"What does this place mean to me?" said Branch. "It means everything to me. To see the co-op grow and come to life helped me regain my faith in what could be. People like me who knew Chester when it was a great city still see a place worth saving, a place that is worth something. And why shouldn't we be able to shop in our own community?"
Why, indeed.
The last supermarket in Chester closed 17 years ago, leaving only neighborhood bodegas in its place. Chester's economic woes, kick-started back in the '50s and '60s with the loss of shipping and manufacturing jobs, are written in the vacant storefronts and shuttered businesses in the once bustling downtown. The city's crime rate is worrisome; about half its young people never finish high school. This was the scene that greeted Tina Johnson when she returned to her hometown in 2005 after living and working in Mexico and India for more than a decade.
"I came back to be with family, my mom lives here, my father's family lives here," said Johnson. "But there was no place to buy fresh food. I could get grapes and bananas in the Himalayas, but not in Chester? That seemed crazy."
The idea for the co-op came up at a luncheon she attended, Johnson recalled. After listening to a local doctor discuss nutrition, one attendee stood up and said, "I'd like to eat healthier, but I don't have a food option in the city of Chester." She, like many Chester residents, didn't have a car. In the ensuing discussion, the idea of a co-op was raised.
"By the end of the meeting, it was, 'When are we starting the co-op?' " Johnson said. "I started doing some research and looking at this business model as a viable option."
