Back in November 2010, West Philadelphia's much-loved
Mariposa Food Co-op announced that after decades of successfully selling healthy and sustainable food from its tiny storefront at 4726 Baltimore Ave., it would finally be moving to a much larger location that could better handle its quickly growing membership.
After eventually purchasing that larger location--the landmark Belmont Trust Company Building at 4824 Baltimore Ave.--and partnering with the sustainable
Re:Vision Architecture company, the team at Mariposa is more prepared than ever to complete its upcoming relocation, which is currently expected to happen during the fall of 2011, according to Mariposa's Leah Pillsbury. "Our offices are now sitting in the new building, and construction is just starting," says Pillsbury. Along with financing from the
PIDC, a
Community Design Collaborative grant, and help from
The Reinvestment Fund, low-interest loans from Mariposa customers have also been an important source of expansion funding.
Probably the biggest change scheduled to take place when Mariposa moves into its new ecologically-sustainable location, which will be home to 2,500 square feet of retail space, is that non-members will be able to shop there. As Pillsbury explains, "If we're saying that part of this project is to create food access in the neighborhood, then we have to make it accessible."
What's more, a slew of workshops and other projects scheduled to take place in the new building are currently being planned. A larger community meeting space will exist at the store, which is also currently planning its own rooftop garden, a small beekeeping center, and a number of cooking and nutrition classes. It's quite possible, of course, that other community-based events will have been planned by the time the new store opens. After all, as Pillsbury herself says, "What used to be a real niche market is now a more mainstream market. Organic food sales are up all around."
Source: Leah Pillsburgh, Mariposa Food Co-op
Writer: Dan Eldridge
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