What is a Co-op?
The overall goal of the cooperative movement is to create organizations that serve the needs of the people who use them. Cooperative businesses provide goods and services in a way that keeps community resources in the community. Most simply put, a cooperative is a business 1) voluntarily owned by the people who use it, and 2) operated for the benefit of its members.
Do you have to be an Owner to shop at Tidal Creek Co-op?
No. Everyone is welcome at the Co-op! Tidal Creek is community owned, with the purpose of meeting our Owner’s needs and nourishing our community, but everyone is welcome to shop at the Co-op and anyone can become an Owner.
Why shop at a Co-op?
Tidal Creek Co-op is unique. It’s a place to buy the groceries you need to nurture your family, while being part of creating a healthier future for our community and our planet. Tidal Creek provides the most complete shopping option for people in the Greater Wilmington community interested in pursuing a healthy lifestyle and conscious of where their dollars are being spent.
Beyond being a great place to buy groceries, Tidal Creek serves the community in many ways: education, outreach, community partnerships, supporting local charities and building community by providing a place for people to meet, connect, and share information and ideas.
Unlike conventional grocery stores, as a community owned Co-op, all of our surplus gets reinvested locally – in the Co-op, in the local community and gets refunded to the Owners. This is very different from most conventional “chain” grocery stores – owned by shareholders, existing for the sole purpose of making a profit to benefit investors only. At conventional grocery stores the surplus goes to the investors and does not stay local.
When you shop at Tidal Creek Co-op you can feel good about every purchase, because when you shop at a Food Co-op you make a difference! Co-op’s reinvest dollars in the local economy – for every $1 spent at Tidal Creek Co-op approximately 68% returns to the community through donations, taxes, payroll, Co-op profits and other expenditures. We support local farmers and vendors and specialize in healthy, all-natural, organic foods and products.
At Tidal Creek Co-op, we care about community and the food we eat. We actively seek and promote locally and organically grown products that support health and well-being.
Our History
Tidal Creek Co-op was incorporated in 1982 as a consumer-owned cooperative natural food store. From the beginning, offering high quality natural foods at competitive prices has been central to Tidal Creek’s philosophy. Because of this, shopping at the Co-op means experiencing the comfort and assurance of knowing that on the shelves you will find the best, most healthful products available at the best possible prices.
Our Mission
We are dedicated to serving and connecting our community through a thriving natural foods cooperative business.
Our Vision
Our vision is to foster and nourish the health of the individual, community and planet by offering:
- High quality natural, organic and local foods and other environmentally sound products
- A comfortable, affordable place to shop and share knowledge
- Education and training to help people make informed choices towards well being
- A sustainable and economical model which invests in the local and cooperative communities
Our Buying Standards
We strive to make the best choices on behalf of our customers in keeping with our mission. We are open and honest about our product and pricing practices.
Our primary focus is to provide quality products that are artisan, local, sustainably produced, healthful, humanely raised and reflect fair trade practices. We feature and promote these products. We seek out and cultivate suppliers for these products and we also produce them ourselves. We make every effort to provide reliable information about the benefits and effectiveness of the products we select.
We also carry products that respond to our community’s immediate desires, including convenience foods, less expensive choices and foods important to our culture and tastes. We decide on these products through a dialogue with the community that includes a number of considerations: our buying ability, product and supplier attributes and community input.
Hours & Location
Tidal Creek Coop – Market & Café
5329 Oleander Drive
Wilmington, NC 28403
Next to the Cinema 6 and across the street from K38 and Jungle Rapids
HOURS:
We’re Open 7 Days a Week!
Store Open Daily 8:00 am – 8:00 pm
Hot Bar Open Daily Until 7 PM, Salad Bar Open Daily Until 7 PM
Tel: (910) 799-2667
Fax: (910) 332-0752