From the Board of Directors: Expansion Update

The Board of Directors is pleased to report that Medford Food Co-op has signed a purchase agreement for property in south Medford. We have 90 days to complete our due diligence inspection of the property, and expect to close on the purchase in early September.

The property is part of a new commercial subdivision currently being developed just south of the intersection of South Pacific Highway and Garfield Street. The location will have access to both Center Drive and South Pacific Highway via a new street built in the subdivision.

Eventually, MFC plans to build a new store on the 1.5 acre lot. We are planning for a store that is approximately 12,000 square feet – about twice the size of our current store. It will take time to design and create plans for a new store. The Board hopes to have a preliminary plan to share with our owners this fall.

Next steps include completing the due diligence inspection, creating a preliminary building design, presenting a plan to our owners for input and consideration, as well as completing a successful fundraising campaign to move the project forward. Thanks to the $50,000 planning grant we were awarded through America's Healthy Food Financing Initiative, we have some funds available for planning and creating a preliminary building design.

We are excited to have made progress in finding a future home for Medford Food Co-op that will improve access to local, organic foods, provide more space for customers to shop in, a greater variety of products, and improved working conditions for staff. As stated in our spring update, we'll need your continued support in our current location, as well as your investments in a future fundraising campaign to make any expansion project possible. Keep shopping at the Co-op, keep buying local, and we'll keep investing your dollars back into our local food system to grow our cooperative, better serve our owners, and make progress toward our vision to cooperatively nurture a healthy community. Thank you all for your steadfast support over the last 14+ years!