We're Open!

We opened the doors to our new Co-op on Wednesday, June 26th! Our great staff and volunteers put in long hours the month leading up to our opening. Thanks to everyone's help, we were only closed for one day for the move. Stop in and have a look at our new Co-op.

Let the countdown begin.....

It's hard to believe, but we plan to move into our new Co-op in 8 days! Things will still be a bit rough around the edges when we move in, but we should have things inside pretty much ready to go.

Staff and volunteers have been busy unloading trucks and figuring out ways to get large deliveries into a store without a loading dock.

We received a whole semi-truck full of Lozier Shelving. It's all set up and ready to go.

I've been busy multitasking to get the job done. It's exciting to be so close to opening the new store.

Check Stands and Refrigerated Cases

Daily deliveries are arriving at the Co-op. We'll have it filled with good food in no time. Here are our check stands - complete with conveyor belts and grocery catching areas.

We'll have 24' of fresh organic and local produce. The Co-op will also expand our fresh meats, grab and go deli, cooler and frozen foods.

We waited to install the front doors so it would be easier to load in the new coolers.

Lots of Activity at the New Co-op!

 

Here's our new Co-op Deli. Note the walk in cooler and vent hood. We're moving up in the world from a hot plate and small convection oven!

Here is a view of the store. They've been working on finishing up the HVAC ducting and sheetrocking this week. Painting is next followed by floor grinding.

Here's a view of the inside of the 11 door backloading dairy cooler. The large doors are beautiful.

Walk-In Coolers

 

The walk-in coolers have arrived! All of these panels will get pieced together into three walk-in coolers and one walk-in freezer. We are really looking forward to having a commercial back stock freezer with enough room to hold a weeks worth of frozen food.

Here is the load from behind dairy cooler. Stockers will be able to keep the milk and dairy stocked from inside the cooler without having to interrupt shoppers.

Another view of the walk-in dairy cooler.

Pouring Concrete

The crew started pouring the concrete floor last Friday and hope to finish up this Wednesday. There are four inches of foam under the concrete to insulate the floor. Insulating the concrete will improve the overall comfort in the building and helps reduce heating and cooling costs. The final floor finish in the store will be polished concrete which is easy to maintain and an economical choice.

Plumbing, Electrical and a Grand Entrance

County Plumbing and Hunt Electric have been busy laying plumbing and electrical lines. Contractors plan to start pouring the concrete floor on Thursday.

 

The entrance to the Co-op is starting to take shape. The sliding glass doors will get installed later in the project to protect them from construction activity. 

The Duluth News Tribune published an article about our project in today's paper. Check it out at:

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/261048/group/Business/