Community Owned Grocery Stores
Community owned grocery stores can be set up as community owned, run and funded cooperative or an LLC or as a member service cooperative.
Community-owned stores are businesses owned by multiple "members" of the store. This means the customers or clients own a share in the business they use, thus providing the services they need.
Community-owned stores can be "worker cooperatives" where members are both employees of the business as well as owners of the cooperative, or "service cooperatives" where consumers have the opportunity to supply their own needs, gain bargaining power, and share earnings.
Often the idea for a community owned store arises when a community loses a local store or the need for a local store is significant.
Grocery stores are common community owned stores in areas known as "food deserts" which occur in towns where the commute to reach a grocery store is an hour or more one way.
Cooperative Grocery Store Exploration