** The Co-op will close at 5pm for Inventory on Wednesday March 31 **
Sorry for any inconvenience
** HOLIDAY HOURS **
Closed on Easter, Sunday April 4
** HOLIDAY HOURS **
Closed on Memorial Day, Monday May 31
** NEW STORE HOURS **
OPEN 8 AM – 8 PM Every Day
Join us for our Annual Meeting on Sunday May 23! Click HERE for info
Update to Co-op Mask Policy
Effective Wednesday, May 19, 2021, based on updated guidelines from the CDC and the State of CT, fully vaccinated people will be allowed to shop in the Co-op without a mask. However, because we are unable to monitor shoppers for proof of vaccination and because of our small space, we encourage everyone to wear a mask inside the store and trust everyone to act in the best interest of fellow shoppers, Co-op staff, and the public health. Read More...
Until further notice, employees will continue to wear masks while at work regardless of their vaccination status.
If you are not comfortable shopping inside our store in light of these changes, we encourage you to shop online with Webcart. Curbside pickup continues to be available.
We will continue to monitor state and local Covid positivity rates along with CDC and state guidance and will make changes as necessary.
The CDC now states:
“Fully vaccinated people can resume activities without wearing a mask or physically distancing, except where required by federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial laws, rules, and regulations, including local business and workplace guidance.”
The State of CT new rules advise:
Outdoors:
Indoors:
- Vaccinated not required to wear masks
- Unvaccinated must continue to wear masks
- Businesses, state and local government offices and events may choose to require universal masking
- Masks will still be required in certain settings such as healthcare facilities, facilities housing vulnerable populations, public and private transit, correctional facilities, schools, and childcare
Welcome to the Willimantic Food Co-op!
Our store is open to members and non-members alike.
We hope you will find what you are looking for here and, please, come see us at the store! The Willimantic Food Co-op is a member owned and operated food store. We carry a full line of grocery items, produce, cheese, juices, grains, spices, vitamins, dairy products, homeopathic remedies, and paper goods.
- Members pay shelf price and have the option of working at the store to receive an additional discount.
- Non-members pay 10% above shelf price.
- We accept Credit and Debit Cards (MC, Visa, Discover). We also accept SNAP Benefits.
Employment at the Co-op
Job Opening – Part-time Cashier
NOW HIRING: Cashier/Wellness Clerk. Part time, 24 hours. Click
here for full job posting.
NOW HIRING: Assistant Front End Manager. Full time. Click
here for job posting.
Click
here for full job description.
NOW HIRING: Produce Department Team Member. Part time. Click
here for job posting.
AHORA CONTRATANDO: Miembro del departamento de alimentos frescos. Haga clic
aquí para la publicación de empleo.
NOW HIRING: Part-time Cashier. Click
here for job posting.
AHORA CONTRATANDO: Cajero a tiempo parcial. Haga clic
aquí para la publicación de empleo.
After submitting your application, please wait to be contacted by a hiring manager. We consider all applications, keep them on file for a year, and review all previous applications each time we have an opening. We are not able to call or interview every applicant. If you are not contacted, please feel free to call or come in and update your application when there is a new job post.
We accept unsolicited applications, download one here:
Our Co-op turns 41!!!
41 cakes, 10% off everything in the store…
Saturday February 13th should be our 41st Birthday Party.
But as you might have guessed, that won’t be happening this year.
Instead, we will be giving every member (who has paid in all of their $120 in equity or are current on their payments) a 10% off coupon to use on a shopping trip of your choice. It will be programmed into the register, so all you have to do is tell your cashier that you would like to use your Birthday Coupon.
We have also set up an email account video@willimanticfood.coop where you could send a short video – you could sing Happy Birthday, say what you love most about the Co-op, or what it means to you. You could bake a cake and share a photo of it! We’ll put it all together and post it on our website.
Below is our 40th Birthday Celebration Slideshow, if you would like to take a trip down Memory Lane!
Interested in Proposition 138 which has been introduced in the CT legislature to enhance the existing CT Co-operative statutes and encourage more co-ops to incorporate in our state? The bill was initiated by the Willimantic Food Co-op, Fiddleheads Co-op in New London and developed with the support of the Neighboring Food Co-op Association. It was passed by the CT House and Senate and signed into law by the Governor on June 26, 2019.
COVID-19 ACCOMMODATIONS FOR CUSTOMERS
As a grocery store, the Co-op is an essential business serving the public many hours each day. We are committed to putting reasonable procedures in place to limit risk to our staff and customers.
To aid in minimizing the spread of the coronavirus and for the safety of anyone and everyone in our store, we will no longer allow anyone in the store without a mask.
Currently COVID-19 is a recognized threat in the workplace. Under applicable law, businesses are allowed to consider reasonable modifications and accommodations when there is a direct threat in the workplace to ensure the safety of our staff, customers, and vendors. We are committed to providing everyone access to the Co-op’s goods and services. For our customers who are not able to wear a mask or need additional support for any reason, we are offering the following accommodations:
Curbside Pickup
The WebCart Curbside Pickup program is available for anyone to use and serves as an accommodation for our customers who are at high-risk and for those unable to wear masks. For customers who attest that they are unable to wear a mask due to a medical condition or disability and thus cannot shop in the store, we will waive the picking fee, regularly $5 per order (picking fee is also automatically waived for shoppers paying with SNAP benefits).
Please click on the “CURBSIDE PICKUP ONLINE ORDERING” button on this page, where you will find instructions for placing a curbside order. If you have questions, need technical support, or do not have access to a computer or the internet, call the store at 860-456-3611, and we will assist you in placing an order for curbside pickup.
WebCart orders can be placed online 24/7, and there is generally a 24 hour wait time, depending on order volume. Orders may be picked up anytime the store is open, 9am-7pm every day.
If you need something outside the parameters of this service, please call the store at the number above and let us know what you need. We will do our best to accommodate your needs.
Text or Written Instructions
The hearing impaired may request email, written or text communication with our staff in the store or through our Curbside service.
Other barriers and requests:
There is no one-size-fits-all accommodation, so if you are encountering challenges in accessing our services, please call 860-456-3611 and ask for a Manager and let us know what you need so we can work with you to find a resolution.
Hello! We are pleased to announce that the Co-op will be reopening on Thursday June 11, 2020 at 10 am. We are excited to have all the life that our members and shoppers bring back inside our store once again. We appreciate your patience as we figured out the best and safest way to meet the needs of our very diverse community and provide you with the food that sustains us all.
Open 9am-7pm Every Day
Masks Required
Limited Number of Shoppers
Social Distancing at All Times
Curbside Available for a $5 Fee
(Fee effective June 11, automatically waived for SNAP shoppers)
As much as I would like to say everything will be like it was before, that just isn’t possible.We are looking at this reopening as our ‘next normal’. What will be the same is our staff – the majority of us are here and we have missed you! A few have chosen not to return to work because of Coronavirus. The food and other products you are accustomed to seeing on our shelves are here. You may not find your favorite Grab and Go or Bakery items, but we are hoping to restock our full selection soon. A few things have been hard to come by, but for the most part, we are fully stocked. Local produce is just beginning to come in, and you will find vegetables from many familiar farms in our produce department.
The Bulk Department is very important to our members and a big part of what makes the Co-op the Co-op! It is also where you will see the biggest change as we reopen our store. We have chosen to have our staff fill your bulk food needs and not allow shoppers into that aisle. There is no realistic way that we could keep up with the recommended sanitizing protocol for all of those bins, jars and scoops. We also will not be allowing you to refill your own containers – it is just too easy to unwittingly spread the virus this way. We realize that this is sad, given the huge amount of work we all had been doing to reduce plastic and other waste in our shopping routine. It breaks my heart when I see the signs telling us how many 5 cent rebates we gave for the containers we reused. We worked really hard. My hope is that one day we can continue that work, but right now is not the time.
The Wellness department is also a challenge, particularly the middle aisle that is filled with a zillion small bottles! We have decided to close that aisle to shoppers – it is just too narrow to have more than one person in it at a time. We will have it fully staffed at all times to be sure that these products are available to you, and that a Wellness staff person will be there to answer any questions.
We ask that when you come to do your shopping you keep in mind and respect the safety of our other shoppers as well as the staff by following the guidelines that we have put in place.
To achieve this, masks are required by everyone, always. Six-foot social distancing is required. Handle as few things as possible, particularly in the produce department. We will be limiting the number of people in the store at any one time, so we ask that you come by yourself and with a list. Our store is small, which is one of the things that we love about it, but that also makes keeping our distance difficult.
We have instituted a regular cleaning and sanitizing routine throughout the day and hand sanitizer will be available in many locations.
The café area will be closed – instead it will be used for our Curbside order holding area. We will continue to offer the Curbside Co-op option to people who need it. Because of the additional labor, we will now charge a $5 fee. The way we have been doing Curbside was clearly the right thing to do once we closed the Coop to shoppers, but it is not sustainable financially.
We are prepared to change how we do things as our reopening plays out. Please let us know what works for you and what doesn’t.
Know that we are working hard to meet your needs for food and safety!
Alice Rubin, General Manager
