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Home-Grown Wheatsville Coop Stays True To Its Roots

Updated: Wednesday, July 25 2012, 07:25 AM CDT
This week in our "Uniquely Austin" on KEYE TV Morning News we focused on a grocery store that got its start in the early days of Austin's Live Music Scene.  Wheatsville Coop on Guadalupe Street near 31st was started by a group of UT students and others who felt Austin needed a grocery store that would emphasize produce that was organic, sustainable and local.  They were able to make this dream come true thanks in part to seed money from a 1974 concert at UT's Memorial Stadium headlined by ZZ Top.  Today Wheatsville has close to 12,000 owners-- These are customers who invested in the store and its mission.  These owners get to vote on how the store is run and also get a rebate check if the store is in the black.  And actually Wheatsville has done so well that they are building a second location on South Lamar near Ben White Blvd.  Look for that store to open in 2013. 

BTW-- The concert and the crowd of 80,000 were captured in great photographs by a young photographer named W. Blaine Pennington.  He was kind enough to allow us the use of his photos in our news story. 

Links:
Wheatsville Coop   http://www.wheatsville.coop
W. Blaine Pennington Photography   http://www.blainepenningtonphoto.com/

By Fred Cantu
Home-Grown Wheatsville Coop Stays True To Its Roots