GreenTree Cooperative Grocery expands to new location

GreenTree Cooperative Grocery began 51 years ago as a buying club for members of the community, but it eventually grew into a store that provides locally sourced goods to its consumers.

The business has been located at 214 N. Franklin St. since 1977 where they’ve continued to adapt and modify their space to meet the needs of their shoppers. Now, GreenTree is planning to expand and move into a new location in downtown Mt. Pleasant.

Laura Coffee, Marketing and Owner Services Manager for GreenTree, estimates that the new 10,000 square-foot space at 410 W. Broadway St. will be about four times the size of their current store. The four-story building will have the grocery store and another small business on the ground floor with an additional three stories which will be residential units.

With a larger space, GreenTree will be able to offer more products to shoppers including grab-and-go foods from the deli and hot options.

“We'll be having some more of those classic, run a quick errand type items that you might find in other grocery stores as well,” says Coffee.

Coffee says she expects that the business will be an asset to downtown and that the new location will bring more attention to GreenTree.

“I think that being in the spot where people come downtown to explore some of the other shops and restaurants and parks, they'll see us without having to search,” says Coffee. “I think with the student population especially that will make us easier to find.”

Construction faced a brief delay with the cold, but now that the weather is warming up, Coffee says that construction is back on track and should be completed by fall 2021.