Potsdam Food Co-op will use $1.6M grant to expand rather than relocate

Andy Gardner, Watertown Daily Times, N.Y.
·2 min read

Mar. 29—POTSDAM — New York state has given the Potsdam Food Co-op the go-ahead to use a $1,659,000 Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant to expand the current store, rather than move to a new, larger location.

The co-op was awarded the money as part of the village of Potsdam's $10 million 2019 DRI grant to be used for business and community development projects. The co-op's share was first slated to move to a larger store at 63 Market St., but the negotiations to buy the outlet were unsuccessful.

The co-op had to request approval to use the money to expand the 24 Elm St. store, and with the latest news, that's now in motion. The total price of the 6,500-square-foot expansion is estimated at $3.95 million.

"This is significant news and should give everyone involved with the Co-op a sense of hope, security, and validation that our work and worry over the past months will be rewarded," the co-op board wrote in their email newsletter sent out Tuesday.

Local architect Rebecca Weld from Renew Architecture drew their DRI-required conceptual plan.

"We don't anticipate working with someone else as our architect, but we don't have a contract with her at this time for the rest of the work. It is also most likely that we will rely on (United Natural Foods Inc.) for store design because they have so much experience designing stores like ours, and a network of suppliers that they get good rates from," co-op board member Aviva Gold said. "This store and organization have been cornerstones of the community and we are excited to continue building on those traditions."

The plans for the renovated store include expanded departments and a full-service deli with places to eat indoors and outside.

"We expect to have all the departments grow ... a wider range of products, kind of like a one-stop shop," interim General Manager Jessie A. LaRose said.

The co-op has a couple of new initiatives to raise funds for the expansion. Any customer can round up their bill at the register as a donation. They've also joined the National Co+op Grocers to leverage the collective bargaining power of a national group of co-op stores. That means they pay less for staple food items and household goods. That allows them to set aside more money toward the expansion while paying less, and charging less, for those items.