By Bruce Karnick

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Spiral Coop, located at 1250 S. Frontage Road, has been in its new location for roughly two months. During that time, they have been working to get their expanded sales floor packed and their deli service area working so they could be ready for a great grand opening.

That grand opening happened last week when members of the Hastings Area Chamber of Commerce joined the Spiral Board of Directors and store staff for a ribbon cutting and tour.

Spiral moved to a space double the size in the same building and so far, the move has been a success.

“The move has been great,” said Matt Malecha, general manager. “Sales have been up 2030 percent. We have more than tripled our produce space, doubled our freezer and refrigerated space and we are bringing in more and more products.”

The expansion of the cold storage equipment involved all new and much more energyefficient equipment for the store, an additional benefit to sustainability. Another thing that shoppers will notice is the expanded aisles which gives shoppers more space to move around while shopping. That makes the experience that much more enjoyable.

Being a food cooperative means the coop is owned by members of the community. Nonmembers are welcome to shop as well. Spiral focuses on locally sourced, organic items, healthy groceries and products.

They are still in the process of completing their deli so they can offer madetoorder foods which will be a huge boost to their small cafélike seating area. The primary piece is finding the employees to properly staff the deli station. Spiral hopes that will be up and running soon.

Spiral has doubled the staff from the previous location to a total of 16 staff members. The plan is to get to 20 total. Once there, Malecha hopes he can take a moment to breathe and enjoy the hard work before he starts looking at additional areas of growth for the coop.

As mentioned above, anyone can shop at Spiral Foods, and anyone can become a member for just $100. That $100 is a onetime fee with no annual fees. Payment plans are also available for the membership. Members receive a five percent discount on a purchase once per month as well as a 10 percent discount on case orders and access to monthly instore specials.

Make sure to stop in and see the lovely new location and while you are there shopping, get more details on the membership.

City of Hastings employees, Hastings Area Chamber of Commerce members and ambassadors joined Spiral Co-op board members and staff for the official ribbon cutting ceremony at the new, expanded location of the store. Left to right, Abby Meyers, Mike Swanson, Craig Beissel, Eric Maas, Mike Hornisch, Dina Sagan, Bill Oehrlein, Pete Maccaroni, Matt Malecha, Cassie Raway, Tommy McGiin, Jenni Garlough, Laura Cassidy and Kristi Barse. Photo by Bruce Karnick