Chicago Market, a community co-op

Chicago Market will change the way you shop for groceries. We’re building a community around local, sustainable food. Not an Owner of our food co-op yet?

Chicago Market Owners
get 15% off

all orders from our friends at Meliora K between now and December 31. Stock up on their wonderful, locally made cleaning products for your own home, or pick up a bundle for gifts. Recyclable, travel-sized laundry powder tubes make terrific stocking stuffers for campers & travelers!

for coupon code to use for online orders.

Meliora K Owners-only Promotion

Owners! Take advantage of special deals on Pasture Pork holiday gift bundles from Peep Inc. Packages available for $25, $50 and $100 and Chicago Market Owners can get FREE DELIVERY to their homes! Bundles include sustainably-raised bacon, ribs, ground pork, breakfast sausage, pork chops, Canadian bacon, pork tenderloin and more.

Thanksgiving orders must be placed by 8am Nov. 24 and Christmas orders must be placed by 8am Dec. 22.

Chicago Market Thanksgiving Co-op Pop-Up
Chicago Market Thanksgiving Co-op Pop-Up

Happy Thanksgiving! How does your family celebrate?

At Chicago Market, we give thanks for our local farmers and producers and we fill our holiday table with fresh greens, herbs, potatoes, squash, bread, apples, cider, holiday candies, fresh dairy and of course, fresh organically-raised turkeys.

Join us at a Thanksgiving Co-op Pop-Up on Saturday, Nov. 21 from 2:30-5:30pm to fill your own shopping basket with these goodies. You can also donate food or money there to our friends at Care for Real and help brighten the holiday for others in our community.

The event is free, but you must RSVP to attend.

VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT: Mike Mayer and Kate Jakubas

Making things better. For one Chicago Market husband and wife team, this says it all: It's been the inspiration behind their own business, their passion for co-ops and their active engagement as volunteers on our GLRP (Grocery, Logistics, Retail & Procurement) team.

Meliora K

Mike Mayer and Kate Jakubas started their natural cleaning products company Meliora K in 2013. Meliora is Latin for "better things." Kate says, "We wanted our products to represent what's better than the choices we saw in traditional stores, but also for our company to represent a better way of doing business." The company is committed to transparency, triple-bottom line (people, planet and profits) and is a Certified B Corporation – using the power of business to solve social and environmental problems.

During Kate's time as a student at University of Illinois and Mike's at University of Wisconsin, they got acquainted with food co-ops, but their supplier-side experience has also made them huge fans. "Co-ops immediately get what we're trying to do with transparency of ingredients. They're also used to dealing with smaller companies, so it doesn't weird them out when you walk your product in their front door from your Honda Civic," Mike says with a laugh.

They became Chicago Market Owners in 2014, and they've been enthusiastic volunteers, taking a leadership role in gathering community opinions, analyzing, debating and helping craft our Purchasing Values.

Is theirs a co-op love story? "You mean, did we meet in a co-op? No … We used to work together," Kate hesitates. "Well, I guess we still do!"

Chicago Market sure does love them though – and loves the passion they're bringing to our co-op. If you'd like to share your time and energy as a Chicago Market volunteer, we'd love to hear from you too. Email us at [email protected].

Owners Recruiting Owners

Chicago Market is excited to announce its newest recruiting program: Owners Recruiting Owners.

According to co-op consultants, Chicago Market should have 1,000 Owners before we select our site next spring. Our site-selection team is already hard at work — so we need to grow our Ownership numbers to keep up with them.

Our Owners are the very best spokespeople Chicago Market has. They are passionate about the Market, they want the co-op to succeed, and they want to help bring this amazing local food store to Chicago.

So what better people to recruit more Owners than our Owners?

That's why we've launched this new initiative. Starting soon, any Owner who recruits another Owner will be able to choose from a rotating list of awesome prizes brought to you by our local-food supporters.

We will be helping Owners to recruit people by providing materials (including brochures, buttons, posters and more), helping Owners host house parties and events, and keeping Owners up-to-date on the progress of the Market.

Without our community, Chicago Market cannot succeed. Support us and tell your friends, colleagues and relatives to become an Owner today!

Prize List
Kids

Chicago Market has found that families with school-aged kids are among our most committed Owners. Here's why.

We're looking to connect with Friends and Parent organizations of the schools in our area. Can you give us a contact or an introduction? We'd love to make a presentation to your community. Or maybe you have other ideas for how we can connect with families at your school, table at an upcoming winter fair, school play or sporting event?

We'd love to hear from you – drop us a line at [email protected].

Chicago Market
Now Has Bylaws

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Chicago Market’s Owner voted nearly unanimously to approve our bylaws. After much work by the Board of Directors, Owners were able to vote on our bylaws immediately following our first-annual Owners meeting. The co-op now has a set of rules by which it is governed, covering everything from finances to human resources to Board oversight. Thanks to all who voted on this important document.

Chicago Market is delighted to partner with Care for Real, an Edgewater food pantry on our upcoming Co-op Pop-Up event. The non-profit group has been around since 1970, providing food, clothing and counseling services to those in need. (They even offer a Pet Pantry for those struggling to provide pet food for their furry friends.) At the Pop-Up, shoppers can purchase extra food to donate to Care for Real. It’s the perfect way to give back to the community while supporting local farmers.