By Bruce Karnick

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Spiral Co-op is making a big move. Geographically, it may just be moving next door. But for its customers and Hastings, that move will mean a lot.

Spiral plans this spring to move into space adjacent to its current location, a move that will allow an expansion of products and more room for members of the popular cooperative.

Longer-term residents of Hastings mostly know where the MGM Liquor Store was at 1222 South Frontage Road. MGM became Ace Liquors and then Ace Liquors moved to Westview Mall. That means the MGM space across Highway 55 from Taco Bell is sitting vacant.

That building at 1222 South Frontage Road has housed a few different businesses over the years, including a Pearle Vision that occupied the space that Spiral Foods Co-op now operates out of. Spiral Foods used to be in the space now occupied by Hastings Family Service on 2nd Street. It moved to its current location in 2011 according to General Manager Matt Malecha, a location that he says has worked very well for them.

According to Malecha, the best sales year they had downtown was around $450k. In the current location, they are hoping to finish the year around $1.3 million in sales. He attributes that to a rapid increase in co-op membership.

“We've improved over the last couple of years. We went from 60-some members of the co-op and now we're over 1,600, almost 1700 members within the Hastings community

Photo by Bruce Karnick area. As a cooperative are we are owned by our membership. We are a community-run organization if you will. Members can put in their comment, and vote,” explained Malecha.

The sales and membership numbers are even more impressive when you consider the 2nd Street location had around 3,000 square feet of sales floor space, while the current location has roughly 1,800 square feet. By moving next door, the store will more than double to almost 4,000 square feet.

The move next door gives them much better visibility from traffic on Highway 55 and gives them the opportunity to expand not only the shopping space, but the service options too. The plan incorporates a premade deli section for folks on the go with the potential to add a made-to-order deli space once they are settled into the new space and have the appropriate staffing levels.

Their accessibility will change for those with mobility issues or in wheelchairs, including a dedicated in-and-out door with the power openers for assisting those that need it.

They also are planning a seating area in the corner with all the windows according to Malecha.

“Say you wanted to grab a sandwich and not have to run right back to an office. You could actually sit down in the co-op and have that. The nice thing about this is, it's a much better view,” said Malecha.

The expansion does not come cheap, and being customer-owned, financing it is not as easy as a privately-owned business. It is a much more complicated process and approval chances are lower given the ownership type for the co-op. That means the co-op looks to the public for assistance.

Spiral Foods is looking to raise $90,000 to help with the move. People can help with that by becoming members of the co-op. With a one-time $100 membership, you are a lifetime member. That $100 gives you a variety of discounts and member-only shopping events. You can learn all about the membership benefits by stopping into the store. Of course, shopping at the store is a big help, and a simple donation helps too.

Brenda Bader, an employee of the co-op spoke about the membership.

“We're really blessed with that we're really lucky to be able to say, ‘Hey, we're community- owned and operated.’ And when we look at that spirit of cooperation, that should drive us. We should care about each other. You've got the access, so much access to the local foods and looking at the ways that we can provide the best for everyone in town. Why become a member? Well, some of the benefits are, a discount every month, a one-time 5 percent discount. If you order case amounts of things, you get 10 percent off of that. We have wellness Thursday, once a month, on the first Thursday of every month. You get 10 percent off that wellness aisle. You also get a voting share for the board of directors, just to name some of the benefits.”

Once the move is complete, the landlord will be renovating the current space occupied by Spiral Foods to two storefronts. One will be a chiropractor’s office and the other is currently unknown.

They handle more local goods, so your money goes to support local farmers. Of course, in the middle of January, you can’t grow strawberries in Minnesota, so the local aspect can and does change now and then depending on seasons. But things like microgreens are sourced locally year-round.

“Microgreens? Those are coming from 10th Street farm, and 10th Street is in Afton Minnesota. That’s a year-round green product that we carry. We get as much as we can from some of the small farmers, Amish farmers, the cooperative groups of farmers in the area, and just like other businesses, we need to go other places too,” explained Malecha.

You also have the advantage of buying only the amount you need because many of the items in Spiral Foods are bulk stored. That saves on packaging costs, and savings that are passed on to customers.

Malecha spoke on another advantage of going to a co-op.

“I would say that what we have a couple of strengths to us. Bulk spices are great place that we do extremely well at. Think about if you go out to a conventional grocery store and want to buy bay leaves, for example. Most customers that come in here end up paying less than $1 for bay leaves, whereas the jar is going to cost them $5 or more at a conventional grocery. So, we have some advantages there.

The Spiral Co-op prides itself on competitive pricing.

“I think on an item-by-item basis, we're very competitive. And we also now have the co-op deals flyers. Those are available both online and then also in circulation and in the store,” added Malecha.

The flyers are part of a co-op buyers group they belong too that allows much better deals on products you can find in the store.

To learn more about the expansion plans or to help contribute to the success of Spiral Foods, pay them a visit at 1222 South Frontage Road. They will be happy to explain the membership benefits to you and help you find any grocery or wellness item you may need.

Photo by Bruce Karnick

Photo by Bruce Karnick

The store front will be gaining window space allowing natural light in while folks shop.

The back right corner will feature the loading dock behind the wall and in front of the wall the premade deli area. The intention is to offer a made to order deli once the needed staffing levels can be maintained and the rest of the store is running smoothly.