Uncategorized
Good food fast at the Downtown Co-op
Published
13 years agoon
By Tyler Allen
The health of a city can often be
measured by taking the pulse of its
downtown, and most Bozemanites can
agree that keeping Main Street vital to
the community is important as the city
grows. Downtown is a meeting place
for both locals and visitors, as well as a
walkable place to shop and eat. Since it
opened in April 2011, the new Co-op
Downtown has encouraged these aspects
of the Main Street experience and
offered a place to get “good food fast.”
The Co-op Downtown offers a hot food
and salad bar all at a flat rate per pound,
a departure from the model used at the
West Main store where every dish is
priced differently and weighed independently.
The intent was to “make
things speedy,” said Wendy Westmoreland,
the Co-op’s marketing director.
They were trying to avoid the bottleneck
that can occur at the original store
during busy lunch hours, she added.
Though many people would prefer to
keep our dollars in the community and
invested in food free of chemicals, high
cost is usually a deterrent to buying
local and organic. Construction of the
downtown store was motivated partly
by the Co-op’s Board of Directors’
intent to create another outlet offering
local and organic foods. Selling more of
this food increases their buying power,
and in turn decreases the cost to the
consumer.
The Main Street location was chosen
because it has the potential to serve the
most people, and because of the likelihood
it would help satisfy the Co-op’s
“cooperative business model,” which
states that the community owning
a business and being invested in its
growth gives it the best chance to succeed.
The Co-op offered high interest
loans to members who wanted to help
build the new store, and they reached
their federally-permitted limit within
six weeks.
Reaction to the Downtown Co-op has
been mostly positive.
“It’s easy to run down there and grab a
quick, healthy lunch,” said Amy Kirkland,
owner of Altitude Gallery, which
is a block away from the new store. It
has brought more business to downtown
shops like hers and is bringing
locals back to Main Street, she added.
In addition, the local food offered is in
keeping with the spirit of downtown
Bozeman, where locally owned businesses
thrive.
The first couple of weeks the Downtown
Co-op was open, it hurt lunch
business at Main Street Overeasy, but
now the honeymoon period seems to
be over, said Josh Sponsler, the restaurant’s
manager. “The more foot traffic
downtown, the better,” he added.
The downtown store is more focused
on quality fast food than providing
space for grocery items, but produce
and staples are offered as well. The
“Good to Go” case occupies a large
cooler along the wall and holds prepackaged
food like Curry Lime Chicken
Salad or Vietnamese Rice Noodles, as
well as cold deli sandwiches. The salad
bar is at least twice the size of the one in
the West Main store, and there is ample
space between it and the hot bar for
patrons to move.
The 40-seat dining area takes up a significant
amount of space, giving diners
a cafeteria-style experience. Large photos
of local food producers hanging on
the walls serve as a friendly reminder
that you are supporting your neighbors
when you sit down for a meal at the Coop
Downtown.
Tyler Allen writes from Bozeman.
Megan Paulson is the Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Outlaw Partners.
Upcoming Events
april, 2024
Event Type :
All
All
Arts
Education
Music
Other
Sports
Event Details
Children turning 5 on or before 9/10/2024:
more
Event Details
Children turning 5 on or before
9/10/2024: Kindergarten
enrollment for the 2024-2025 school year can be completed by following the
registration process now.
Children
born on or after September 11, 2019: 4K enrollment is now open for
families that have a 4-year-old they would like to enroll in our program for
the 2023-2024 school year. Please complete the 4K Interest Form to
express your interest. Completing this form does not guarantee enrollment into
the 4K program. Enrollment is capped at twenty 4-year-olds currently
residing within Big Sky School District boundary full time and will be
determined by birth date in calendar order of those born on or after September
11, 2018. Interest form closes on May 30th.
Enrollment now is critical for fall preparations. Thank you!
Time
February 26 (Monday) - April 21 (Sunday)
Event Details
Saturday, March 23rd 6:00-8:00pm We will combine the heart-opening powers of cacao with the transcendental powers of breathwork and sound. Together, these practices will give us the opportunity for a deep
more
Event Details
Saturday, March 23rd 6:00-8:00pm
Time
March 23 (Saturday) 6:00 pm - April 23 (Tuesday) 8:00 pm
Location
Santosha Wellness Center
169 Snowy Mountain Circle
Event Details
We all are familiar with using a limited palette, but do you use one? Do you know how to use a
more
Event Details
We all are familiar with using a limited palette, but do you use one? Do you know how to use a limited palette to create different color combinations? Are you tired of carrying around 15-20 different tubes when you paint plein air? Have you ever wanted to create a certain “mood” in a painting but failed? Do you create a lot of mud? Do you struggle to achieve color harmony? All these problems are addressed in John’s workbook in clear and concise language!
Based on the bestselling “Limited Palatte, Unlimited Color” workbook written by John Pototschnik, the workshop is run by Maggie Shane and Annie McCoy, accomplished landscape (acrylic) and plein air (oil) artists,exhibitors at the Big Sky Artists’ Studio & Gallery and members of the Big Sky Artists Collective.
Each student will receive a copy of “Limited Palette, Unlimited Color” to keep and take home to continue your limited palette journey. We will show you how to use the color wheel and mix your own clean mixtures to successfully create a mood for your paintings.
Each day, we will create a different limited palette color chart and paint a version of a simple landscape using John’s directives. You will then be able to go home and paint more schemes using the book for guidance.
Workshop is open to painters (oil or acrylic) of any level although students must have some basic knowledge of the medium he or she uses. Students will be provided the book ($92 value), color wheel, value scale and canvas papers to complete the daily exercises.
Sundays, April 14, 21 and 28, 2024
Noon until 6PM.
$170.
Time
14 (Sunday) 12:00 pm - 28 (Sunday) 6:00 pm
Event Details
Come join us at Cowboy Coffee as we celebrate a fun night of drinks, games, and meeting others within the community. This event is from 6-8 and all are welcome
Event Details
Come join us at Cowboy Coffee as we celebrate a fun night of drinks, games, and meeting others within the community. This event is from 6-8 and all are welcome to come, if you don’t know who to bring come alone this is a great mixer event! This is an event hosted by Big Sky OUT as we work to provide queer safe spaces throughout the community.
Time
(Sunday) 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Location
Cowboy Coffee
25 Town Center Ave. Big Sky, MT 59716