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Molly Russakoff is accustomed to calling the shots. For 25 years, she has run everything from a record shop to a bookstore to her current operation, Bella Vista Natural Foods, 1010 S. Ninth St, But it’s all about to change; the proprietor is ready to start sharing with the community as a cooperative grocer.
"The members would have an equal share in the co-op and an equal say in the co-op," the resident of the same block said. "There would be benefits to membership. It’s really about being a part of the community. Once we really get going we could do different initiatives in the community."
Becoming a co-op will help alleviate costs by collecting dues and allowing members to volunteer a few hours of their time to help run the store. Currently, food, produce and meat comes from local farmers and suppliers, but with help, sources could increase.
"Sales never got to the point where I needed them to be and I did have a vision for the way I wanted it to be," she said. "And I just couldn’t manage the whole thing by myself. It’s so hard to get financing now, so it just made more sense to work cooperatetively."
The same building was home to Molly’s Bookstore until the market changed and the store folded in August. She also tried to open a nonprofit for home-schooled children at the same location last year, but that never got off the ground. The food store opened in November and Russakoff is looking for others to help it grow.
"I’ve always been community oriented, but have worked on my own and now I’m ready to work with other people," she said. "I think more can get done that way and there’s so much going on in South Philly now. It would be nice to have some central co-ops. They tend to be a central location, a hub."
Imane Hanine, began shopping at Bella Vista Natural Foods, where she has chatted with the owner a few times.
Hanine, who also works for FairFood, a nonprofit that connects shops like Bella Vista, and co-ops to local farmers within 150 miles of Center City, attended last week’s public meeting and yesterday’s first steering committee session.
"A lot of the community members that live there, a lot of them really want to see local produce," Hanine said. "I just moved to Ninth and Christian, so I love the opportunity to meet my neighbors. It’s kind of cool to know that a lot of my neighbors have a similar interest."
The process is still in the planning stages. Russakoff held a June 10 meeting that brought out 70 community members to learn about the prospective project and hear from General Manager Glenn Bergman of Weavers Way Co-op, which is in Ognotz and West Oak Lane. While Bergman was skeptical at first, after seeing the turnout, the local site has great potential, he said.
Of the 500 on the store’s e-mail list, 25 offered to be a part of the steering committee that will meet to pinpoint the store’s mission and plan the store’s evolution.
Bergman presented the community with a background of his co-op and others across the country, and designated one of his board members to sit in at all the future steering committee meetings.
"We all work together — mutual benefit," he said. "We work together as much as we can."
Weavers Way started out in the basement of a church in 1973 and now has 3,500 household memberships consisting of 5,500 people living within 2.5 miles of its two locations. A third is set to open in Chestnut Hill. The adult members are required to work six hours a year and pay $30 annually until $400 is reached. Regardless of how much each person pays, that individual still only votes once and, upon leaving the co-op, the money is returned, Bergman said.
"It’s really about community — about seeing your neighbors and being a part of something," he said.
Along with Weavers, another model is in West Philadelphia. Mariposa Co-op formed in ’71 when the community wanted a source for local food. It now has 700 accounts, which adds up to about 1,200 members — triple what it was 10 years ago when Bull Gervasi, store manager and produce buyer joined.
"For a little while we had a cap and weren’t allowing any new people in, but we didn’t want to do that anymore," Gervasi said about the creation of a waiting list currently at two months.
Gervasi has spoke with Russakoff on many occasions about the setup of a co-op and its possibilities. For Mariposa, the mission is to provide access to quality food for the community and support local farmers.
"It’s less about profit and more about giving back in support of local economy and the neighborhood in general," he said. "We have a lot of great produce and great quality products we could sell for more if we chose to."
While helping Russakoff set up the store last fall, Gervasi saw there was a lot of fresh food in the Italian Market, but it didn’t seem to be locally sourced, he said.
"I feel like there’s a niche there that [Russakoff] can tap into that is really under served at the moment," he added.
"It could be great for the Italian Market," Russakoff said. "It’s a really good community-builder. I think it would help to bring people into the market as well."
