Updated 2/24/2021 7:32 AM
A cooperatively owned grocery store is planning to open a brick-and-mortar location next year in downtown Lombard.
Prairie Food Co-op has signed a 10-year lease for a 10,000-square-foot building at 109 S. Main St. Indiana-based Holladay Properties will begin construction of the building this spring, and the store is expected to open in July 2022.
"As a cooperative business, we are literally owned by the community," said Kathy Nash, Prairie Food Co-op board president and co-founder. "Our mission is to open a grocery store that supports local farmers and producers."
Other than Sugar Beet Food Co-op in Oak Park and Chicago's Dill Pickle Food Co-op, Nash said food co-ops are rare for the area. Yet even without a building, Prairie Food Co-op already has nearly 1,200 owners throughout DuPage County.