The East Aurora Cooperative Market is pleased to announce its new home: The first floor of the Red Brick Plaza at 591 Main Street in the heart of the village! This site is perfect for us because it meets so many of our requirements. It’s in the central business district, it’s the perfect size for our market area, it’s walkable, it provides plenty of parking and of course, it’s right on Main Street.
We have leased the entire first floor, which gives us 5,000 square feet of retail space, with additional space for offices and warehousing. We’ll also have the outdoor patio seating space on the Main Street side. Can’t you just picture sitting underneath a market umbrella sipping coffee? This is exactly the type of space – in size and location – that our consultants guided us toward. As we have said in the past, many times, site selection is not to be rushed, and we have all just learned the wisdom of patience.
Like many of you, we are concerned about the current tenants in the building. We understand that it represents change, and that change can be hard. From the outset, both we and our landlord, have been sensitive to this transition. Fortunately, our landlord has offered alternative locations in very close proximity to each of the current small businesses on the first floor.. As a proponent of local, small business, we value the important place each of these holds in our community. We are committed to supporting and promoting them in every way possible before, during and after the transition.
In fact, we believe the community will be stronger once they have relocated to more visible locations in the village, providing the opportunity to make their already thriving businesses even more successful. We encourage everyone to be part of promoting their continued success. Once a business relocates, be sure to continue patronizing them and make sure others know where their new homes are as well. Remember, we’re stronger together.
To be sure, we still have work to do, which means that in the very near future, there will be many opportunities for you to participate in making the co-op a success, from our upcoming Capital Campaign, to voting for board candidates in our 2014 elections and attending our annual meeting on May 29 where we’ll be looking to our member-owners for input on what makes the East Aurora Cooperative Market our community grocery store.
Our thanks to you, our member-OWNERS, for your patience, your support and your participation in helping us achieve this important milestone! We look forward to a bright future because we’re stronger together. Go Co-op!