Schenectady

It's been years since downtown Schenectady had a full-fledged grocery store, and Kat Wolfram is looking for people who, like her, believe it's time for that to change.

A molecular biologist in her previous professional life, Wolfram now is part of a group spearheading the Electric City Cooperative, which aims to bring a locally centered food cooperative into the downtown along the historic Erie Boulevard corridor.

Plans now focus on a former railroad freight delivery depot at 1410 Erie Blvd. that housed a lumber wholesaler before closing a few years ago. To get the ball rolling, a food cooperative needs members who are willing to invest at least $200 and up to $500, and after more than a year of effort, the Electric City group has signed up 76 members, Wolfram said Thursday.

More are needed for it to work. Reaching 100 members is the short-term goal, but ultimately, 400 members will be needed for plans to start becoming reality, she said.

"We are starting to get new members almost every day," Wolfram said. Last May, the fledgling group had just six members. "Getting the first 20 took some time, and then the next 20 were faster, and the next 20 were faster still."

The group's vision is for a member-owned food cooperative that will bring locally grown meat, produce and other items to a part of the city that currently has only small convenience stores. It's a model used elsewhere, like for Albany's Honest Weight Food Co-op, which after years of operation on Central Avenue opened a new, 18,000-square-foot facility on Watervliet Avenue last June.

Wolfram is part of a co-op board of directors that includes an attorney, an accountant, an engineer, a trainer/house painter/caterer and a graphic artist/English teacher. The group has been working for about two years.

"We want to bring a different perspective to food in downtown Schenectady," said Wolfram, herself a shopper at Honest Weight. "We want to offer shoppers foods that are not highly processed, that do not use genetically modified organisms. It's a store where the member-owners will decide what kind of food goes in. It's about choice."

Already, 45 different local farmers and vendors have expressed an interest in selling there, she said. Such a store would add to a downtown that has been making a comeback in recent years, she said. "People who are downtown can walk to theaters, cinemas, bookstores, a number of fine restaurants, but they don't have a grocery store they can walk to," she said.

Electric City Cooperative has tentative plans to occupy about 4,000 square feet of renovated space at the former Delaware & Hudson freight terminal on Erie Boulevard, which was last a Grossman's Discount Lumber liquidator before it closed.

"I think this is great project, from a great group that has a wonderful passion and a good business focus," said Ray Legere, co-owner of the property's owner, Legere Restorations, which is nearby. He said it has been "decades" since the downtown last had a grocery store, which was located on lower Union Street.

Legere's goal is to convert his 20,000-square-foot building into a "multiple-use facility with sympathetic businesses, like an art studio, a coffee shop and other things for the kind of clientele that would use the co-op," he said.

So far, there is no timetable for the project to break ground, said Legere, who is waiting for Electric City to hit its full stride. "But I am encouraged. I think this would be a great thing for the downtown, to restore that building and give a nod to the heritage of the corridor. The old Erie Canal used to run right through there."

Wolfram said that for a $200 investment, someone becomes a "founding member" in the cooperative. That means their money is kept in an account to be used to set up the store when the time comes. And if the store does not open, that money would be refunded to the member.

A $500 investment makes the investor a "supporting" member — that means $200 is banked to set up the store, with the rest of the money available to help the organization keep growing and attract enough new members to take off.

"There are expenses we have, office supplies, printing, legal fees, postage, running our website, hosting events," said Wolfram. The group is holding a fundraiser from 5-8 p.m. Saturday, April 26, on the Erie Boulevard bridge that will include local art, food and music. Tickets are $10 for current co-op members and $20 for non-members. Tickets are available online.

bnearing@timesunion.com • 518-454-5094 • @Bnearing10