery stores truly local again.
Imagine a neighborhood grocery store where you can do all your grocery shopping for the week, with an emphasis on fresh, natural and organic foods! We aim to provide all the traditional grocery store departments where you can purchase:
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Dry goods- canned goods, rice, pasta, staples like flour, sugar, spices
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Dairy products- milk and really good cheese
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Bulk foods
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Fresh produce
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Pre-packed fresh and frozen meat and seafood
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Ready to consume grab and go foods
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Fresh, locally-made baked goods
What will the grocery store carry?
Where will this grocery store be open and where will it be located?
The steering committee is identifying possible sites within Downtown Alpena. A timeline for opening depends on when our community can hit certain milestones in regards to membership and funding. Want to help us get there? Send us a message to get involved - alpenafoodcoop@gmail.com