IMPERIAL BEACH, Calif. (KGTV) - There's renewed hope that a fresh, locally-sourced co-op style grocery store could open in Imperial Beach in the coming months.
"We're on the final stretch," says Kim Rivero-Frink, the Board President of the Suncoast Market Co-op. "We've got our store designed, we've been purchasing our equipment. Now we're fundraising."
Planning for the co-op has been going on since 2016. ABC 10News brought you their initial plans in March 2023, when fund-raising began. At the time, they hoped to raise more than $5 million.
In August 2023, Rivero-Frink and her team worried they may not meet their fund-raising goal. ABC 10News was there as they pushed forward with community outreach programs like cooking classes, farmer's market booths and more.
Now, the people behind the market have secured the lease on a space in a strip mall in IB. They've scaled down the project to about $3 million and expect to open this spring.
"Now we have almost 1,200 members," says Rivero-Frink of the people who paid membership dues to have an ownership stake in the market. "We're happy to meet with anybody that wants to learn more. We want to be a model for other communities in the county that lost their grocery store, don't have a lot of healthy food options."
Other funding for the co-op's startup costs has come from government grants and donations from foundations.
In a sign of how close they are to opening, the Market hired it's first employee, General Manager Doug Zilm. He's got two decades of co-op experience in California, Mexico and Iowa.
"It means the board can take a big sigh of relief for all the work they've done and turn it over to operations," Zilm says of his hire. "But really it means we'll finally be able to serve the community in a fuller way than we have."
Rivero-Fink points out that Imperial Beach is considered a "food desert," with no traditional grocery stores in the nearby area. SunCoast would become the first co-op style grocery store in all of Southern California.
The SunCoast Market Co-op would change that, by bringing in fresh, local food and produce from more than 150 Southern California-based vendors. Zilm says they'll have a full salad bar, kitchen, and bulk food section.
"We'll also have an area where you can grind your own peanut butter and almond butter," he adds.
The Market still needs to raise around $650,000 before opening. But Rivero-Frink can see the finish line, which will actually be the start of a new way to shop for people in the South Bay.
"It's a lot of work, a lot of money to raise," she says. "But the payoff is going to be great for the community in terms of the economic impact we're going to have, the impact on the health and well being, and the community building that we do. So it's going to be great for IB and surrounding areas."
