Our History

The Merc Co+op began in 1974 by a group of Lawrencians with a shared passion for community access to affordable, local whole foods. In those early days, folks had formed buying clubs to purchase bulk quantities of eggs, milk, fresh produce, grains and more. Each member had access to foods they wanted that weren’t readily available at the time, and they saved money getting them!

After operating out of basements and backrooms, the buying clubs united and formed a democratically-run, cooperative enterprise called The Community Mercantile. The first storefront opened in 1975 in downtown Lawrence with just one employee and a committed group of volunteer member-owners.

Their dedication laid the foundation for the more than 9,600 owners today to participate in a business that puts people before profit and supports a vibrant local food economy.

Over the last 50 years, The Merc Co+op has grown to a staff of 100 employees and operates in two locations — one in Lawrence, and one in Kansas City, Kansas. The vision of increasing access to healthy, local and affordable food across our regional community continues to guide us today.

“When you have a co-op, you really have more than a place to buy food. It is a symbol of responsibility in the community…[co-ops] strive towards providing goods for human betterment." Jim Mayo, KU Professor; excerpted from the Oral History of the Community Mercantile

Hungry for more?

Explore the co-op’s history with the timeline below!
Check out this transcript of the Oral History of the Community Mercantile, compiled by Tom Kreissler, with interviews from dozens of community members that contributed to the success of the co-op.
The Merc Archives is a collaborative website project operated by Dan Bentley, longtime co-op owner and local historian. The site features a vast collection of photos and transcripts of the co-op's history gathered by and from a number of owners and employees.

1970s

**1972**
Harry and Judy Kroeger open The Mercantile Grocery Co. at 1237 Oread on The University of Kansas grounds.
From the University Daily Kansan, 1972 by Joe Zanatta: “Kroeger said he started the store as a means of earning a living but he was not, at present, making a living from it. “There are no advantages” Kroeger said. “The government has tied down what you can do. Small businesses are at a disadvantage. I’m not making any money”, he said, “just sort of running it as a public service.”’

**1973**
After struggling at the site near campus, The Mercantile Grocery Co. moves to 730 Massachusetts Street. Their focus is healthy foods.

1974

There are two cooperative buying clubs in Lawrence: Food Conspiracy and The Oread buying club. Countercultural ideology unify some members, but overall the goals of the clubs are similar: consistent, affordable access to whole foods in an uncertain political time.

Recalling the beginning of the co-op in a newsletter article in 1982, Molly wrote: "In the fall of 1974, Judy Kroeger, owner of the Mercantile Grocery Co. and I talked a lot about the co-ops... We both had been active in co-ops before and were enthusiastic about the philosophy. Both buying clubs [in Lawrence] sold mostly produce and dairy, and we sold mostly dry goods and cheese at the Mercantile. ‘Wouldn’t it be great to get it all in one place?,’ we thought.” Later that year, Judy worked with the Oread buying club who began distributing produce, dairy, and bulk foods out of the 10’ x 10’ back room of the Kroeger’s grocery store.

Simultaneously, a series of public meetings begin in South Park that help to unify folks already participating in the buying clubs and others interested in food co-ops. As recorded in the Community Mercantile Oral History Project, Molly said, “I remember finagling…I think everyone [in the buying clubs] wanted to move it out of their basement or out of their car. Nobody wanted to keep doing it that way, yet there were attachments about ‘my buying club’… it was going to become ‘our store.’ When I look back, there’s this incredible trust. There was very little of ‘how am I sure this is going to happen?’ People rose to it.”

Kansas law is not suited well-suited for consumer-owned cooperatives, so members incorporate as a for-profit organization for the sake of ease. Member Charlie Gardiner recalled “The goal of this for-profit corporation was not to increase the net capital worth of its incorporators but simply to continue to exist to serve the community.”

The co-op is born!

**1975**
Though the back room co-op is a growing success, times are tough and the Kroegers decide to close the Mercantile Grocery Co. Their goal is to sell it to their shoppers.
A month later, co-op members buy the Mercantile stock and equipment with plans to reopen the store as a cooperative. Ownership is $5, and those owners who are able provided additional loans to get the business started. With this new ownership model in mind, The Community Mercantile reopens on Jan 2, 1975 at 730 Massachusetts (currently Logie’s). Molly (Van Hee) Hamaker is pictured above, the co-op’s first manager.

**1976**
The original ‘store coordinators’ as they called themselves, decided to form a non-hierarchical work collective that oversaw the store operations. Chuck Magerl, Patti Spencer, Diane Luber, and Molly Hamaker were four of the 8 work collective members from 1974 - 1982.
Co-op members also had a volunteer work requirement as part of ownership and put in hours helping with store operations.

**1977**
After growing to 200 owner households, co-op owners held a series of meetings to discuss a new location. They made the decision to move to the site of the former Turner’s Grocer at the corner of 7th and Maine Streets.

**1977**
The co-op’s storefront at 700 Maine.

1980s

**1982**
The majority of the work collective that oversaw co-op operations moved on this year. Ownership had grown to 600 member households. Read excerpts from Chews, News, Stews, and View on The Merc Archives, maintained by co-op owner Dan Bentley.

**1988**
The co-op continued to grow, and began working on plans to move to a new location. During the 15 years the co-op operated from 700 Maine, it grew to 22 paid employees.

**1987**
Chuck Magerl works at the co-op and to change Kansas law to open a micro-brewery, which would eventually become Free State Brewery. Learn more!

**1975**
Six months later, The Community Mercantile moved operations to 615 Massachusetts (now Quinton's). The year and a half at this location also provided incubator space for several other small businesses - a bakery, a tofu business, a vegetarian cafe, and The Community Mercantile Credit Union.
Community Mercantile co-op members were also involved in the formation of the Ozark Cooperative Warehouse, which distributed products on a route from Fayetteville through Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, and Oklahoma.

**1974 - 1981**
The Community Mercantile, the Community Mercantile Credit Union, and The People’s Energy Project published a quarterly newsletter called **Public Notice**, focused on local events and policy. Find the complete Public Notice archive at KU Libraries Digital Collection.

**1977**
The work collective and co-op volunteers spent the summer of 1977 renovating both Turner’s Grocery, which became the co-op grocery store, and Turner’s Live Bait & Tackle, which became The Verbena Bakery.

**1977**
Nan Renbarger operated the Verbena Bakery, a sister organization to the co-op. Later the bakery became a collective, Amazing Grains, which operated alongside the co-op until the move to Iowa Street in 2001.

**1978**
The Community Mercantile Birthday Fair at 700 Maine.

**1980s**
This demonstration garden was located behind Verbena Bakery at the 700 Maine store. Co-op owners tended the garden for work credit at the store alongside members of the Appropriate Technology Center and the Kansas Organic Producers VISTA Project.

**1993**
The store front at 700 Maine. Despite renovations, the co-op outgrows this space and begins leasing it’s fourth location at 9th and Mississippi this year.

1990s

1992

In an article by Kathleen Stolle for Telegraphics in July, 1992, “According to The Board of Directors, the Mercantile recently signed a lease agreement with the owners of the vast structure, located just north of KU’s Memorial Stadium. The challenge now is raising the $250,000 for renovation. ‘It is imperative we raise $250,000 from the community in order to provide a complete natural foods market with a service baker, deli and meat counter, in addition to a full-line retail grocery,’ said Amy Fields, Mercantile general manager. ‘This is definitely the biggest project that the Community Mercantile has ever undertaken, and we’re counting on the whole community.’”

The co-op raises the funds through a variety of events, owner drives, and owner loans.

This year, the co-op incorporates. At the time, the state of Kansas did not have provisions for consumer cooperatives as businesses.

1996

Facing competition from the newly opened Wild Oats Market in downtown Lawrence, the co-op narrowly escapes bankruptcy and quickly recovers when Wild Oats abruptly closes this year. In an interview with Lisa Nieman for the New Hope Network, the store’s General Manager Jeanie Wells says, “"I know that the community was really trying to support us … because they continued to shop our store when we really struggled … The shelves were sparsely stocked, the store was inadequately staffed, etc. We knew that we were perceived as David against Goliath and people really wanted to support us because we were the locally owned underdog."

1999

The Community Mercantile Education Foundation (CMEF) is established as a 501(c)(3) non-profit sister-organization to further the co-op’s education and outreach goals.

**1993**
Before opening at the new location, co-op owners are asked to stop by and vote for the color of the new store and to pitch in painting - and to donate to the paint fund, if they are able.

Part of the staff, which grew to 40 employees.

**1990s**
The Marching Grocers were a co-op tradition - the group joined in with community parades and performed choreographed cart dances.

**1994**
Rolling Prairie CSA’s weekly share pick up at the co-op. The partnership with Rolling Prairie and the co-op continues today with pick ups at both the Lawrence and KCK stores.

**1990s**
Inside the store at 901 Mississippi

**1990s**
The exterior of the new location at 9th and Mississippi.

**1990s**
An owner appreciation event at 901 Mississippi

**1990s**
Harkening back to the co-op’s roots as a buying club for affordable staples, the bulk department remains at the new location.

**1990s**
The co-op’s leadership team (from left to right) Kristy Korb, Nancy O’Connor, Mike Rundle, Hal Sears, and Jeanie Wells.

**1996**
Muralist Dave Loewenstein painting the mural at 901 Mississippi. From Dave Loewenstein’s website: “Created in 1996 for what was then the Community Mercantile co-op grocery store (where I worked in the produce department from 1993-95) Seeds weaves together images of sustainable agriculture and community placekeeping framed by the quote, “We cannot sow seeds with clenched fists. To sow we must open our fists” from artist and Nobel Peace Prize winner *Adolfo Pérez Esquivel*.”

2000s

2001

With 1,500 member-owners and $5.2 million in sales, The Community Mercantile moves to its current location at 901 Iowa in Lawrence, formerly Rusty’s Grocery. Co-op staff and owners symbolically march up the 9th street hill from the old location to the new, with groceries in hand, to open the new location. The 18,000-square-foot building allows the co-op to provide full-service grocery operations, including a meat and seafood department and an on-site classroom.

2007

Based on member surveys, employee ideas, help from outside consultants, and guidance from the Board of Directors, the co-op renovates the entire store — expanding the deli, cheese, bakery and the seating area, revamping its classroom and rebranding to The Merc Community Market and Deli. The completion of the remodel prepares the co-op for increased competition with the construction of a Wal-Mart Supercenter on South Iowa. An article in the Lawrence Journal World illustrates the shifting environment for the natural foods market.

2008

The MercShare ownership subsidy and discount program is established to allow the co-op to reduce the cost barriers to ownership. The program launches through a generous gift by co-op owner and board member Carol Nalbandian.

**2001**
Co-op staff outside the Mississippi Street location, just before the move to 901 Iowa.

**2001**
The exterior of the building at 901 Iowa. The Community Mercantile, affectionately known as “The Merc!,” adopts this nickname as the co-op’s brand name.

**2004**
All Staff Meeting and photo in the produce and bulk department.

**2000s**
Inside the updated produce department

**2001**
The new location, formerly Rusty’s Grocery, before updates and moving inventory.

**2000s**
Employee Patty M. stocks the produce department.

**2007**
The co-op rebrands as The Merc Community Market & Deli and updates the interior and exterior of the store. The logo is created by a local graphic designer, who also created the current Lawrence Public Library logo.

**2008**
The MercShare ownership subsidy and discount program is established to allow the co-op to reduce the cost barriers to ownership. The program launches through a generous gift by co-op owner and board member Carol Nalbandian (pictured at left, with co-op board members from the early 2000s)

**2010**
The Community Mercantile Education Foundation launches Growing Food Growing Health, a garden project at West Middle School, providing hands-on education and connecting students to locally grown fruits and vegetables to be enjoyed in their school cafeteria. Both the supervising staff and middle school student gardeners are employees of The Merc Co+op, building gardens at neighboring Hillcrest and Sunset Hill Elementary Schools.

2010s

2015

Faced with new competition, the co-op springs into action, rebranding and renovating the store including energy efficiency upgrades. Funds for the renovations are gained, in part, through an owner loan drive, which raises over $327,000. To create a more cohesive brand and to tout the cooperative difference, The Merc Community Market and Deli becomes The Merc Co+op and aligns itself with the National Cooperative Grocers (NCG) brand, acting a pilot location for all the branded materials NCG develops as part of their “Stronger Together” campaign.

2017

The co-op becomes a livable wage employer, increasing wages at the co-op for 82% of employees, using NCG's Livable Wage and Benefits Model. Around 100 employees work at The Merc Co+op.

2017–2018

In October 2017, the co-op embarks on what is Lawrence’s largest solar energy project to date. Through a full rooftop array, two solar covered carports and a solar covered patio, the store installs 688 high performance solar panels to provide 29% of their energy each year.

2019

The Merc Co+op signs an agreement with The Unified Government of Kansas City, Kansas/Wyandotte County (UG) to open a 14,000 square foot grocery store at 5th & Minnesota in downtown KCK. The groundbreaking ceremony takes place August 15, 2019 and the store opens in late July 2020.

**2013**
Though cooking demonstrations have been part of the co-op since the 90s, the co-op class program takes off with the addition of regular, skilled chef presenters. The program grows to hosting 3,500 participants per year. Karen Duggan (above) hosted meet ups for individuals adapting to diets with food allergies until 2020.

**2015**
The co-op hosts a Grand Reveal Event for the new Co+ brand.

**2018**
The co-op begins a partnership with Missouri Organics for industrial composting, allowing the store to compost food waste including meat, dairy,and compostable packaging like deli and coffee containers and utensils.

**2017**
The Merc Co+op partners with the Lawrence Public Library to open a cafe within the lobby. The cafe operates for 3 years. Here, Potassium Rich grabs a cup of coffee.

2019
Construction of the KCK store begins.

**2014**
The Change Jar program begins with the efforts of long-time co-op employee Bianca, collecting spare change to donate to local non-profit organizations. The program evolves to become Change for our Community, which has raised over $660,000 for 50 + local partners in Lawrence and Kansas City since then.

**2017**
Co-op staff march in the Lawrence Annual Earth Day Parade promoting the solar panels installed that year.

**2018**
The staff-led Green Team helps to identify sustainable initiatives at the co-op. The solar array provides around 25% of the Lawrence location’s total energy use.

**2019**
The Merc Co+op signs an agreement with The Unified Government of Kansas City, Kansas/Wyandotte County (UG) to open a 14,000 square foot grocery store at 5th & Minnesota in downtown KCK. The groundbreaking ceremony takes place August 15, 2019 and the store opens in late July 2020.

2020s

**2020**
The Board of Directors visits the construction site for the KCK store during their annual retreat.

**2020**
The COVID-19 Pandemic reaches the US in February of 2020 as the co-op continues preparations to open the KCK location. 19 community listening sessions take place in a partnership with K-State Extension to provide an opportunity for local residents to help guide what products this location will carry.
The KCK store quietly opens its doors July 30, 2020.

**2021**
**Good Local Food**
The mural at the KCK location is installed by local artist JT Daniels, inspired by community input gathered through surveys and coloring sheet submissions. After an application and review process, Daniels is selected by a panel committee of co-op board members and owners, UG staff, and KCK community members to complete the project.

Co-op partners Native Lands and Maggie’s Farm install a native plant pollinator garden in front of the co-op.

**2022**
Self-check outs are installed at the Lawrence location. Later this year, the co-op begins remodeling the Lawrence store, which allows for more offerings in produce, refrigerated, frozen and other departments, a better check out experience, adding one more full service check out lane, a more inviting community classroom and café,, more gender inclusive, ADA-compliant bathrooms, and a more sustainable facility.

2023
Fairtrade America’s annual ‘We Are Fairtrade’ campaign generates broader awareness of Fairtrade certified products. Fairtrade America targets grocery co-ops belonging to National Co+op Grocers (NCG) as partners for mural installations. In the fourth year of the campaign, the co-op’s Lawrence store is selected to be one of three recipients of a mural, courtesy of the organization. The mural is designed and installed by local IT-RA Icons and features farmer Joselinda Manueles, a producer for Kicking Horse Coffee in Honduras.

Thank you to the more than 9,600 owners that have invested in our co-op, to our owner Board members who act as stewards of the co-op and its mission, to staff throughout the decades who have worked to fulfill the vision of the co-op, and the shoppers who continue to choose The Merc Co+op as their source for good local food. Here’s to 50 more years!

The Merc Co+op's annual Impact Reports are published each November. Each report is a comprehensive review on the co-op's activities throughout the preceding year. Impact Reports are intended to give shareholders and other interested people information about our activities and performance as a business.

View the impact reports