CO-OP REAL TALK: What The Westwood Food Co-op Looks Like

Over the past few weeks, months - even years - you have heard us talk about the W-F-C; the Westwood Food Co-op. And this past June, we announced that after all of this time Re:Vision is working with the WFC to OPEN MEMBERSHIP TO THE PUBLIC! This means that now anyone can become a member of the Westwood Food Co-op.

When we said "opening membership to the public," a few people imagined we were opening up an actually store that looked like THIS.

Or THIS.

Or maybe even THIS.

They were thinking something along the lines of a bright newly constructed food co-op, a community grocery store with locally sourced food, cool new products, and friendly people ready to check out purchases with smiles and recycled packaging bags. 

The reality is, the 74,000 square ft. junkyard that Re:Vision purchased to turn into the Westwood Food Co-op has been going through a major transformation - of clearing out slashed tires and sticky keyboards and scrap metal and rust peels, of knocking down wobbly old warehouses and stripping down buildings to their bones through sweat, and dirt, and muscle power until we made it to THIS...

Open, clear, space with people at the center. And we have a word for this space. It's called the ground floor, or the foundation.

Just getting here, to this near "blank" slate has been beautiful...nay it's been stunning. Neighbors have been walking curiously around a space - that in all of the years they they have lived here - that they are actually seeing for the first time (this junkyard has been closed off to the neighborhood with black tarp shielding junk piles throughout its history). To think that it could now be something else; and not just something but a community hub for food, health, and recreation is exciting but also a great unknown.

What will a new food co-op look like? Will it be bright with colors and a big sign overhead? Will it have a statue of a tomato or an outdoor fruit stands?

REAL TALK.

The answer is, we don't know. No one at Re:Vision and none of the WFC board know what the WFC will look like...but you do. In becoming a member of the WFC you have a voice on what the WFC will look like, its members, its heart, and its soul. 

Speaking as the Communications Director, it has been difficult to explain this, that this kind of membership is a little different than becoming a member at REI and walking into a physical store in a chain of stores and purchasing a purple carabiner. This membership means ownership. This membership means joining a group of people who are excitedly walking around the ground floor and seeing what is possible in a place where it hasn't been possible before.

So join us. We have a number of upcoming meetings and events to begin designing the WFC together. Write down these dates, invite your friends, and let's walk across the ground floor together.

• The Frida Pop-Up Show -  Come to visit the WFC space, connect with community members over art, learn a little bit more. July 11, 4-10pm at 3735 Morrison Rd. Denver, CO 80219. RSVP on Facebook Here.
• The Community Design Meeting (pt 1) -  Come to give ideas and feedback to the Studiotrope team who will be working to compile all input for the WFC building designs. July 16, 4-7pm, at 3735 Morrison Rd. Denver, CO 80219. RSVP on Facebook Here.
• The first Westwood Food Co-op General Meeting -  Learn what it means to be part of the WFC, how board elections will happen, and who are your co-member/owners! July 23, 6-8pm, at 3735 Morrison Rd. Denver, CO 80219. RSVP on Facebook Here. 
• The Community Design Meeting (pt 2) -  Come to give ideas and feedback to the Studiotrope team who will be working to compile all input for the WFC building designs. July 30, 4-7pm, at 3735 Morrison Rd. Denver, CO 80219. RSVP on Facebook Here.

(Here are a few photos from our demolition day to give you a sense of the beauty of tearing something down and Re:Building it back up!).