Ypsilanti Food Cooperative

The Ypsilanti Food Cooperative is the only not-for-profit food store in Ypsilanti, but it was not the first such enterprise in the community. During the Depression of the 1930’s, some area residents came together and formed the Ypsilanti Consumer Co-op, a buying club, to provide better quality food at cheaper prices. The club lasted for seven years and was housed on Cross Street.

The present Ypsilanti Food Cooperative grew out of a “bag co-op” which operated in the early 1970s, supplying produce and cheese purchased fresh at the Eastern Market in Detroit. The orange 1954 Hotpoint “Super-Stor” refrigerator (still located in the Co-op kitchen) would be moved on a monthly basis to various local churches where the food would be distributed to members.

The transition to the storefront occurred when the bag pick-up site was moved to 955 Sheridan. On April 11, 1975, members of the bag co-op formed a not-for-profit corporation under the laws of the state of Michigan, called the “Ypsilanti Cooperative Initiative.”  …The Co-op remained loosely organized and was staffed mainly by volunteers; if a volunteer was not available to cash them out, customers paid on the honor system!

Co-op in 2014

Ypsilanti Food Co-op Just Keeps Growing!

One of the few grocery stores in the city of Ypsilanti, the Co-op provides a full line of groceries, with an emphasis on organic, local and unprocessed food. The Co-op has been expanded steadily into the remainder of the building. Further expansion began in 2011 into the remainder of the ground floor to enlarge the bakery, create additional retail space, and add an official in-store eating area/café.