Tom's Market owner Jeff Gray, left, stands by his father Tom in 2022, when the younger Gray took the reins of the store. (News archive photo by Reilly Dixon)
MORE COVERAGE | Next steps taken towards a Tom’s Market co-op
- Published: March 8, 2026
Plans for Yellow Springs’ longtime downtown grocery store, Tom’s Market, to change its business model are pressing ahead.
A press release from the Yellow Springs Community Foundation, on Monday, Feb. 23, said that the foundation had struck an agreement with Tom’s Market owner Jeff Gray, with the goal of “transitioning the business into a form of community ownership in approximately two years.”
During this transition period, the statement reads, “Tom’s Market will continue operating as usual.”
The foundation’s announcement means Tom’s Market is one step closer to becoming a co-op, a cooperatively owned grocery store in which individuals could buy ownership shares, engage in decision-making, vote on operational matters, share in profits and receive discounts on products.
The sale price and exact terms of the agreement are confidential as dictated by the agreement, Project Manager and village resident Kumar Jensen wrote to the News.
“That being said, I can share that the purchase will include all assets owned by the business including such things as: inventory, equipment, vendor contracts, supplier agreements, licenses, business name, etc.,” Jensen wrote.
Having signed a letter of intent, both Gray and the foundation have entered into a 90-day due diligence period.
According to Jensen, that period allows the buyer — in this case, the Yellow Springs Community Foundation — the opportunity to “do as thorough [a review of] business operations as possible and complete any critical business transition tasks before the sale is finalized.”
Specifically:
• Conducting an equipment inventory and evaluation to ensure that equipment, including refrigerators, freezers and the like, are operating as described;
• Conducting an inventory audit of all goods that will be included in the sale of the business; and
• Identifying which licenses, permits and certifications will transfer with the business, versus needing new registrations.
“For example,” Jensen wrote, addressing the latter point, “We do not want to see a lapse in the grocery being able to accept SNAP, so the due diligence period gives us time to work to get the new owners authorized to accept SNAP.”
Per Gray and the foundation’s agreement, once this 90-day due diligence period is completed, both parties will enter into a purchase agreement and Gray will pass over the keys to the store. For 90 days after, he will remain on standby as a consultant for the new ownership.
“During [the 90-day due diligence] period, Jeff Gray will remain actively involved in management while YSCF recruits and trains new leadership,” reads the foundation’s press release.
All the while, YSCF will work alongside local and national experts, including participating in the Food Co-op Initiative’s Co-op Conversion learning cohort and support from Co-op Dayton, to “assist with transition planning and community ownership exploration.”
The release also states: “Throughout the due diligence period and into new ownership, the top priority is to ensure continuation of smooth operations at the grocery store, including investing in necessary business operations, and supporting the existing staff, which are and will remain one of the biggest assets of the business.”
The wheels for this potential transition — from a for-profit, privately owned store into one that’s community owned — began turning last fall, when Gray, the foundation, and community stakeholders began a discovery phase to determine feasibility and gauge local interest.
As previously reported, a community survey conducted by the foundation found that of the 280 unique responses, 269 people responded positively to the co-op possibility; 11 people responded negatively. Around 90% of all responders stated that “simply having a grocery store” in Yellow Springs was a top priority. Other priorities that followed included affordable product pricing, local ownership, quality and variety of products, and staff retention and fair wages.
The News spoke with Gray on Tuesday, Feb. 24, and he said that while he’s pleased the process of transitioning the store into a community-owned model is moving along, it’ll be bittersweet for him to step away after four years running his father’s downtown grocery.
“It feels like the end of an era,” Gray said. “My father’s time in this store started 61 years ago. But, it’ll be good for him to finally be able to retire and relax.”
Gray added that he’s looking forward to taking his own vacation — what will be the first in the last four years.
Wanting to address the community, Gray insisted that folks not read into Tom’s Market’s anticipated transition as “an act of desperation or motivated by wanting to get out from under something,” as he put it.
“I’ve gotten the financials of the store into a pretty good place, even as the economy isn’t doing us any favors,” he saidd. “We could keep weathering the storm as is for some time. However, a for-profit model would eventually get whittled down to the point where it wouldn’t make sense to stay open anymore. So, this is a way to make sure that a downtown Yellow Springs grocery store is here for many, many more years to come.”
Gray and the community foundation encourage the community to stay involved in and informed about the market’s transition.
Another town hall — this one to discuss the timeline and logistics of community ownership — is scheduled for Wednesday, April 15, 6–7 p.m., again in the Presbyterian church’s Westminster Hall.
Additionally, the foundation launched the Yellow Springs Community Market Fund — a fund designed for community members to support “the financial needs of a community ownership model” for Tom’s Market, according to the press release. Donations and pledges accepted are not in lieu of eventual membership dues.
More information on the transition can be found at http://www.yscf.org or by emailing communitymarket@yscf.org. To sign up for updates, go to http://www.forms.gle/bR4V5mhEeNBSjrjv9
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