Mpls: Neighbors Form Co-Op For Flowers, Plants

Neighbors Form Co-Op For Flowers, Plants

Sue TurnerReporting
(WCCO) Minneapolis A group in South Minneapolis saw a business struggling and its owners desperate to get out of it, so they came up with a plan to save their neighborhood flower shop."Everyone that got involved is a gardener and avid about gardening," said Stephen Eisenmenger. "They wanted a place to go where could get their gardening stuff."Eisenmenger is one of the more than 100 people who got together to form a co-op."Three of us gathered one night, and we were talking, I said, we could make it a co-op. I don't know anything about a greenhouse or how to do that business, lets try to do a co-op," said Eisenmenger.The flower shop had been a healthy business for decades. When the property was sold, the new owners didn't really want to run a flower business, so 108 people each came up with $150 and the Urban Earth Cooperative was born."We are fully intending to do this making money, making a viable and sustainable business and returning something to our members," said Lisa McDonald, a former city councilwoman and one of the founding members.Right now, part of the store is filled with boxes ready for Valentine's Day deliveries, but come spring, the area will be filled with different kinds of plants, featuring everything from organic to native to the old stand-bys."The native plants interest me, the seeds that they have and the heirloom vegetables," said Matt Allen who joined the co-op Sunday. His $95 membership will get him discounts and classes, but more than that he said, a stake in his community."I would like to see this become a model that other communities can use for anywhere in the city, for any kind of business they want to keep in their neighborhood," said Eisenmenger.
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http://www.urbanearthcoop.org/welcome