Ozark Natural Foods Co-Op Opens

The first area supermarket of its kind opened on schedule Nov. 6.

Ozark Natural Foods Co-op more than quadrupled its size when it moved from its 3,000-SF building at 205 W. Dickson St. in Fayetteville to its new, 13,000-SF location in Evelyn Hills Shopping Center.

The move is expected to be a boost to the 41-year-old Evelyn Hills, which was Fayetteville’s first shopping center.

ONF has been a consumer-owned co-operative since 1971. But the business has always operated more like a grocery store than a supermarket.

The store’s coffee shop was scheduled to open Nov. 10.

The owner of Evelyn Hills, Weingarten Realty Investors of Houston, Texas, recently completed a $2 million renovation to the shopping center. The ONF spot previously housed a Montgomery Ward store.

ONF is open to the public. Anyone can become an owner by investing $140 over seven years into the co-operative. There are about 1,700 owners who receive benefits ranging from discounts at the store to invitations to the annual co-operative picnic at Lake Wedington. The co-op is run by a seven-member board of directors elected by the owners.

For the next year, ONF has an option to lease an additional 10,000 SF adjacent to the new location if the co-operative chooses to expand.

Store hours will also be increased at the new location. The co-op will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from noon to 6 p.m. Sunday.