History of the Leverett Village Cooperative

By Ann Ferguson Fall 2023

The Leverett Village Cooperative is a consumer food cooperative owned by members, designed to be a food grocery, general store and eating establishment open to the general public.  According to its mission statement, developed when it was incorporated in 1986 as a not-for-profit business, the Village Co-op “exists as an alternative economic structure” which “offers an opportunity for more democratic, participatory relationships in the market-place among workers, consumers, and owners.  The Co-op is owned by its members/stockholders, and serves their interests, as well as the interest of surrounding communities. Healthy foods, education, and a community center are among the special contributions the co-op can provide to the community”.   Its values include open membership, democratic control, autonomy and independence, education of members and the community, co-operation among co-ops, and concern for community and sustainable development, including nurturing regional, organic, and sustainable agriculture (From Co-operative Voices: News about the Leverett Village Co-op, Issue 1, Jan. 17, 2020.)

 Beginnings

Its historical roots go back to 1974 when a buying club to obtain fresh local food was established for the Amherst-Leverett-Wendell-Shutesbury-Montague region. It involved weekly distributions of member-ordered dairy items, grains, and fruit and vegetables. These were purchased wholesale in Boston and from surrounding farms, and trucked to places such as the United Church of Christ community room in Amherst and the barn at the Montague Farm commune, where they were organized cooperatively and picked up by members. In the late 1970s the distribution moved to the Town Hall in Shutesbury. After that an arrangement was made for the Coop to share the space of LaClaire’s grocery store in Moore’s Corner, a situation which continued for a few years.  In the early 1980s, Dan Bennett, first General Manager Julie Shively’s husband and a founding Coop member, donated a piece of land across the street from LaClaire’s store to the Co-op. Under the first Board President Sam Lovejoy’s lawyerly guidance, an initial limited partnership of Coop members was formed to raise loans totaling $40,000 as a downpayment on a mortgage from the Amherst Savings Bank to build a new building on this land.  With help from local carpenters and members the present building was built, which includes a kitchen and bakery space as well as the general store.  The business was incorporated in 1986 as the Village Cooperative Inc. It initially shared the building and kitchen space with a business that ran a bakery and restaurant serving fresh daily bread and pastries and weekly pizzas.  In the late 1990s the building was expanded to include a “schmooze space” café. In 1999, a large addition on the co-op building was completed including two bathrooms, an office, larger kitchen with walk-in cooler, expanded vegetable display area and a peaked roof entrance. In 2000, the bakery-restaurant business was amalgamated into the Coop when Paul Rosenberg was hired as General Manager. His accomplishments included expanding the business to include a beer and wine license, and daily bakery and restaurant takeout offerings.

 New Ideas

Since Rosenberg retired in 2018, the Co-op has explored various ways to maintain its financial stability. Under General Manager Ann Walsh and Board President Susan Lynton the business sought to create a “grocerant” combination of grocery store and restaurant, with regular weekly guest chef dinners and Friday pizza night café and takeout options, and regular musical events plus other activities such as a Spring Fling festival with craft vendor sales.  However, declining sales and the lack of financial capital to invest in store replacement of equipment and staff expansion led to a crisis at the end of 2019 in which the business nearly closed its doors. But members rallied round, and a new business plan was developed. With the help of the volunteer work of the former GM Paul Rosenberg and his wife Patty Townsend as well as donated staff time by Board members, the store continued its operations in spite of the Covid pandemic shutdown.  It began to pay back debts owed to vendors and replace refrigeration units, and was able make inroads on these costs in part by generous donations from members and the community. 

The Pandemic Comes to the Co-op

During the pandemic the store was also able to continue its grocery services to the community and other food distribution. An arrangement with a consortium of neighborhood farms allowed for online ordering and pickup of produce at the store, and curbside pickup service was provided to those desiring special pandemic protection. While other small stores and food services were forced to close because of the pandemic, the Coop was able to survive due to the work of its Board and support from the community. Board President Sam Black procured several loans available to small businesses for Covid relief, including the Payroll Protection Plan forgivable loan and a 30 year EIDL federal small business loan.  A Co-op newsletter was started in 2020 which continues  to provide information to members and the community about financial matters, events, food offerings, profiles of vendors, staff and board members and other relevant community news, and weekly email messages go out to Coop members and are posted on social media.  

In spite of the Covid shutdown, the Coop showed its values in promoting democratic community networks during this period. The business joined the nationwide Solidarity Economy network of cooperatives and other alternative community organizations (cf. www.solidarityma.org ), and also signed a Memo of Understanding of joint support with the Leverett-Shutesbury-Wendell-New Salem Village Neighbors association, a nonprofit group supporting elders to age in place.  It continues to be a member of the Neighboring Food Cooperatives Association which supplies technical staff support.  In the fall of 2020 the Board organized a successful seven hour online fall harvest festival and auction, as well as Spring Fling community events in 2022 and 2023, and for both of those years has hosted monthly summer Saturday craft vendor fairs.  The Board also obtained a pouring license, which allows for wine and beer service at the store café.   In January 2021 a new General Manager, John Calhoun was hired, and the Board oversaw the replacement of the old HVAC system with environmentally sustainable electric heat pumps. It also installed a new outdoor patio space, and its opening was celebrated in fall 2022 by a very successful community dinner and auction.   

Current Operations

Since the fall of 2022 the Co-op has been operating with interim General Managers and the business is seeking a new manager. Its present interim GM Ken Washburn is also a professional sommelier, and the wine and beer selection at the store is outstanding! Members from the Board and community have stepped up to become staff, with many volunteering their time. The store has a new buyer and new distributors, and has recently entered into a cooperative arrangement with the Franklin Community Co-operative to deliver new pastries, sandwiches and takeout items.  There are many new products, including groceries, crafts and general store items. In addition to weekly veterans get togethers, in the month of December 2023, Village Neighbors will be offering weekly events with food and music at the store.

The Leverett Village Co-op, which also serves the communities of Shutesbury, Wendell and Montague, has shown time and again that its member-owners and customers want it to survive!  It has risen like a phoenix from the ashes in spite of its out-of-the-way rural location which has created a problem for sales, particularly in the winter months.  It continues to have a dedicated, creative, hard-working Board, loyal member-owners and community members who have stepped up to help out in this latest crisis.  This was shown by a fabulously successful Fall Harvest Fest event, featuring live music, craft vendors and various activities for children, as well as full restaurant service.  The event was well attended and a record $7000 in sales was recorded for that day, as well as $1400 donated to the Leverett Village Cooperative GoFundMe campaign. A number of members pledged to volunteer, spend more at the store, buy gift certificates, donate and become new members (for details, see the banner in the store). Four donors are now sponsoring a challenge grant of $15,000 which is pledged to be given as soon as it is matched by another $15,000 in donations to the GoFundMe campaign.  As of now the GoFundMe campaign and the addition of the challenge grant have raised over $31,500!!!