The Concord Cooperative Market is a full service natural foods grocery store and café with an active membership of over 2,500 households in the greater Concord area. Our current space of 6,800 square feet allows us to provide customers with a large variety of high quality organic foods and environmentally responsible products. The Co-op is also proud to carry a strong selection of local and regional products, helping to support the local farms and businesses of our area.

Mission

• Provide our community with high quality natural and organic foods and environmentally sound products at reasonable prices.
• Create a personable and friendly place to shop, with the product diversity to satisfy the grocery needs of most health and ecologically conscious households.
• Support environmentally and socially responsible producers and suppliers, including purchasing local and regional products where available within price and quality standards.
• Provide service that is cheerful, courteous and knowledgeable.
• Be a resource to our membership by providing information on health and nutrition, and social, political and economic issues related to food, and by promoting awareness of the value of consumer control through the cooperative system.
• Conduct our affairs according to consumer cooperative and financially sound principles and act as a supportive and caring employer.

History
The Concord Cooperative Market evolved out of a community buying club established in the late 1970’s. In 1982, the club incorporated and became an independent entity. The Co-op occupied many spaces throughout its infancy, and in 1993 moved to its current location on S. Main Street. In November of 2005, the store expanded, tripling its size and doubling the number of products offered. The expansion allowed for growth in every department and provided the space needed to introduce new services, such as the Café, Bakery and Grab n’ Go. Currently, the Co-op has an active membership of over 2,000 households, and continues to grow each day.

Co-op Structure
Co-ops offer a distinct way of doing business. Like many business models, co-ops are owned by shareholders; but unlike most private sector businesses, ownership of a cooperative is distributed equally, and members are actually owners of the business. The pooling of community resources for the benefit of all is a cornerstone of cooperative philosophy. Members contribute a refundable equity payment that makes the business run and grow. In exchange, members receive discounts and/or other benefits, as well as a voice in the co-op’s decisions. The support and involvement of members ensures that the co-op remains a strong, consumer-run organization. Anyone is welcome to shop at the Concord FoodCo-op, but our organizational focus is on meeting the needs of our members and their households.

Co-op Board of Directors
The Co-op is governed by a Board of Directors, which consists of a diverse and multi-talented group of individuals.  In 2001, the Co-op’s BOD adopted a full set of written governing policies, and now operates under these policies in accordance with policy governance. The general manager provides the Board with monthly monitoring reports on all aspects of operations.

The Board is supported by the focused work of committees in the areas of Member Outreach, Finances, and Governance.  These committees are always open to input and involvement of member volunteers.  The Board of Directors meets the 3rd Monday of every month.  The meetings, which are open to all members, start at 6:00 pm in the carriage house. The carriage house is located  at 30 S. Main Street, it sits back off the street between the brick building next to the Co-op parking lot and Bartlett Home Studio Design. Bartlett Design is located on the corner of S. Main Street and Fayette, and on the first floor of the carriage house. Take the steps between the two buildings and follow the brick path that leads back to the carriage house. Our entrance has a sign on a purple door. We're on the second floor in the office on the left at the top of the stairs.

Current Board Members, 2007-2008
All board members can be reached by e-mailing admin@concordfoodfoop.coop or by phoning the administrative office at 603.227.9696.