DECORAH -- From its humble beginning around Darrell Henning's kitchen table to its spacious new store in the heart of downtown Decorah, the Oneota Community Co-op has remained true to its mission. It is still a place not only to shop, but to connect with friends.

After an extensive 1.9 million renovation project that began in June, the co-op opened last month in its fifth location in the past three decades -- at the former Latham Furniture store, 312 W. Water St. The building was originally a Fareway store.

The co-op has nearly tripled its size, doubled its inventory and expanded the deli and seating area.

It has become a regional shopping destination -- the closest comparable co-ops are in Iowa City, Ames and La Crosse, Wis.

The number of employees has grown from 30 a year ago to 54 full- and part-time workers. The sales goal for the first year in the new store is 3.75 million, up 75 percent from last year. So far, the business is on track to exceed that goal.

"We're big enough to meet your needs and small enough to meet your neighbors," said Liz Rog, Oneota's membership and community outreach manager, who admittedly had reservations about the move. She's been involved in the co-op for more than 20 years.

"In 1984, I probably would have wanted to stand in the way of this. I tend to be a nostalgic person who likes things the way they've always been," she said.

But as employees and members said goodbye to the old store, just a block away, Rog said the reason for the move became apparent.

"I was surprised. I wasn't sad in the least. It's just so clear to me. The co-op community is growing;Â it's not dispersing."

A grand opening at the new store will be from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. April 4-5.

Welcoming to everyone

The co-op is open to the public, members or not.

The front doors open to a customer service counter.

"It's an easy door to walk through, to be introduced to so many important ideas of our time: local foods, healthy foods, healthy work places, green, environmental choices," she said.

The mission is to provide member-owners with:

Food produced using organic farming and distribution practices with an emphasis on supporting local and regional suppliers.

Reasonably priced whole, bulk and minimally packaged foods and household items.

Products and services that reflect a concern for human health and the environment and that promote the well-being of the workers and communities which produce them.

There are 2,800 cooperative member/owners; 90 people have joined since the new store opened. A refundable share is 140 and allows the co-op to make major purchases or improvements.

Members get dividends in the years when there is sufficient profit, discount coupons and a subscription to the bimonthly newsletter.

Green project

Christopher DeAngelis, general manager, is proud to be associated with such a green building.

"I love this place. We worked really hard to do sustainable, environmentally friendly construction from cradle to the grave," he said.

The building is heated almost entirely through a heat-reclamation system that had been disconnected after the building was no longer a grocery store.

"It's a remake of what Fareway had in place in the 1950s," Rog said. "They made a tunnel for heat reclamation. Fareway was ahead of its time."

A "city kid," with a background working in co-ops in Minneapolis and New Jersey, DeAngelis learned about the Oneota Co-op during discussions over whether to sell a wholesale warehouse owned collectively by all the food cooperatives in the Midwest.

Before deciding to take the position at Oneota, DeAngelis spent a weekend in Decorah to get a feel for the town.

"I'm amazed by what this town has to offer: the music scene and the overwhelming number of local musicians and visual artists," he said. "Decorah has a strong and growing downtown."

And while he's been involved in co-ops for the past decade and seen the sense of community they enjoy, what he's observed at the Oneota Co-op goes beyond that.

"The breadth of support Oneota has experienced is beyond that of any other co-op I've been a part of," he said.

History

In 1972, co-op founding members began as a "buying club" with about 30 people meeting monthly to put together a food order, then someone driving to a warehouse in Minneapolis to pick up the order.

After less than a year, there was too much food to fit in a truck or store in someone's pantry and the idea of a storefront was born.

On June 13, 1974, the co-op opened in an unheated shack off Paine Street stocked with steel garbage cans containing bags of whole grains.

Later, the co-op moved to a second-story office space downtown, then the space now occupied by Ede's Gourmet, before moving to its former location at 415 W. Water St.

Contact Sarah Strandberg

at newsroom@wcfcourier.com.