We are making meaningful progress in our Expansion & Relocation Project to relocate Green Fields Market into the former Wilson’s Department Store building!
The last remaining tenant vacated the premises earlier this month. We are delighted that Cleary Jewelers has found a new location and warmly wish them continued success.
Serious work will soon begin to prepare the building for its eventual sale to us and to The Community Builders (TCB). This enabling phase of work will clear the interior of the building, add steel reinforcements, and conduct extensive abatement, making it suitable for future construction. This work will be funded through grants from MassDevelopment and managed by TCB on our joint behalf.
Meanwhile, our general contractor Wright Builders has determined the estimated Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) for our portion of the construction. We were pleased that the GMP total came in slightly below our previous estimates. Wherever possible, we chose local subcontractors, with the goal of bringing additional employment to the community.
The financing side of our work has also seen positive progress. Both New Market Tax Credits and loans from local banks will play a key role in our funding. Discussions with involved parties are proceeding favorably. Although we do still have a gap between the expected cost of the project and our currently identified financial sources, we continue to make progress toward finding the funding we will need.
In addition, the Board has formed a working group to explore the possibility of creating a charitable entity – a 501(c)3 – as a way of funding some of the programmatic activities we hope to provide in the expanded space, such as education about healthy eating options and other programs using the new community room with teaching kitchen, as well as our Food for All discounts.
Decisions to accept the Sources and Uses (financing and costs) and to close on the purchase will be made via votes at Board meetings this spring. Member-owners will be notified in advance and, as always, are welcome to participate in both votes.
We hope to close on the purchase in June or July and begin our construction shortly after closing. Our best estimate is that the store opening will occur in early 2028!
See more details below, and answers to Frequently Asked Questions about the planned expansion here.
Why Expand? Benefits to Our Member-Owners and Broader Community
Despite the complexities of this project, the potential benefits to the community continue to be incredibly compelling and worth striving for. After the expansion, we expect to:
Welcome All – With the additional space, we hope to offer a variety of goods selected to appeal to all in our community – a greater selection of international items, high-quality meats and cheeses, wine and beer, and items from a broader range of price points, including some that are less expensive than the brands we carry in the current store. The storage space in the basement of the building will allow us to buy in greater quantities, reducing costs and allowing us to lower prices on some goods.
Meet and Mingle – The expanded, fully accessible area for eating and socializing will provide a welcoming and much-needed space along Main Street for getting together. Individuals will be able to share a coffee or bite from our hot bar, as they meet friends in a congenial space with the ambiance of a separate café.
Provide Safe and Efficient Workspace for Our Employees – Back-of-the-house workspace will increase eight-fold, from approximately 1,000 sq. ft. to 8,000, allowing for a more efficient, safer work environment. We will also be using a portion of the second floor for individual staff offices, a breakroom, and staff meeting room.
Support Other Community Organizations – The new community room, a large, ADA-accessible space roughly three times the size of our current community space at 170 Main St. — located a few steps away from Green Fields Market — will be available to organizations in the local community for their meetings. In this way, we’ll be giving back and supporting the community more broadly. The teaching kitchen will enable the Co-op and the community to increase education about food systems and how to use ingredients, as well as share the fun of food. The room also has its own bathrooms as well as easy access to the store kitchen for catering purposes.
Build and Celebrate Our Local Food System – The western Massachusetts region of the Connecticut River Valley is the epicenter of a vibrant community of local food producers – farmers, growers, and processors. Although the size of our current facility limits our capacity for providing Valley food products, the opportunities in a larger store are exciting. Over 30% of our current sales are local: nearly 3,000 products from 230 producers. The expansion will allow us to increase our range, working alongside a vibrant and growing number of support networks for local food growers and producers.
Moreover, the unique attributes of the Wilson’s facility will allow us to support local producers beyond only offering market access. Over time we will develop a portion of the basement to provide storage which will be available to small growers as an emergency shelter for goods should crops need to be harvested quickly due to weather conditions, providing greater climate resilience. This resource will build confidence and encourage growth in the local farming community.
Strengthen Downtown Greenfield – The designs for the building create an exciting balance between restoring the interior and exterior historic features and modernizing the space. We will be revitalizing an empty building on Main Street, with an attractive, inviting facility. As part of the process, “the pit,” long a hazard in the area near the Wilson’s building, has been eliminated.
Even more important than the cosmetic and safety benefits, we hope the store will contribute to the rebirth of an economically robust and bustling downtown. Development specialists believe that one successful large anchor store can be the key to encouraging other investments in a town. We are committed to providing that spark, opening our full-service grocery to spur the economy of Greenfield and enable other businesses to flourish.
Franklin Community Cooperative is a unique entity. We are not about maximizing profits (we never would have taken on the expense associated with renovating the Wilson’s Building if we were!). Instead, we are focused on living out a shared set of values within our community, while creating a more fiscally sustainable operation for our co-op for the long term. As you can tell, the delays haven’t got us down! We remain excited about the benefits of this expansion for members and for the broader local community.
The Board of Directors has formed an Expansion Communications Working Group for the express purpose of communicating regularly with member-owners and subsequently with the broader community regarding progress toward the Co-op’s planned expansion.
To ask questions or suggest topics for future communications, please send an email via the contact form below.
Working Group members are Tammy Erickson (Board president), Margaret Cooley (Board member), Jeanne Douillard (member-owner), Caitlin von Schmidt (FCC outreach and communications manager), and John Williams (general manager).