This store is a huge asset to Newark because it's the only supermarket within the walkable center of downtown Newark. On top of that, it's a good store with some unique offerings that you can't get elsewhere.
In my opinion the highlight of the store is the bulk herb and loose tea section in the back; it's self-service, which means you don't get charged a markup for buying small quantities of a lot of different items. This is great if you want to try out different teas, herbs, or spices. The quality on the bulk herbs is very good. I buy things like spearmint and rooibos for herbal tea. The true tea (black, green, oolong, etc.) is okay, but could be better. I'm a bit of a tea enthusiast, I run RateTea and have reviewed hundreds of teas, so my standards are high. I'd say this place is good, but could be improved as their teas go. I'd like to see a higher-quality Assam that has a higher turnover so it stays fresher.
The rest of this store is a mixed bag. The prices are higher than I'd like. There is a focus on "natural" products, which means a lot of organic-certified stuff, more whole grain things, and a lot of those hippy-dippy brands that are kinda what you'd see more of in whole foods. These products span the full range from amazing to somewhat obnoxious.
The prices in this store are slightly higher than a normal supermarket, on average, although you can find some deals here and there. The prices have also come down over the years, particularly when this store moved into a bigger storefront. I don't know what's going on behind the scenes, but I have a sense that this store is slightly better managed than it used to be around 2005-2007 when I first started shopping here at their old location.
My last comment is on the cooperative aspect of the store. Back when I was at the old location, I was a member of the coop, and I would both pay in through dues, and do volunteer hours. It was fun and I enjoyed the work, but back then, I didn't get the sense that the volunteer hours were being efficiently used or allocated. They had us doing a lot of time-consuming sorting tasks that a typical supermarket wouldn't do at all (in the interest of efficiency.)
Also, the discount you get from being a member isn't really worth it. The rate of the discount is very low, and you have to put up a substantial amount of cash to join. I did the math, and I found that for myself, I would have to spend several thousands of dollars here to make the membership fee pay for itself.
Given that the prices here are higher than other stores, I would actually be losing quite a lot of money.
As such, I shop here sporadically, but am not a member, and, while I recommend others to shop here, I do not recommend others to join this cooperative.
I wish this place could revisit their membership structure as well as their utilization of volunteer labor. With the cash dues and huge amount of volunteer hours at their disposal, I think that if this store were better managed, they'd be able to lower their prices even further.
Like I said before, I get the sense that the store is better managed now than it used to be, both as reflected by the prices I see on the shelf and by the products they do and don't choose to stock, and the general condition of the store (it's consistently clean and well-organized and has been for years now.) However, I am always encouraging people to do the best they can, and I think this store could be better.
I love the idea of cooperatives and would be eager to jump back in and become a paying (and working) member at this store, if it would get the prices down low enough that it made it worth my while to do so. As long as it is more expensive than the other places I shop, though, this is unlikely to happen. The bar is also set pretty high: I shop at ALDI and the Newark Farmer's Market up Kirkwood highway, both excellent stores with very low prices.
This is the context in which I give this store 4 stars. I like this store a lot and am grateful for its presence in Newark, but it's not my favorite place to shop and it is not where I buy the bulk of my groceries, in spite of me wanting to support this store for multiple reasons (walkability and location, and the idea of supporting cooperatives.) read more
