A woman headed to the Dorchester Food Co-op on a hot, sunny Saturday afternoon.
Store general manager John Santos had some bad news for her: She has to wait a few more weeks for Boston’s only community-owned grocery store to open.
Though the trip ended empty handed, a great sense of excitement is building for Dorchester Food Co-op to finally open its doors, which officials anticipate happening by mid August.
Sunflowers will greet customers around the parking lot and as they walk through the entrance of the 6,000-square-foot food and pantry hub on the corner of Bowdoin and Topliff streets.
A floral section will lead down to cases full of fresh seafood, meats and produce, while a kitchen in the back will cook foods that will be on sale at a cafe featuring a coffee and juice bar. Customers will also be able to take advantage of indoor and outdoor seating.
In essence, Dorchester Food Co-op will have the feel of a conventional grocery store. But there’s one major caveat that will make it unique in the Boston market: Its owners are city residents and its workers.
“We are open to the community,” Santos told the Herald. “We want to make it as friendly as possible for you to be a member. We want your input, but you don’t have to be a member to shop here. It strikes me that there’s no real place on the street here where you can go grab a sandwich or a salad to the extent that we are.”
The evolution of Dorchester Food Co-op began a decade ago when longtime resident Jenny Silverman decided to pursue opening a grocery store that would improve access to healthy food, support local farms and bolster economic development in her diverse, multicultural neighborhood.
That concept has caught on like rapid fire.
So far, roughly 1,600 residents from all over the city have signed on as members, paying a one-time $100 equity fee to buy one share of the co-op, Silverman said. The fees can either be covered all at once or over time through solidarity shares.
Shareholders will have benefits, including member-only specials, and once the co-op starts making profit, some of the funds will be distributed among its members, Silverman said.
“People like the idea of spending their money locally and being a part of ownership of the store,” she said. “The whole idea of co-ops is that they are set up for the benefit of the community. We can’t say that about corporate grocery stores.”
Board member Sarah Assefa has roots in “many places,” including in Ethiopia, “where many people don’t say ‘I love you.’ They say, ‘Did you eat? What did you eat?’” That mindset compelled the Dorchester resident to become involved with the co-op, which she said she dreams of being a place of equality.
“Some of the things I eat, I don’t even know,” Assefa said. “There is so much poison on our food, it’s crazy. Food is medicine, and I want everybody to be able to access the medicine of food.”
The co-op, which broke ground last July, has hired 36 workers, who represent a wide range of spoken languages, including Haitian Creole, Cape Verdean Creole, Portuguese, Spanish, Somali and English.
About an even split of employees — 16- to 65-year-olds — will work part- or full-time, 30-plus hours. Starting pay is $15 per hour and those on the upper end will be earning $22 per hour.
“If we execute and fulfill the requirements that our owner base has put in front of us, there is no reason for us not to be successful,” Santos said. “We have to make the numbers work, and the industry is a very difficult industry to operate in.”
Boston has been without a food co-op since Harvest Co-ops closed its Jamaica Plain location in 2018.
Dorchester resident Alessandra Pollina signed on as a Food Co-op shareholder a decade ago. While her firm, Quotable Media Co., has been hired to conduct public relations for the store, she said she can’t wait to become a regular customer.
“I have a car. I drive to Stop & Shop when I want to get a big shop, but a lot of people around here don’t have that,” Pollina said. “Having somewhere you can just walk and get a bag of groceries to take home is really powerful.”
