The fate of Tallahassee’s New Leaf Market will be decided by the end of the year, Dec. 28. That’s how long the co-op store’s members have to vote on its future.
New Leaf’s present situation was posted by store employee Billy Lunsford: He said the co-op never recovered financially from the effort to have a second store at Bannerman Crossing and had been further stressed by the loss of sales and product connected with Hurricane Michael. The only way to deal with the debt, claimed Lunsford, was to agree to a takeover of New Leaf by Community Co-op Market. It’s reportedly receiving its takeover capital from the National Co-op Grocers, of which New Leaf is also a member. A “yes” vote by members would allow the Tallahassee store to stay in business under the Community banner. A “no” vote would mean the end of a business that began its life as a healthy food co-op in 1974.
