E.L. food co-op may move to new home

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Since Country Markett closed its doors in January, Rachel Ulch’s spontaneous trips for bread, beer or laundry detergent have her looking elsewhere.

“You could drive up the street to get something and it wasn’t a big trip,” the studio art senior said.

“Now when I’ve been in a rush to get something I’ve got to head to CVS, and they don’t have as much.”

But with the East Lansing Food Co-op, 4960 Northwind Drive, contemplating a move to the former Country Markett site, East Lansing could once again have a grocery store close to the downtown. The co-op offers various groceries but specializes in healthy, organic food.

The larger space and prominent location at 1367 E. Grand River Ave. could be a boost for the grocer, which is coming off its most successful year, said Dave Finet, the co-op’s general manager.

“We don’t feel like we have the same traffic we could have,” Finet said. “It’s better visually. We could offer more products, and it’s a lot easier for folks to recognize you.”

The move, however, is far from final.

The co-op will perform a market study to find whether it could thrive in a building three times the size of its current headquarters, Finet said.

“Now, we have to know how much we can grow and how fast,” Finet said. “We don’t want to march into a situation we don’t know we’re going to be successful at.”

Options for filling the 15,000-square-foot building range from increasing inventory to adding a juice bar, cafe or combination of the two, Finet said.

Robert Phipps, who owns Brookfield Plaza, which was home to Country Markett, couldn’t be reached for comment.

Because there aren’t any grocery stores nearby and the site offers plenty of parking, the food co-op could make a good addition to the plaza, said Tim Dempsey, East Lansing’s community and economic development administrator.

“I think the food co-op offers the potential to have a nice grocery operation there,” Dempsey said.

“The fact that it’s a prime location could really be a benefit to them.”

Neighboring businesses are eager to see the building filled after sitting vacant for about three months.

Jim Staron, director of operations for Grand Traverse Pie Company, 1403 E. Grand River Ave., said the empty building is an eyesore.

“You walk by the front door and it just reeks of stale beer,” he said.

“We would like to see an upper-scale market go in there like a Whole Foods (Market) or a Trader Joe’s.”

Some East Lansing residents pushed for Trader Joe’s to open a store in the space, but the Monrovia, Calif.-based grocer said in late January it wasn’t interested.

While the co-op doesn’t have the name recognition of the nationally known Trader Joe’s, Dempsey said the store could increase its customer base through marketing.

“Having a better location alone helps them do that,” Dempsey said.

Staff writer Joseph Terry contributed to this report.

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