Milwaukee’s Riverwest Co-op to remain open for business

MILWAUKEE – A small shop is staying open for business through the help of the community.

The Riverwest Co-op is staying open for business.

As boxes of fresh local produce get unloaded and shelves are filled at this beloved market in Milwaukee, this all comes after nearly closing its doors after 22 years of business.

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“We’re glad we can keep it going after such a long time,” said Juniper Colwell, administrative coordinator of the Riverwest Co-op.”It was very stressful so we were basically kind of seeing the members take down until it played a point of we may have to close. That’s why we launched the GoFundMe in December of 2023 and that money was able to keep us going.”

With the help and support of the community, the market was able to collect over $33,000.

“It filled us with such hope. There was such fear after a couple of years of living in this limbo and trying to get through,” said Wendy Fuller-Nesich, volunteer coordinator and events specialist.

Additionally, the Greater Milwaukee Foundation gave the co-op a $150,000 loan.

“They reached out to us, and it was really easy,” said Fuller-Nesich. “I think we started the process mid-January, and we received the loan last week.”

Kermiath McClendon with the Greater Milwaukee Foundation said the foundation came across the grocery shop’s needs, which met with all their requirements for their impact loan.

“This is something that we want to do. It’s a benefit to the community, it’s a resource to the community, healthy food to the community,” McClendon said. “They will make quarterly interest-only payments for the first year. We also tacked on some technical assistance to work out the strategic plan they created.”

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It’s support that is allowing the co-op to keep going, by adding more personnel, expanding their cafe and more.

“We’re really glad we have the community support to be able to stay open and hopefully stay open for a long time,” Colwell said.

The Greater Milwaukee Foundation will be accepting applications for their small business loan starting June 18.