EAT YOUR COLORS. Workers stocked shelves on Tuesday, Oct. 10, at the soon-to-open Menomonie Market Food Co-op in downtown Eau Claire.

Eau Claire’s long-standing dream of a downtown grocery store has finally been realized with the opening of a new and vastly expanded Menomonie Market Food Co-op on North Barstow Street.

The years-long project reached fruition Wednesday when the ribbon was cut on the 14,000-square-foot grocery store and deli, which replaced the co-op’s previous – and comparatively tiny – Eau Claire location on South Farwell Street.

The ceremony was almost exactly a year to the day when ground was broken on what had been a temporary parking lot just blocks from Phoenix Park and next to the Children’s Museum of Eau Claire. But the project – and the dream behind it – goes back at least half a decade. Over the years, the co-op had eyed several locations, including Water Street, but plans never coalesced until last year, when the co-op bought the Barstow Street property.

Amid the buzz of last-minute activity on the eve of the store’s opening, General Manager Crystal Halvorson said she is optimistic that the new store will succeed in Eau Claire’s competitive grocery environment.

“We’re the only full service grocery store to come to downtown Eau Claire,” she said, alluding to years of fruitless discussion about alleviating the “food desert” in the neighborhood even as more businesses and residents put down roots there. While larger corporations may have determined that a downtown grocery wouldn’t be profitable enough, the calculations are different for a cooperative like Menomonie Market, which has nearly 5,000 member-owners across the Chippewa Valley.

“Being community owned, you know that a bigger share of your buck is staying in the community,” Halvorson said.

Among the new store's features is an expanded frozen food section.

As workers stocked shelves and as savory smells emanated from the new deli, Halvorson said she was looking forward to the fact that the bigger store will mean bigger opportunities for home-grown farmers and businesses.

“I am most excited that our local vendors will be bringing in orders that are three times bigger than ever before,” Crystal said.

While it will take a long-term effort for these suppliers to increase their output – after all, livestock and produce don’t grow overnight – Halvorson said some have already begun to do so.

“We have a good combination of local, regional, and national brands so we can keep the shelves stocked,” she said.

The new co-op, 206 N. Barstow St., is exponentially bigger than its immediate predecessor, which closed last week. That location – which was known as Just Local Food Co-op until a 2021 merger – occupied only about 1,200 square feet, less than one-tenth of the new store’s footprint.

The exterior of the store, 206 N. Barstow St.

The new size means more of everything the store carried at its previous Eau Claire location – and then some, said Kendall Sukopp, the co-op’s operational services manager. For example, the store’s bulk aisle contains more than 60 bins filled with everything from basmati rice to cashews. The selection of both fresh and frozen meat is greatly expanded, as is the colorful produce section, which is piled high with pumpkins, apples, and heirloom tomatoes. There’s a full-service bakery section and much larger liquor section stocked not just with beer but with wine and spirits as well.

For those accustomed to shopping the cramped aisles of the previous store, the new location is a more relaxed – and certainly less claustrophobic – experience.

One of the most significant additions is a deli offering up made-to-order sandwiches and grain bowls as well as grab-and-go options – including rotisserie chickens. Diners can enjoy their meal on the co-op’s ground floor or upstairs in a large community space on the second floor. That space, which can seat as many as 150 to 200 patrons, will be used for co-op events and classes and will be available for rental by the public. The second floor also includes a secondary kitchen as well as an expansive rooftop seating space, a fire pit, and garden beds that co-op staffers will cultivate. The upstairs also includes significant space for offices, something that was sorely lacking in the prior location.

The new co-op's upper level includes rooftop seating.

Back on the ground level, customers will find an espresso machine and other coffee offerings, four varieties of kombucha on tap, as well as two full-service checkouts and four self-checkout stations.
Those who’ve visited the co-op’s Menomonie location will find familiarities as well as differences. For example, the Eau Claire store has more retail space than its Menomonie counterpart, which opened its own expanded store in 2015, Sukopp said.

“This whole first year will be learning how the two communities are different,” as well as learning which local suppliers can serve both of the co-op’s locations, she said.

As the number of residential buildings continues to grow in downtown Eau Claire – including another one just across the co-op’s parking lot – Sukopp said the store won’t lack for shoppers.

“We’re confident, because this is a food desert, that we’ll be able to sustain the number of customers we need,” she said.

Menomonie Market Food Co-op • 206 N. Barstow St., Eau Claire • 7am-9pm daily • (715) 552-3366 • online at mmfc.coop