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Prairie State of Mind: Chicago Area's New Co-op Opens Next Week

  • Writer: Bob Benenson
    Bob Benenson
  • Jul 1
  • 2 min read

Prairie Food Co-op in West Suburban Lombard to Hold Grand Opening on July 9



The latest in the Chicago region's mini-wave of food co-op openings takes place on Wednesday, July 9, when Prairie Food Co-op Community Grocery opens its doors in west suburban Lombard.


The store is located in a shopping center at 837 S. Westmore-Meyers Rd. in Lombard. A grand opening ceremony will start at 11 a.m., then attendees will be invited in to be the first to shop at what organizers describe as a soft opening. Here is what Prairie's website says you'll find at the store:


Our full-service grocery store offers:


✅ Local & organic produce

✅ Freshly prepared foods & deli

✅ Bulk foods, craft beer, wine, and high-quality groceries


Unlike chain stores, Prairie Food Co-op is owned by you — our community. Becoming an Owner means supporting a business that puts people over profits and champions local farmers and food producers.


Prairie will be the third food co-op to open in Chicago metro over 14 months. Food Shed Co-op, in the far northwest suburb of Woodstock, opened in May 2024, and Wild Onion Market in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood opened about one month later.


With the pre-existing Dill Pickle Co-op in Chicago's Logan Square and Sugar Beet Co-op in near west suburban Oak Park, the newer stores bring the number of food co-ops in Chicagoland to five. Chicago Market's site in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood remains under development.


What all of the newer markets have in common is that they were a long time coming. The organizers of Prairie Food Co-op started their journey 13 years ago; Food Shed and Wild Onion also took 10+ years to open.


It is difficult enough to open any independent store in the financially challenging, chain-dominated grocery retail space. It is especially difficult to open a co-op store in Illinois, in part because of a 1913 law still in effect that places a tight limit on the size of investment that any individual can make in a co-op (which makes raising sufficient capital very difficult).


Co-ops sell ownership shares to community members and provide these owners ith a say in how the stores are run. But this method of fundraising typically is not enough to totally finance the buildout and running of a store, and organizers often have to seek grants or loans to put them over the top.


Local Food Forum plans to attend and report on next week's Prairie Food Co-op's opening.


 
 
 

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