The downtown location of City Market, Onion River Co-op celebrates its 20th anniversary this month with free snacks and a taste of its history.
Co-op staff are giving away warm beverages and baked goods from local businesses such as Jones the Boy Bake Shop and My Little Cupcake; look for them each Friday in February outside the downtown store, beginning at 10 a.m.
City Market became downtown Burlington’s only grocery store when it opened at 82 South Winooski Avenue in February 2002. The cooperative’s history goes back further, though — to 1971, when Onion River Co-op began as a buying club. Its first storefront was on Archibald Street in the Old North End; in 1990, the co-op moved to a larger space on North Winooski Avenue, with a human chain passing food along the sidewalk from building to building.
That sidewalk scene and more stories from the co-op’s history — including the city council vote that secured its place downtown — are detailed in an anniversary video on the City Market website.
The original print version of this article was headlined “Crumbs”
This article appears in Feb 16-22, 2022.
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