Our History

In 2006, a market study showed that a downtown Racine grocer specializing in natural foods could fare quite well. But thanks, in part, to the slowing economy at the time, the idea fizzled. Fast forward to late 2009, when a small group of people, keenly interested in fresh, local and sustainable food options for Racine, met around a dining room table to talk about the feasibility of starting a community-owned grocery store. Friends from the Twin Cities (Pat Cumbie, CDS Consulting and Sean Doyle, Seward Co-Op) presented information including a copy of “How To Start a Food Co-op”, along with the names of others who would prove to be invaluable resources. We were inspired. Knowing that a similar idea had previously gotten some traction, this enterprising group of folks decided to spend loads of their personal time and energy educating themselves about starting a co-op and began to seriously breathe life into the project now known as, and aptly named, the Wild Root Market. (Racine means “root” in French, after all!) During the summer of 2010, six of us ventured to cooperatives in Madison, Viroqua and LaCrosse, learning as much as we could about how those co-ops got started and how they are managing to thrive in their communities. Our group has now grown from a small handful to twelve steering committee members who are meeting on a regular basis to move this idea forward.

We’re working on behind-the-scenes activities such as increasing awareness and ownership, site selection, Owner engagement, etc. Our thanks to so many who have already shown their support by becoming an Owner and supporting the organization by lending their skills and experience to the endeavor.