Wheatsville Co-op, the only retail food cooperative operating in Texas, is set to join other Austin independents like Kerbey Lane, Amy’s Ice Cream, The Broken Spoke, Peoples RX, Mr. Natural, the Soup Peddler, and Birds Barbershop, to name a few, on South Lamar this Spring 2013.
Wheatsville Co-op recently announced the grand opening of a second store located just north of the intersection of Ben White and South Lamar, only minutes away for employees and customers commuting from homes in Southwest Austin.
“South Austinites have long wanted us to open a second store down here, and we’re delighted to bring the friendliest store to 78704,” says Dan Gillotte, Wheatsville’s General Manager. “Now our friends in the South can enjoy our local, organic and sustainable products without ever having to cross the river! And the long drought of Popcorn Tofu in South Austin will soon be over!”
Wheatsville Food Co-op, voted ‘Best Neighborhood Grocery’ three years running by the Austin Chronicle’s Readers Poll, is a full service, natural foods cooperative grocery store. The cooperative natural foods retailer has been serving UT and the north Guadalupe community since 1976. Finally, shoppers coming to the co-op from homes in West Austin and South Austin can avoid MoPac traffic!
In the past several years, Wheatsville Food Co-op has enjoyed double digit growth, bringing its annual earnings this fiscal year to over $17 million. Currently the store is home to 147 employees and several hundred local vendors and growers.
The 22,000 square foot new location will allow Wheatsville to expand their local and organic product selection, offer a wider variety of prepared foods, add more indoor seating, and create an artisan bakery that will service both locations. The store is projected to add 75 to 100 new jobs to Austin and to create more market opportunities for local business and farmers
“Local business is truly the backbone of the Austin economy. Not only do they provide employment and contribute to our tax base, but they also create our unique Austin culture,” remarks Rebekka Adams, IBIZ Director for Austin Independent Business Alliance. “We are so proud to see AIBA member Wheatsville Co-op grow, as they are an example of both economic and environmental sustainability, as well as an iconic local business that contributes to the quality of place in Austin.”
Project updates will be posted on the Wheatsville Food Co-op website: www.wheatsville.coop.
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