Kensington Community Food Co-op permanently shut its doors in May 2023 after over four years of serving the Riverwards communities as a store on the corner of Coral and Lehigh. Operations were unable to continue further due to significant underperformance in terms of revenue. The Board of Directors met with membership and all in attendance agreed that there was no other feasible path forward. The Board of Directors formally voted to dissolve KCFC as an entity in the summer of 2023. As of 2024, the Board of Directors continues to meet to shepherd along the full process of dissolution.

 

The below text describes more details of the events over the last year that led us to this closing story.

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Thanks to a successful and community-supported massive fundraising campaign, Kensington Community Food-Coop (KCFC) reopened in January 2023 with a new product mix, new store layout designed by the National Co+op Grocers, fresh coat of paint, trained staff, weekly sale items, lower everyday prices, and a highly-experienced consultant manager from Columinate, Dennis Hanley. Despite these strengths and a very conservative spending budget, unfortunately store performance did not improve and sales continued to decline to levels that burned through the co-op’s cash reserves. Without access to reliable operating capital or a feasible alternative plan, the KCFC Board of Directors had no choice but to wind down daily operations in May. The Board worked on finding a partner/subletter for our space in order to keep the spirit of KCFC alive. There was difficulty in finding a feasible partner/tenant, and KCFC also faced significant challenges with our landlords. In June, we received a Notice to Quit from them, a legal precursor to an eviction.

 

With all of these challenges at hand, the Board believed the most responsible decision was to close KCFC as a business and dissolve as an entity. The dissolution process began in July 2023. This decision was not made lightly given the 15+ years of planning to open KCFC, hundreds of volunteers’ time, and millions of dollars that went into the business. 

 

We are proud of what we have accomplished together during the years KCFC was operational, with the patience and support of our community. At our closing event, we took note of these key accomplishments:

 

·      Rallied a community around food justice, local, nutritious food, and the cooperative model

·      Spawned greater interest in local products in the area as evidenced by IGA/The Richmond Shops and other local purveyors now carrying Merzbacher’s, Gotham Greens pesto, Nutty Novelties, and many other KCFC-loved products

·      Re-invested over $1.4 million to food product vendors, many local and many woman-owned or Black, Indigenous, or Person-of-Color (BIPOC) owned 

–      Provided more than  $800,000 in livable  wages to staff who lived in surrounding communities

·      ·      Hosted dozens of community events, including ones focused on music, the arts, wellbeing, local vendors, pet adoption, and children’s activities

·      Provided food to neighbors via the Coral Street Fridge or other local soup kitchens and food pantries in Kensington while also diverting thousands of dollars of food from the landfill 

·      Beautified Lehigh and Frankford Avenues, including a new mural, outdoor planters, street and sidewalk cleanups

·      Built new relationships and engaged in community

 

The neighborhoods around KCFC have changed a lot since the ideation of KCFC. There are more places to buy local and organic food than in 2008, and the store’s location consistently suffered from low surrounding foot traffic. The project was consistently undercapitalized and the store’s small footprint required a few staff members to wear many hats. The liquor license, which should have been an easy boon for the business, ended up being tied up in transfer and legal struggles for too long, making it inaccessible during critical months of the project. Despite a consistent mission-focus, quality offerings, new staff, lower prices, and a commitment to continuous improvement, the store was not able to bounce back from its underperformance.

 

The Board’s hope is that all of us who have been inspired by KCFC’s vision are able to continue finding ways to support local and small vendors and farmers, foster community, and organize together to improve our neighborhoods. There are many other co-ops and entities in the city of Philadelphia that are working toward this mission, and we hope that all of KCFC’s member-owners and supporters are able to keep the spirit of KCFC alive in new ways.

 

As we dissolve as an entity, we want to thank everyone who has poured their blood, sweat, tears, time, money, and energy into this special project. Cheers to all that we accomplished and all that we have learned. The road has not always been easy, but what was accomplished would never have happened without you. Thank you.

 

To lean into the tenets of the cooperative model, we will close by sharing some words that were sent to our inbox from the co-operative community both near and far, after the announcement of our closure…

 

“I’m sorry things didn’t end up working out the way we all hoped it would, you guys gave it so much effort, I hope you are all very proud, everything you accomplished is still quite amazing. I enjoyed my time with you all very much.” – former leadership/staff

 

“I really feel for you as there was so much home for Kensington Co-op.” 

– member of another Philadelphia food co-op

 

“I’m so sorry to hear this news. I know that Kensington Community Food Coop has struggled, like we had. This is a difficult decision and a terrible loss for your community.” 

– member of a co-op outside of Pennsylvania

 

“We are sorry to hear that you are closing your doors and do hope better things are just around the corner for you all.” – one of KCFC’s vendors/partners

 

“Sad news.  Thanks to all for the energy dedication and goodwill u brought to the area   I was one of the original subscribers and know how hard and how long so many worked for this endeavor.” – early KCFC member

 

“Hi, We would love to have these [in-store category] signs [from KCFC that were donated]. They are beautiful and we would [be] honored to put them in our store.

 

Thanks so much. We were all rooting for Kensington when you went through the reorganization and were heartbroken when we saw you were closing the doors. Thanks for being so kind with sharing some of the store items.” – West Chester Food Co-op Board member

 

“Sorry to see the co-op going down. We spent a lot of sweat equity in the first few years trying to get it going (shout out to the buyers club, marketplace, thanksgiving turkey sales, the “GO team”, and so many tables at neighborhood events!) We loved our time working with kcfc 🙂 “ – early KCFC member

 

This website will be shutting down in the summer of 2024. Please make a note now that the new email address for the KCFC Board is [email protected], and reach out to that email address if you need to get in touch. Member-owners, please email [email protected] if you would like to be alerted to the dates and times of forthcoming Board Meetings.