Our 10-Year History
In 2013, passionate Lumby and valley area residents came together to discuss how to serve the growing community interest in buying organic food products in bulk at lower prices than retail stores in Vernon. Meetings were held with growers, producers and consumers. Soon after, the group was offered the use of new space (what is now SunFire Systems), rent-free for 3 months. This became our first space to sell surplus produce from the bulk orders and quickly evolved from bulk pickup into a retail storefront. A year later, Monashee Community Co-op became incorporated.
In 2015, another milestone as the Co-op moved to our present storefront at #3 – 1965 Shuswap Avenue. Membership grew to over 260 and annual sales topped $150,000.
In 2016, the Co-op modified its original incorporation status and became a Community Service Co-operative. Some co-ops have dividends that are returned to members. With this modification, all profits were to be returned and reinvested in the Co-op for further growth. By the end of the year, membership had grown to 326 members including 44 active local vendors.
In 2018, The Co-operators Insurance provided a generous grant which funded a 3-Year Strategic Plan for business development and marketing. An additional RDNO grant supported a capital expenditure for a new produce cooler, and the Co-op won a Chamber of Commerce Award for the second time – for Best Green Retailer.
In 2019, our Co-op celebrated its 5th Anniversary, marked with over 500 members and our first paid employee, Sharon. Another milestone was the acquisition of new commercial quality freezers to better service our members and the community at large. Up until then, we had been functioning with donated old residential fridges and freezers.
In 2020, our sales soared to over $500,000 and membership grew to 707. This is due to the incredible support of Lumbyites and those in the surrounding areas, for locally-produced wholesome foods and crafts. We hired 3 more part-time employees as we lost 90% of our volunteers due to Covid. During this same period, we had a 65% increase in sales. A wild ride but we came through it stronger with even more committed members.
The heat dome of 2021 was intense in the North Okanagan and our little store could not keep up with the high, high temperatures. Even so, our volunteers and staff continued to keep our doors open even though there were times when the in-store temperatures were 35 degrees! With the Atmospheric River in November of the same year, when nearly a month’s worth of rain pounded down on us in less than 24 hours, we were cut off from our suppliers on the coast as a result of bridges being down. Our local vendors came to our rescue. Some were approached by grocery stores in Kelowna but they stayed true to us, raiding their stocks to keep us in root veggies and hydroponic greens during this challenging time.
In 2022, we hit $600,000 in sales, hired TWO Summer Youth Employees and implemented a new Point of Sale system, a welcome change to our archaic system previous to that. We began offering supplements and a greater range of personal care products including those sourced locally. We continued to grow in 2023, supported by grants from RDNO.