The foundation of our co-op is rooted in this community. In 1980, we began as a network of neighborhood buying clubs. We used a 3/4-ton flatbed truck to drive to Madison, Wisconsin to pick up the groceries directly from the distributor. The trip was long and ended with delivering the orders to various people, who would then act as distributors for their neighbor.

​

In 1985 we became an actual store front, taking the place of Mr. Naturals, which was the privately owned natural foods store in the area at the time, located at 102 East Jackson.

​

By 1997, we were a growing not-for-profit and sold a wide variety of natural and organic foods to the community, but we were bursting at the seams! So, we moved one door down to 104 East Jackson. This gave us the space and inspiration to redesign the store in 2000.

​

In 2003 we fulfilled our mission to become a true cooperative by converting to a cooperative corporation in the state of Illinois. This has been a long coming part of our evolution, aligning us with the principles that our name implies. But, in 2005, we were bursting at the seams yet again!

 

We began making plans to move to a new 12,000 square foot space in Murdale Shopping Center. We spent the next several months raising money from our ownership ($345,000) and securing financing to help fund the 1.5 million dollar store. In this new dream store, we were able to become a full-service grocery and cafe, operate a teaching kitchen for cooking classes and events and we continue to specialize in products that are organic, locally produced or fairly traded.