BETHLEHEM, Pa.- The long-awaited Bethlehem Co-op Market grocery store might not open in 2025.
The co-op’s board provided an update on the project during its regular meeting on Monday night, which was open to the public with in-person and virtual attendance options.
The full-service brick-and-mortar grocery store at 250 E. Broad St. was first announced in 2021. Ground was broken at the site the following year. But the project has had to contend with several challenges since then, including funding complexities tied to a $2.9 million federal grant, as well as rising construction costs, which have delayed the planned opening again and again.
Frustrations over those delays have been mounting, which the co-op has acknowledged. A recent post on the group’s Facebook page reads: Since so many of you (rightly!) asked – We are working to get a contractor finalized to connect the refrigeration equipment to the condenser on the roof (from the ground floor to atop the fourth). Once that is confirmed and work begins (which is complicated and expensive work), we can get a better estimate on our opening date. No one wants to get open more than we do!”
Board Chair Domenic Breininger said the refrigeration hookup work will take about four weeks. Once that’s finished, the store can apply for its certificate of occupancy. “Unfortunately, we’re not able to exactly estimate the date just yet,” he said during the meeting, while acknowledging it’s possible the market won’t open this year.
In August, the co-op told 69 News it would have the store open in November or December. That was after an end-of-summer deadline came and went.
Produce cases inside the marketÂ
Bethlehem Co-op
But, according to Board Vice Chair Todd Metz, the Bethlehem Co-op’s struggles aren’t unusual. “The average amount of time for a co-op to get up and running is 10-plus years, so we fall into that category,” he said. “The average co-op does not have the money they need to open the doors and are continually fundraising forever. And staff turnover for a co-op is typical. It’s a high pressure, high level of work and effort type of thing, and many get burned out, especially when you’re trying to start up an operation.”
Metz is one of the members of the Bethlehem Co-op board that recently attended the Mid Atlantic Food Cooperative Alliance conference. He said speaking to other co-ops about their struggles “validates that what we’re going through, and what we’re experiencing, and the things we’re doing right now are falling right into place with what we should be doing.”
While the group waits to secure the refrigeration contractor, other work continues at the store. Last week, the bulk bin section and bulk grinder section were installed. Most of the equipment and shelving is in place. The check-out stations have been delivered.
The co-op also is in the process of selecting an accounting firm that will perform an audit on the $2.9 million grant it received from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD); the audit is one of the requirements the co-op must satisfy to use the money.
In the meantime, the co-op is in the midst of a $1 million capital campaign, which the group calls its Sustainable Future Campaign. Board members reported that $411,000 has been secured so far, with another $225,000 in committed contributions.
Founded in 2011, the Bethlehem Co-op now has 1,731 members, which the group refers to as member-owners.
Once construction is complete, the grocery store will be open to all shoppers, not just members of the co-op.