Urban Greens Co-op Market — Local services in Providence

Since this co-op opened, I have seen it undergo a number of positive changes. There are things that I only get at the co-op: Wright's Dairy heavy cream and milk, for example. Plus I am happy to pick up a few items because I want to support 'Local.' As with any small and fairly new business I expect there will 'tweaking' here and there. The only thing I hope they work on is delivery. They depend on Door Dash and the fees/tips make home delivery expensive. Plus, they only have set delivery times. If you place an order when they open the store at 8am, the first delivery is not until 2:30pm. I normally have to take 2 buses to the store. On a day with decent weather or even rainy weather, it's not a problem to go there. But on days when the heat is brutal and unhealthy, delivery is the only option.

I'm not sure how to rectify this; I'm just hoping they will look into another, more cost effective way of implementing delivery services. Until then, I will try to use the service only if I absolutely need it.

Otherwise, I'll definitely continue to do some shopping there. The store is always clean, I see more variety. They are working with a limited space so I see them reconfiguring the sections periodically. I also don't expect the prices to be the same as a big store (where they buy in big quantities for a lower price point.) Same with organic foods: they are pricier than non-organic and smaller stores often cannot absorb that cost, especially starting out. I'm fine with that because I don't do all my shopping there. I definitely...

I know we are all happy to have them here in the neighborhood and upon going in it looked clean, organized, well-stocked and welcoming. I saw seasonal items like fresh peaches at a normal, reasonable 99 cents a pound. While we all understand that they're not part of some major supermarket chain where they can buy a particular item at a huge discount and run a loss-leader sale, and I want to qualify this by saying, I don't know if it's a generational thing, or if it just comes from growing up poor, but I have had this conversation with many friends and colleagues, and people are very price-sensitive. We love avocados, for instance, but won't pay more than a dollar for an avocado even if we can afford it now. We cannot justify it. We will walk right past. Even if we want one and even if we can afford it. The same thing goes for eggs, never in my wildest dreams would I pay $4 for a carton of 12 eggs. The store had I think three different choices of a dozen eggs, starting from about $4.30 at the low end and the rest were more expensive. I will never buy eggs there. I don't care if God gave birth to those eggs himself. I do not understand a dozen eggs costing over $4 and can't justify it. Certainly, I need to go back and look at things more closely, I did not do a complete assessment of the place, but just dashed in. But I can't get over those...

I absolutely love Urban Greens! Discovering it was like finding a treasure chest in my backyard. They carry an amazing number of my favorite things, even though the store is small, and I discover other newly-favorite local products that I did not know about. To me, the products seem well and thoughtfully chosen. They also have beautiful plants, several of which are on my windowsill now. I've found the staff kind, helpful and genuinely friendly, which makes a visit there a real pleasure! :) It's a cooperative venture, and I chose to join after my very first visit. They offer a 5% discount twice a month to members now, and while that's great, I really joined because I think it's a venture so worth supporting. There's also a member plan for people who are struggling, which is a virtue and a sign of hope to me. Thanks so much, Urban Greens -- I am a total fan. A COVID19 note: I am extremely cautious about where I go in person, and I've felt quite safe here -- the staff have all been masked, it has not been crowded, and they also offer a morning hour for seniors and those at high risk (I think it is 7-8 a.m. weekdays, 8-9 Sunday mornings, but check their...