By Amy Leo, Community Engagement Manager
I’ll be honest, before I started working at TPSS Co-op, I treated it like a typical grocery store. I swung by for milk and bread and late-night ice cream runs. While I knew that membership was an option, nothing ever prompted me to join, so I didn’t.
While interviewing for my job, I learned all about the history of the store and the cooperative model, and now see the Co-op as one of our community’s greatest assets and an approach to building a more just economy. I am proud to be a member and feel good spending my money here. Why?
Over six months into my new position as Community Engagement Manager, I have a much deeper understanding of what makes TPSS Co-op different from a typical grocery store. The biggest difference isn’t what the Co-op sells, it’s our mission and who we exist to serve. The success of typical grocery stores is measured by their ability to earn profit for shareholders. TPSS Co-op’s purpose is to serve its members and enrich our community.
In January 2026, Jon Steinman trained Co-op staff on the role of Co-ops in the grocery industry. Steinman’s book Grocery Story: The Promise of Food Co-ops in the Age of Grocery Giants has been an essential resource for understanding the history and landscape of food co-ops in the US as well as the larger context of the grocery industry.
Shortly after I started, Co-op expert Jon Steinman visited the Co-op to speak with our member-owners about opening a second store. He also delivered training for co-op staff about food co-ops and their role in the grocery industry. I’ve been a grocery nerd ever since! I learned that a small set of “grocery giants” control the grocery industry in the US, and as a result, what you see on the shelves at a typical grocery store often has more to do with brands’ priorities than consumers’.
Co-ops work differently. While grocery chains expand into communities because they see a business opportunity, TPSS Co-op began because local residents wanted better access to natural foods. TPSS Co-op’s location and offerings have changed since our simple beginning, but our mission has not changed:
“Our mission is to ensure that our customers have access to goods produced in socially and environmentally responsible ways, with an emphasis on local and organic foods, at reasonable prices and in a welcoming community marketplace setting.”
For decades, communities have looked for business models that balance financial success with benefits for workers, consumers, and local communities. Cooperatives are one answer, and TPSS Co-op’s 45-year history demonstrates that the model can succeed. TPSS Co-op exists today because neighbors came together to build the grocery store they wanted their community to have. For more than 45 years, generations of elected member-owner Board volunteers have helped ensure the Co-op stays true to that original mission.
Tabling during my second week at the Co-op.
As a product of our community, governed by our community, TPSS Co-op exists to enrich our community. Before working here, I knew that Small Things Matter distributed food from the back of the Co-op building, but I had no idea how deeply the Co-op is woven into many aspects of our local economy – from addressing food insecurity to creating market access for small local food producers and farms.
Behind each of the local businesses the Co-op partners with is a local entrepreneur meeting our community’s need for nourishing food for a variety of diets. Some even buy their ingredients wholesale at the Co-op! Because building our local economy and creating market access for local producers is a priority, TPSS Co-op employs Department Managers who are responsible for building relationships with small local businesses and shepherding them through the vendor onboarding process, sometimes for the first time. Without the special care and market access that TPSS Co-op provides, some of these local businesses simply would not exist. By contrast, most grocery chains feature products from a small set of large distributors because it’s operationally efficient.
Another layer of our local impact is that TPSS Co-op functions like a nonprofit organization – profits are reinvested back into the store and community instead of lining the pockets of distant shareholders. For example, thanks to the wise stewardship of store profits (and government grants!), the Co-op’s 2024 renovation was completed debt-free. Looking ahead, the Co-op will use profits to expand into a second store.
As a pillar of our community for over 45 years, the Co-op partners with a range of local businesses, organizations, and associations working together to address food insecurity and strengthen our community for all. For example, Small Things Matter stores food in our refrigerator for their weekly distribution behind our store, we partner with Crossroads Community Food Network to double SNAP benefits through a USDA Fresh Checks program, and we work closely with the Montgomery County Food Council to systemically address local hunger. While a typical grocery store may give token donations to established nonprofit organizations, TPSS Co-op is woven into our community with the goal of enrichment rather than extraction.
A year ago, the Co-op was just my ice cream run destination. Today, I see its existence in my neighborhood as encouraging evidence that a community-owned business can thrive while enriching its community. Soon, TPSS Co-op will launch a capital campaign to establish a second store. When I think about the opportunity to expand the legacy of this place, I think about the hundreds of Board members who have shepherded our mission over the past 45 years. I think of my neighbors facing food insecurity today. I think about the grocery giants versus this little store, and I am excited to help it continue to grow so that another community can enjoy its benefits.