Footings

Demolition of our old Co-op was complete on Monday, November 26th and the contractors got right to work digging and pouring footings.

 Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF) will be put in place next week. ICF is a system of formwork for concrete that stays in place as permanent building insulation for energy-efficient, cast-in-place, reinforced concrete walls, floors, and roofs. The forms are interlocking modular units that are dry-stacked (without mortar) and filled with concrete. The forms lock together somewhat like Lego bricks and serve to create a form for the structural walls or floors of a building. ICF construction is becoming increasingly commonplace for both low rise commercial and residential construction as more stringent energy efficiency and natural disaster resistant building codes are adopted.

Mural

During demolition of the old Co-op, a team of workers was able to save 12-18 pieces of the mural on the side of the Co-op building. John Hilde and his crew, along with Jeff Kern, made cuts around a number of the motifs and as Clint McWaters from Thoresons demolished the building; he helped to recover the pieces that broke free as the wall fell.  The pieces were moved off the site. Most of them are being stored behind The Garage, and a few still need to be moved from the lot across from the building site. The mural committee hopes to come up with a design that will incorporate the saved pieces sometime this spring. 

Demolition

Work has begun on building our new Co-op. Demolition occurred on November 20th and 21st and they should start working on footings after Thanksgiving. In the mean time, we've set up shop at 2066 West highway 61 and are open for business. Stop in and check out our temporary digs.

We're OPEN!

After a week of long hours and sleepless nights, we transformed the old bowling alley into a funky and functional Co-op.  There are still a few bugs to work out, but we passed the health inspection and are open for business at 2066 West Hwy 61 in Grand Marais.  We'll be open from 9 am - 7 pm Monday - Saturday and 10 am - 6 pm on Sundays. This will be our temporary home as we build our new Co-op at our old location on the East Bay of Lake Superior. 

Turkeys were flying out the door yesterday as soon as the doors opened.  It was great to see all of the Thanksgiving shoppers.  I know what I'll be thankful for this year.  I'm thankful for all of the people who made the move possible -- employees, volunteers, electricians, plumbers and refrigeration techs...  It took a lot of people and cooperation to transform the bowling alley/bar in a short period of time, thank you.

Demolition of the old Co-op began today.  Over the weekend folks scavenged a lot from the old building.  It was great that people will be able to recycle and reuse a lot of the old building.  There was also an effort to save parts of the mural, plus we'll have a photo of the mural in a prominent spot in the new store.  I'm looking forward to seeing the progress of the new store throughout the winter. 

I'll try and have photos soon of all that's happening here, but right now we're still getting organized.  In the mean time, stop by and have a look at our new space.

Cooler Woes

The electricians, refrigeration technicians, plumbers, staff and volunteers have been working hard to get everything up and running in our temporary location.  Unfortunately, our refrigeration equipment has seen better days and has been a bit cranky.  Moving and re-hooking up equipment that is on its last leg is tricky business.  There have been issues with bad compressors and burned out parts.  We hope to open Monday, November 19th provided our health inspector gives us the go ahead, but we will not have a full array of coolers and freezers.  That will have to wait until Tuesday when more parts are available. 

On the bright side, we have phone, internet and our POS cash register system is running and ready for action, and there are plenty of turkeys waiting for your Thanksgiving feast.  We also received a delivery on Friday so our shelves are getting stocked up after the huge moving sale. 

Stay tuned for an exact opening time.  I'm guessing around 11:00 on Monday, November 19th but give us a call at 387-2503 or check here for more precise info. 

Moving Week

Wow!  The last four days have been amazing.  We had a mega moving sale on Saturday, November 10th where we doubled any previous day in sales.  Fourth of July is no match for moving a Co-op in stormy November.  Carts were heaping and folks were enthusiastic.  It was wild and crazy but a great way to see the old Co-op off.

On Sunday, we had lots of volunteers to pack and move products and stuff to our temporary location.  On Monday, we continued the pack and move routine plus the cooler and freezer guys arrived bright and early to relocate all of our cooling equipment.  The guys from Gartner Refrigeration have been great, they even moved our safe which would have broken a lot of back if we tried to get it out the door.  Having the right moving equipment makes all the difference in the world.  The County Plumbing and Hunt Electricians have also been hard at work making sure that everything is up to code and working for an excellent shopping experience.

We have almost everything in the "new" temporary space at 2066 West Hwy 61, Grand Marais, MN.  (Gunnar's, Howling Wolf, Bowling Alley/Chinese Restauant --- now Co-op!)  Our phones are hooked up and ringing at the new location.  We're unpacking boxes and getting everything up to code.  We had originally planned to open this Friday, but the Health Inspector cannot make it until Monday, November 19th so we have some extra time to spiff up the place for Thanksgiving Shopping.

We look forward to see you shopping in the new temporary space.  Stop in and pick up your Thanksgiving Turkey on Monday!

SALE & Moving Day

On Saturday, November 10th, the Co-op is having a one day sale before moving to our temporary location. Products will be 5-20% off. Stop in, stock up and save. We will be closed starting Sunday, November 11th for about 5 days. Our exact opening day depends on refrigeration and health inspection.  We will keep you posted.

We're gearing up and getting ready to move! Plans are in place to start packing up on Sunday, November 11th. Volunteer opportunities are available during the week - especially on Sunday and Monday. There is a sign up sheet for volunteers near the front registers or give us a call at 218-387-2503 if you'd like to help - Jill and Andrew are coordinating this effort.

Once everything is moved out, we plan to open the store up for scavengers. Owners will be welcome to come in and carefully take what we're leaving behind.  Sorry, but I won't know the date and time until the last minute. We are not sure how long it will take us to move everything out.  We'll post something on Boreal once we've finished moving.