Community Co-Op Market hasn’t made a profit in the four years it has been operating in Tallahassee, but managers are hoping a swell of community support can turn the tide.
Located on Apalachee Parkway, the organic grocer took over the space previously occupied by New Leaf Market Co-Op before it succumbed to mounting debt and filed for bankruptcy after operating for more than 40 years.
The longtime organic grocery store was forced to sell its assets to another entity now operating the location as Community Co-Op Market. But, according to Rene Deschene, the Co-Op’s chief operations and finance officer, the grocer hasn’t managed to break even.
“We’ve definitely struggled since we’ve opened,” Deschene said, in an interview with the Tallahassee Democrat. “We opened in January of 2020. We got hit right away with COVID right after opening and then … runaway inflation, that was really affecting grocery prices and got us in ’22 and ’23.”
On Feb. 7, the Community Co-Op Market sent a newsletter alerting members of its financial state and what’s needed to remain viable — a move that sparked an impromptu social media campaign to support the organic grocer.