Willy Street Co-op—East

Ownership

The cooperative is owned by over 33,000 equity-owning members, and a co-op owned by over 33,000 Madison-area residents, establishing it as Madison-resident owned rather than corporate or franchise-controlled.

Local Sourcing

About one-third of their products are locally grown, locally harvested, or locally made, and the co-op offers products from over 180 local farmers and vendors, demonstrating significant local sourcing with some national products.

Community Involvement

Willy Street Co-op gives over $140,000 each year to local nonprofits who are working to improve their community, and since 1993, the Willy Street Coop has given Community Reinvestment Fund grants to local nonprofits and cooperatives to support developmental and educational projects for the community.

Local Workforce

Entry-level wage starts at $19.35 an hour with a 20% store discount, health and dental insurance, paid time off, and 401(k), but employees rate Willy Street Co-op 3.2 out of 5 stars based on 65 anonymous reviews, showing mixed satisfaction and average conditions.

Revenue Retention

In fiscal year 2019, almost 36% of the products they purchased were local, and they paid out $6.6 million directly to local vendors in 2019, not including locally based distributors, indicating significant revenue stays local.

Local Presence

Strong local signals include Madison/WI references, cooperative ownership model, named local suppliers emphasis, and community-focused mission statements. However, corporate signals appear in the multi-location selector ('five Madison locations'), careers portal structure, and template-heavy website organization that reduces personality-driven copy.