Fresh times and tastes spark change at Limerick co-op store

STAFF at Limerick’s Urban Co-Op supermarket have spoken of how they have diversified the businesses’s offering to adapt to changing times.

Located at Eastway Business Park in Ballysimon Road, the Urban Co-Op reflects a conventional supermarket in terms of what it sells.

However, unlike a mainstream supermarket, which is owned by a company or shareholders, a co-op is owned by its members – typically the people who shop there – who have a say in how the business is run.

In 2013, a small group of volunteers got together to form what was known as the Limerick Community Grocery at an old petrol station at Mulgrave Street in the city centre.

Thirteen years on, the business is unrecognisable from the small kiosk it began life in. Now known as the Urban Co-Op, the building was a hive of activity when Business Leader paid a visit.

Now as well as being a grocery store, it’s also a hub for different classes, from tai-chi, to sewing, singing and crocheting. Pilates and meditation was also the order of the day.

Anne Maher first used the Urban Co-Op in 2014 as a customer, but has worked her way up to becoming managing director – “chief bottle washer” she jokes.

"When we came here to Eastway in 2018, we knew there was a demand from our customers to do more things in relation to wellbeing, and have social gatherings. The focus was to use the extra space to generate income,” she said.

As a result of that, the industrial unit was subdivided, with different rooms named after different people who have played a huge part in the co-operative movement in Limerick and across Ireland.

One room is named after Bill Kelly, one of the driving forces behind the original Community Grocery, with another named after Horace Plunkett, who founded the co-op movement in Ireland.

The Gemma room is a small room for one-to-one consultations, named after the late Gemma Mortell, one of the people who pioneered the Urban Co-Op’s pivot into a wellness space.

An educational space, the Jim room, is named after Jim Cronin, who was the first supplier at the old Community Grocery.

"When we were putting names on the rooms, it was names which meant a lot to us," said Anne.

Kathleen Bourke, who lives in the city centre, but hails from Pallasgreen, has been in the co-operative since it began life in Limerick.

During 2013, in the middle of a tough recession, she mistook the original Community Grocery for a food bank and donated a box of eggs her hens had laid.

Now a board member, this week, she came into the centre with some home-grown grapes for wine.

Asked to sum up the last 13 years, she said: “Amazing, hard, not easy. But well worthwhile.”

Having lost lots of friends to cancer and suffered from illness herself, Kathleen had a grá for clean, unspoiled foods, which is what the Urban Co-Op offers.

“I was trying to go back to foods without chemicals, farm-fresh foods. And the Milk Market was only open once a week at the time. I also had a friend on that journey, and we had to travel to other markets. I happened upon this by accident,” she said.

The next step in the development of the Urban Co-Op is the opening of a commercial kitchen, where healthy, organic meals will be served.

“It’s very hard to get an organic meal. The idea of cooking and sharing food together is something we’d so love to do. We’ve been wanting to do this for a long time. It’s a big ask, as we want to get it right,” said Anne.

She hopes there is also an educational element, where cooking is taught in this kitchen too.

"If we could provide a click-and-collect service where you’d come and collect a healthy meal, it’d ​be great,” the managing director said.

It’s hoped this will be operational by the end of the year.

Ultimately, she added, the Urban Co-op is good for the mind.

"People feel a sense of belonging here. It’s an objective place. We welcome new people in, we want new people in all the time. But we’ve had a very loyal base of people come with us for the years. That’s one of the reasons we have started to think about the impact this place has on Limerick. It grew in Limerick, it’s still here, and it’s so important to people,” concluded Anne.