Mississippi Market: Co-op

Co-op History

Mississippi Market is part of the long history of the co-operative movement. Consumer cooperation as we know it began in 1844 on the ground floor of an old warehouse on Toad Lane in Rochdale, England. The Rochdale Equitable Pioneer Society sought to right the wrongs of inequitable business practices. By placing ownership of the business in the hands of those who patronized it, the Rochdale Pioneers sought to protect their members interests. The experiment in cooperation at Rochdale soon became the model for economic cooperation all over the world.

The following cooperative principles resulted for this successful enterprise and remain the guiding principles of most consumer cooperatives today, including Mississippi Market.

Cooperative Principles

Voluntary and Open Membership
Democratic Member Control
Member Economic participation
Autonomy and Independence Education
Training and Information
Cooperation among Cooperatives
Concern for Community.

Mississippi Market originated in a small store front on Selby Avenue in the Merriam Park neighborhood of Saint Paul in 1974. Merri-Grove Community Foods' primary mission was to be a community owned business that provided healthy, unprocessed foods with minimal packaging to the surrounding neighborhood. People responded favorably to Merri-Grove and within four years the co-op had outgrown its space.

After a year long search, a vote to pick a new name and $11,000 in loans from a bank and members-owners, Mississippi Market opened on the corner of Saint Clair and Pascal on March 1, 1979. Sales in the new location almost tripled within the next twelve years. By the late 80s, Mississippi Market was outgrowing its space. After three years of searching, the co-op opened its next location at 1810 Randolph Avenue in February 1991.

Organic and natural foods has become one of the few growth segments in the food industry, attracting sophisticated and well financed competition for Twin Cities cooperatives. Mississippi Market's Board of Directors acknowledges that the co-op needs to grow in order to survive. In 1997, a $4.2 million package was put together to build a second store on the corner of Selby Avenue and Dale Street. Open in April 1999, the Selby location has 7,000 square feet of retail selling space and also houses the co-op's administrative offices, as well as the Saint Paul Neighborhood Energy Consortium.

Increasing services to the community, developing a vision that is financially viable and member-owner supported, providing continuing good benefits to staff, and promoting products to those who care about food, the health of their families and the environment continues to be the cooperative's focus. Mississippi Market's success provides an opportunity for positive change in the way food is produced, distributed and marketed, and exists to ensure that our member-owners' needs are being met as we move into the future.

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