Wild Onion Market is our market. We’ll keep dollars local, support local farmers and producers, and help build a sustainable food production and packaging system. Join here!
Spread the word! Share and comment @WildOnionMarket on Facebook
Help Reach the Goal: 1000 Owners in 2021
| Why Join Right Now?
Share your voice. Let your priorities for our store be known. Email kimisto@sbcglobal.net for the Zoom link. Or send ideas and input if you can’t make it. Become an Owner so you can be heard! Scholarships and payment plans are available.
We’ll be recognized with a permanent in-store display, celebrated at our site announcement event, and can enjoy bragging rights for years to come! But mostly, we’ll have come together to build a great store and community. We signed up 50 Owners in the last month, how quickly can we reach 1,000?
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DRUM ROLL… We’re getting close to announcing our location, assuming the next few steps go as planned… Things are getting real! (Well, they were already real, but now they’re getting realer!)Join our co-op. Purchase a one-time only Owner share ($250 per household/business).
To make ownership affordable, we have various accessibility options, including monthly installments starting at $10 per month and a scholarship program.
Read more about Wild Onion Market here.
July 26 Owner Focus Group
Attention Owners: Next week, we’re meeting with our store designer and architect to put together our “wish list” for the store. To ensure we’re building a store for everyone, we need to hear from you!
If you have a request for a department, an idea about a feature, or just want to toss out some words on how you would like our store to look and feel, please come to our focus group. This is a great way to meet other owners, share ideas and get excited about our co-op!
We will meet via Zoom on Monday, July 26, from 6-7PM. To sign up, please email kimisto@sbcglobal.net for the link. It would’ve been nice to have this meeting in person, but public conference rooms are still unavailable. Zoom has benefits too: we don’t have to cap the number of participants, and we can easily break into small groups.
Please join the conversation, we want your store to reflect your wishes! If you can’t attend but would like to offer input, please email your thoughts/comments to kimisto@sbcglobal.net.
Location, Location, Location
A promising site has been identified, and lots of work is being doing to verify its viability. If all goes as planned, we’ll be able to make our site announcement in the next few months.
So give your input to the Owner focus group! With a specific location, the designer and architect can soon begin drawing up the proposed layout of Wild Onion Market. This is the time to make sure you’re a Founding Owner that has input into the vision for our store!
Wild Onion Market Funding FAQ
We are currently working to secure a site for our store. When that happens, our Owners will have an opportunity (but no obligation) to invest further in the co-op through our Capital Campaign. Here are answers to two fundamental questions about the Capital Campaign:
Q: What is a Capital Campaign?
A: In the business world, capital is property, or something that is owned. A Capital Campaign is an effort by an organization to raise a large amount of money in a specified period of time in order to fund a one-time capital need – in this case, the creation of Wild Onion Market.
Q: Why does Wild Onion Market need to conduct a Capital Campaign?
A: Co-ops have a unique legal structure that allows us to raise capital from Owners through Owner Loans, Preferred Shares, and tax-deductible donations. Food co-ops generally raise between 50% and 75% of the funds required to open the store from Owners. Capital from Owners is cheaper and more flexible than bank financing, and it allows Owners the opportunity to exercise the co-operative principle of Economic Participation.
If you have questions about the Capital Campaign or would like to get involved, please email Mary Meyer (mary@wildonionmarket.com) or Lisa Gordon (lisa.gordon@wildonionmarket.
New Board Member, Aaron Johnson
Wild Onion Market Events Calendar
| July 24-25: West Ridge Yard Sale, 9 AM – 4 PM. Wear your Wild Onion Market t-shirt, hat or pin to shop throughout the neighborhood between Western & Ridge/Pratt & Touhy. Seek out opportunities to share our co-op story with neighbors. Email ann@ |
| July 25: Pilates in the Park, 10-11 AM. We’re delighted to partner with Alexi Gniot (Owner #730) of Chicago North Shore Kinetics, who will lead a free Pilates mat class on the lakefront in Evanston. Bring a friend, meet us at Elliot Park (at Lake Shore Blvd. & Hamilton St., near Burnham Shores Playground). Learn how to use your bodyweight to create resistance and control in this low impact class. Yoga mat, towel, comfortable workout clothes, socks (with grip), and water are recommended. For more info and registration: https://www. |
| July 25: Co-op Information and Welcome Session, 11 AM – 12 PM. Learn more about Wild Onion Market, ask questions, and get to know others during this informal chat. Dial 312-626-6799 to join the Zoom, or write michelle@ |
| July 26: Wild Onion Market Owner Focus Group with our Store Designer/Architect (more details above). |
| August 1: Meet & Greet at Bond Coffee Collective, 1-2 PM. Join us for a casual gathering to get to know fellow Owners. Bring your questions and ideas about the co-op and bring a friend or two to introduce them to Wild Onion Market. This is also a great time to learn more about the many ways you can contribute your time, energy and expertise to getting our store open! |
| August 5: Wild Onion Market Board Meeting, 7-9 PM. All Owners welcome. Write lisa.gordon@wildonionmarket. |
| August 16: Co-op Information and Welcome Session, 7-8 PM. Learn more about Wild Onion Market, ask questions, and get to know others during this informal chat. Dial 312-626-6799 to join the Zoom, or write michelle@ |
| August 20-22: Glenwood Avenue Arts Fest, a weekend long event in Rogers Park. Another great time to wear your Wild Onion Market t-shirt, hat or button. Wild Onion Market will have a table Saturday 8/21, 11 AM – 9 PM, right by Morse Fresh Market. Stop by to learn more and to say hi — in person! |
Thanks to City Grange
In June, the AMAZING City Grange hosted us for a virtual herb gardening class, and then for a Wild Onion Market Scholarship Fund give-back day at their 5500 N. Western Ave. location. Because of City Grange’s donation of a portion of sales, we were able to raise enough to cover a full new Owner scholarship!
City Grange Owner LaManda Joy and many of the staff are Wild Onion Market Owners. We thank everyone at City Grange for helping others in our community be able join us in our mission.
Food Politics Corner
by Debbie Hillman
Two “big picture” national items…
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1. New alliance Anchors in Action (AiA)
Developing a set of aligned standards for institutional food purchasing
—Center for Good Food Purchasing
—Real Food Challenge
—Health Care Without Harm
Great survey for general public (deadline July 23). Give input on food purchasing standards (universities, schools, hospitals, municipalities).
NOTE: Real Food Challenge is an ACTION organization. In 2020, their breakthrough report — Be-trayed — disclosed the kickbacks-as-business-model in cafeteria food purchasing (Compass, ARA, Sodexho).
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re-introduced by Sen. Booker, Rep. Khanna
—Moratorium on factory farms (CAFOs)
—Strengthen Packers & Stockyards Act
—Labeling meat & dairy products (country of origin)
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Call to Action!As they say on PBS, “Call NOW!” Let us know how you want to help make our store a reality. These are great opportunities to move the co-op forward in very tangible ways! With an eye on the goals of Owner growth and funding our store, check out the following priority Owner Volunteer needs: |
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1. Capital Campaign Callers (We own it – we fund it – we build it!)
It takes a lot of money to design and build a grocery store. Critical to the success of the co-op’s fundraising efforts will be fully trained callers, responsible for contacting Owners on a targeted call list. Callers are Owners who:
- Can instill credibility quickly in a phone conversation
- Can devote many a good chunk of time to calling during the implementation period
- Like to ask people for money and are good at it
2. Owner Recruitment – Join your “Neighborhood Beat”
We’re at 823 owners and have a realistic goal of getting to 1,000 this year. A robust and vibrant Owner base helps ensure equity – in terms of people, money, time and talent. We are looking for people that live in Rogers Park, West Ridge, South Evanston and Edgewater to help deepen our roots in those areas. Each Neighborhood Beat will have volunteer team members and a leader that:
- Visit neighborhood businesses to ask if they would hang a poster/window cling in their storefront window
- Supply neighborhood Owner businesses willing to distribute “to-go” flyers in to-go orders or with in-store purchases
- Distribute “to-go” flyers to houses and apartment buildings with good potential for new Owners
- Distribute swag to new Owners in each neighborhood
Email ann@wildonionmarket.com
You have the talent. If you have the time (even a little), put it to great use!
We are on the move – gaining Owners, securing our store site, and fundraising!
Questions about Wild Onion Market? Email Board@