Around 250 community members packed First Presbyterian Church’s Westminster Hall last night to hear and consider plans for Tom’s Market’s possible transformation into a cooperatively-owned grocery store. Organizers and local stakeholders — including Tom’s Market owner Jeff Gray, shown at left — gave an overview of the project and its ostensible timeline, how the process could work and what community ownership of a downtown market would look like. (Photo by Reilly Dixon)
Tom’s Market co-op model comes into view
- Published: January 26, 2026
How would a community-owned grocery store work in Yellow Springs? How long would it take to go from private to collective ownership? Would villagers buy in, and for how much?
On Wednesday night, Jan. 14, around 250 villagers packed First Presbyterian Church’s Westminster Hall to mull over these and other questions concerning the future of Tom’s Market, the longtime downtown grocery store.
It was a town hall hosted by the Yellow Springs Community Foundation, and the first public opportunity for local residents to weigh in on the possibility of Tom’s Market becoming a cooperatively operated market, or a co-op.
As the News has previously reported, cooperatively owned grocery stores can operate in a number of ways.
By buying ownership shares, members can engage in decision-making, vote on operational matters, share in profits and receive discounts on products. In some cases, members volunteer their time stocking shelves, working registers and keeping the store’s day-to-day operations running. Co-op stores are typically open to all, regardless of membership shares that cost an average of $100.
Tom’s owner Jeff Gray has been working with the foundation and other area stakeholders over the last several months to explore the possibility of implementing this new business model.
Not long after the initial announcement of that exploration in November, the foundation issued a community survey designed to gauge local interest in the co-op model, and at Wednesday’s town hall, the foundation shared the results: Of the 280 unique responses to the survey, 269 people responded positively to the co-op possibility; 11 people responded negatively.
Around 90% of those 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.
At the outset of the town hall, Gray told attendees that, while he was emboldened by the local support behind the idea of turning Tom’s into a co-op, and sees that as the “best path forward” for the store, the co-op would not be managed by him or his father — the market’s namesake. Gray said he plans to step away soon, after almost five years.
“I’m looking at the future of Tom’s Market and the future of Yellow Springs,” Gray said. “As I see it, I was the guy to come in and help my father retire and get the store up to current technology standards.”
He continued: “But to take this store into the future and where it needs to go for this community, I think someone with a lot more experience and knowledge with this industry is what’s needed. It pains me to say that, but I want to be honest with the community.”
So, in the coming weeks, Gray is set to sell the store for an undisclosed amount to the Yellow Springs Community Foundation and villager David Butcher. As of press time, the parties were still in negotiations.
The plan is for the foundation and Butcher to jointly own Tom’s Market for approximately two years — roughly the time it would take local stakeholders, community members and store staffers to establish a co-op model. Once that occurs, Butcher said at the town hall, he and the foundation will “back out of the investment.”
“This is a large investment in the community, and I think it’s a valuable and strategic move for the foundation,” Butcher said. “The reason we’re here is not because the business is doing bad. In fact, it’s doing quite well in my opinion, or else we would not be interested in purchasing it.”
A great deal has to occur during those projected two years in order for Tom’s Market to transition into a co-op grocery store.
Spearheading these efforts are staffers from the foundation, individuals affiliated with regional groups Hall Hunger Initiative and Co-op Dayton as well as some Yellow Springs community members.
Taken together, these folks will make up a steering committee that will continue soliciting feedback and ideas from the community, as well as conduct market research, feasibility studies, implementation plans and more.
Should the results of those studies and research point to a successful co-op design and ample community buy-in, then the store’s governance would be established — it would be incorporated with the state of Ohio as a co-op, bylaws and policies would be drafted and members would convene to elect a board.
From there, the board would raise any necessary capital to purchase the business from Butcher and the Community Foundation, hire any needed staff and complete any renovations.
And all through the two-year process, Tom’s Market will remain open and fully staffed.
“A lot of these things can happen at the same time,” Lela Kline told town hall attendees.
Not long ago, Kline — who grew up in Yellow Springs — was instrumental in setting up a nearby co-op grocery store: the Gem City Market in West Dayton. She’s a co-founder of Co-op Dayton, which helped get Gem City up and running, and will provide similar organizational support for Tom’s Market, should it transition.
“Some of the most important things you all will have to consider are how much participation will be needed to make this work, how many customers per week will Tom’s need in order to be successful, what kind of goals are needed for participation?” Kline asked rhetorically.
Drawing from her experience, Kline explained that the establishment of a co-op is a fluid and dynamic process — one that can address a given community’s unique needs, desires and socioeconomic conditions.
“So, when a community comes together and forms a board, that’s when it’s time to figure out what Yellow Springs wants to see that’s not already happening, and what Yellow Springs wants to preserve that is already happening,” she said.
Also present for the town hall was Gem City Market Executive Director Cherrelle Gardner, who reported that since 2021, when the Dayton co-op opened, business has been growing steadily.
“Our weekly sales and shoppers numbers have grown,” Gardner shared. “Last year, we were at around 500 people per week. Early on, we knew that we’d need 2,800 shoppers per week to be sustainable. And now, we’re at 2,400 people on average. That’s the benefit of building out a long runway.”
Gardner pointed out that those successes happened against daunting odds — she noted that small grocery stores of all business models are seeing rising food costs as a result of supply chain issues and the Trump administration’s tariff policy.
According to a recent report from the Economic Research Service, food inflation in the U.S. is forecasted to rise by more than 2.5% in the coming year, owing to mounting energy costs, ongoing international trade disputes and climatological shifts. Last month, for instance, nationwide coffee prices jumped nearly 20%, and ground beef climbed around 15%.
But a co-op could serve as a bulwark against these macroeconomic forces, some speakers at the town hall said.
“Co-ops can offer sliding scale benefits, produce perks or food stamp benefits,” YSCF Program Manager Chloe Manor said. “There are so many programmatic benefits that can be baked into the model that can benefit low- to moderate-income people. We’re absolutely thinking about that every day.”
Share prices could also be less expensive for needy residents, Manor suggested.
Ultimately, equity is a foundational component to any co-op. Kline noted that Ohio law dictates that each member gets a vote — a singular voice in decision-making and in board elections that is weighed equally to every other member’s vote.
Kline also pointed out that the co-op’s bylaws would determine what kind of entity can buy shares. She returned to the comparison of Gem City Market, which offers a class of membership to individuals that grants them rights to governance; another class of membership can be purchased by an entity, organization or business — a class that cannot vote or share in profits.
Should the proposed co-op fail, Kline said, no shareholder would be responsible for any financial liability beyond the amount of their individual share.
For now, all these details remain distant possibilities — the store remains under Gray’s ownership. And as far as he’s concerned, Tom’s Market isn’t going anywhere, regardless of its potential transition to a co-op.
“Ownership of the store has to stay local — no matter what happens,” he told the crowded town hall. “The key word here is ‘local.’ That’s in everyone’s interest.”
Gray continued: “I’ve spoken with several people who approached me with some interest in buying the store, and I’ve entertained some of those offers, but ultimately, none of them went forward. So, while I think the Community Foundation’s co-op idea is the best possible way forward, it’s not the only option. But it’s the best one right now.”
Contact: rdixon@ysnews.com
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