Photo: Chaiel Schaffel/WBZ NewsRadio
This article was updated 8/19/2025.
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — After just two years in business, Boston’s first worker and community-owned grocery store announced last week it is at risk of closure because of low revenue and a sudden loss in grant funding.
The Dorchester Food Co-op sent an “urgent” plea to member-owners saying it could close in two months unless there’s an uptick in sales. They are also looking to raise $500,000 in donations.
“We do have an opportunity to be self-sustaining; will not be grant dependent. But to do so, we need to generate more foot traffic,” General Manager Michael Valenti said.
Roudnie Célestin, a member of the board of directors, said they “don’t run like a big grocery store.” Residents join the co-op by buying a one-time $100 membership share, which gives them partial ownership.
Prices are generally low, and Valenti said members pick what is sold at the store.
“We put the stuff on our shelf because our members had told us that’s what they want to buy,” Valenti said.
Photo: Chaiel Schaffel/WBZ NewsRadio
After a decade in the works, the co-op opened to much fanfare in 2023, with Boston Mayor Michelle Wu attending a grand opening ceremony in October of that year.
In September of 2023, the co-op was awarded a portion of a $2,830,000 grant from the City of Boston’s SPACE Grant Program, which was funded by the American Rescue Plan (ARPA). Those grants to city businesses ran between $40,000 and $200,000.
The city said on its website it is no longer awarding SPACE grants because the ARPA funding “needed to be allocated by the end of December 2024.”
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu congratulated the store in a Facebook post shortly after the grand opening, saying it was “such a joy” to see grant recipients “achieve their dreams of opening up their storefront to better help serve our Boston Communities.”
“As the only food co-op in Boston, you’re helping residents and families in Dorchester and across the city access fresh, nutritious, and culturally relevant foods and groceries,” Wu said.
The co-op also received a ten-year grant from the Cummings Foundation in 2024. Every year, the foundation awards $30 million total to 150 businesses in Greater Boston.
“This funding for the Co-op over ten years will bring just the kind of stability needed to ensure long term impacts and significant improvements in people’s lives,” the co-op said on its website.
The co-op did not say how much of their revenue was grant funded.
Valenti said that if the store does close, the community will lose something valuable.
“With less competition, other places may not have as favorable pricing and therefore the community would often times have to pay more and travel further,” he said.
WBZ NewsRadio's Chaiel Schaffel (@CSchaffelWBZ) reports.