If you are going to read one update about the co-op, let this be the one, as it likely contains the news you have been waiting for. This past month, we successfully secured a site for the East Aurora Cooperative Market! It was long time coming, but our perseverance paid off. I think you will be pleased with our location and will agree with us that such a promising site was well worth the wait!
Since signing the lease, we have been busy preparing the announcement of our location at our Big News Bash to be held on May 10th at 11:00 am, at our current office located at 618 Main St. in East Aurora. We invite all of you to celebrate with us and to see an architectural rendering that will reveal the future site of our cooperative market. Seeing the rendering really brings this project to life and I hope you will make every effort to come out and celebrate this accomplishment with us.
We will also be celebrating because we now have 800 member owners – definitely another reason to celebrate! Feel free to bring a non-member to the event and help us continue to grow our membership.
While we were working diligently to secure the site last month, we were also focused on the important work ahead. We have just submitted our prospectus to the Attorney General’s Office in Albany and we must secure approval from the State before we can start to raise capital to build out the store. The prospectus is a comprehensive document that details our business plan and, most importantly, describes the methods we will use to raise the necessary funds to build the store.
As we wait for the State’s approval, we are gearing up for our capital campaign that we hope to begin at the end of May. During this short but intense campaign, we will need our members’ responsiveness and support more than ever. You will be hearing more about the capital campaign in the coming weeks. Stay tuned and prepare to learn exactly how you can help the Co-op move forward toward construction and opening day!
Go Co-op!
Sheila