The Store Is Open!
We did it! Wild Onion Market is open for business. Thank you to the folks from National Co-op Grocers Association and Sugar Beet Coop who helped us get ready.
About 100 people attended our ribbon cutting ceremony, including Vice-President Irv Loundy from Devon Bank, state legislator Kelly Cassidy (D-14th), and Kyle Ryan from Alder Maria Haddon’s office.
Cashier Brizeida Huerta rings up our very first sale to Mary Meyer, Owner # 1.
The line of customers, who waited patiently, extended the length of the store, and cashiers worked continuously for more than two hours to ring up those first sales.
Do You Have Questions?
Some customers on opening day wondered why there was not more local produce. Farmers contract to sell their produce before the season begins. We could not contract with them when they were planting because we were not open yet and didn’t know for certain when we would open. We have some local produce now, and we expect to have much more next year.
The National Cooperative Grocers Association (NCG) helped us set the store with products that typically sell well. To the extent that our community’s needs differ from NCG’s experience, we will learn how to meet those needs. If there is something you wish we would carry, please leave a note in the suggestion box, which is near the exit. If the price for a particular item is inconsistent with prices at other stores, we would like to know about it. Please give us the relevant information in writing using the suggestion box. Help us meet your needs.
We had to be open for business before we could apply to accept Link cards, the Illinois food assistance program. We will accept Link as soon as we are approved. In fact, Link customers will get $2 of purchasing power for every $1 of Link benefits used.
We also expect to sell beer and wine after we receive our liquor license. We will update you on the status soon.
Our Requests Worked: Bike Racks Are Coming
The aptly named John Rodgers, from Quigg Engineering, came by the store to scope out a bike rack location for Wild Onion, to be installed by the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT). He reported that he has never seen so many requests (over 40) for a bike rack location before! Thank you to everyone who took the time to put in a request. We are truly living up to our name as a catalyst for Chicago-area transit (as recognized by our ETOD grant). John estimates that the rack might take a few weeks to install, so with luck we will have it ready in time for our big party in July!
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