Steve Cooke is the proud general manager of a store that sells the freshest produce in Harrisonburg seven days a week— the Friendly City Food Co-op. 

It all started in 2007 when the Little Grill restaurant had a natural food store in the Roses Shopping Center. The store was struggling, so the food store employees asked some customers if they would want to convert the shop into a co-op. 

The customers and employees talked about it, but the financials didn’t quite work out.

Still, they wanted a cooperative, and access to local natural and organic foods.

“The farmers market is great, but it’s only twice a week,” he said.

The people really wanted to be able to get organic and natural foods throughout the day. 

So, on June 6, 2011, Cooke and his customers got what they wanted.

The store, with 18 employees, had a short first year but still made about $2 million. Now the cooperative brings in about $8.5 million per year and has 48 employees.

“Our biggest differentiating point is the amount of local products we have.” Cooke said. 

In 2015, Cooke remodeled the store, adding a produce department and started selling beer and wine. 

In 2020, during the pandemic, they expanded again — adding 1,800 square feet — adding a cheese island in the kitchen, a hot bar, salad bar, frozen fruits and a dairy case.

Steve also said, “Sometimes you go to Kroger or Martin’s and you go all the way to one side just to forget something on the other side of the store.”  [The Co-op] is also the only grocery store in downtown Harrisonburg right now.”

Cooke also has a produce stand outside of the co-op with fruits and vegetables for 99 cents per item. He also has another produce stand in the middle of downtown Harrisonburg so people don’t have to go to the store and too have two different locations. He also said it’s nice to have a smaller store so customers can get everything they need in seconds

To get fresh produce, Cooke said he works with a variety of vendors and a local produce auction.

“At the produce auction there is, I don’t know 50 different farms there.” “It’s easier to just go to one place,” he said. “Before we opened, we were talking to Radical Roots and Seasons Bounty about the goods they were willing to sell to us.” 

Early on he said the Co-op had a local fruits forager, a person who went to different farmers markets in the Shenandoah Valley handing out interest forms to farmers.

When asked about where he gets his produce from he mentioned Four Seasons, Albert, AutoBind where you go directly to Mennonite farmers, local farmers year-round in Harrisonburg.

The farmers he buys produce from is but not limited to Radical Roots, Seasons Bounty and Stoney Run. The Friendly City Co-op gets its meat products from Collegiate Farms in Augusta County, J&L Green in Edinburgh and Lindor farms outside of Harrisonburg. He states that most produce is from the Shenendoa produce auction.