Customers who visited Honest Weight Food Co-op last weekend were treated to free food and giveaways in celebration of the store’s one-year anniversary at its new location.
After years of planning and fundraising, construction finally began on a larger Honest Weight Food Co-op in August of 2012. The new natural foods grocery store opened the following year in June.
“We have good reason to be feeling festive as we hit our one-year mark in the new store,” said Lily Bartels, Honest Weight’s communications leader.
The original store opened in 1976 at its old location on Central Avenue. The new store on Watervliet Avenue is nearly double the size and allows for a larger selection of items, prepared foods and a space for cooking demonstrations. It also offers more parking and outside seating for diners.
The entire project cost about $5.4 million. The funds were obtained through private loans and an internal loan program. About 300 people participated in the loan program, providing nearly $1.2 million in funds.
The one-year anniversary was celebrated on Saturday, June 21.
Music was performed by local artists inside the store, while a DJ provided tunes outside. More than a dozen local vendors provided samples of their products, and the Chefs Consortium provided a free meal to anyone who made a purchase inside the store. Customers were also given a free Honest Weight canvas tote bag, along with various sales throughout the store and door prizes.
For the kids, there were face painting and games.
“This day will be as much about celebrating our members, shoppers, and the larger community that have so exuberantly embraced and supported our new store as it is about the remarkable success we’ve experienced here since we opened last summer,” said Bartels
For more information on the Co-op, visit www.hwfc.com.