Just Food Turns Five! Celebrate with cake and in-store specials.

Just Food Co-op is celebrating five years of business this week - an accomplishment for not only the store itself but for the whole community. As a co-op, Just Food is equally owned by nearly 1,900 local households.

Those owners, as well as the many shoppers who are not yet owners, have supported their co-op for the past five years. It’s thanks to that support that Just Food recently posted its first profitable year.

Although the store opened its doors five years ago, the work started years before that. In the spring of 2002, there was an initial meeting to gauge interest in the idea of a community co-op. For the next two years, more people got involved and volunteered for everything from promotion and membership to organizing the writing of bylaws and the conduction a feasibility study.

By the time the doors opened on December 15, 2004, there were 750 owners who had invested. This community was ripe for a cooperatively owned venture, and for a store where local farmers could sell their products to community members. Access to local food was an important part of the reason that this store opened in the first place, and Just Food’s commitment to local food and local farmers continues today.

In celebration of the five-year milestone, Just Food shoppers have enjoyed special treatment this week. You can still join the fun on Tuesday, December 15 with 5% off for Co-op owners all day and cake from 4-6 p.m. Shoppers who spend over $100 on Wednesday, December 16 will receive a free reusable shopping bag, and on Thursday, December 17 Co-op customers will enjoy tasty samples throughout the store.

Just Food Co-op took this opportunity to redesign its logo, which customers have already begun to see sprout up around the store. Their website, http://justfood.coop, also got a new look, and now sports the day’s deli menu and upcoming events on its homepage.