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Daily Groceries Is Moving Into That Round Drugstore on Prince

The co-op needs to raise $150,000 to make this happen.

For almost a decade, the Daily Groceries Co-Op has been looking to move into a larger space on Prince Avenue. It’s currently eyeing the flying saucer-shaped building at 1190 Prince, between Barberitos and Subway, that used to house various drug stores.

“In order to continue to serve as Athens’ only community-owned grocery store, we’re excited to announce our plans to move right down the street into a bigger space,” the co-op said in a news release. “You probably know that Daily Groceries Co-Op is one of the longest-running local businesses on the Prince Avenue corridor, and our mission has always been to intentionally source excellent food for our community while being a welcoming place to shop and work. This move will let us fulfill that mission in a better way—and will make it more likely that we’re here for you for years to come.”

According to the news release, a larger space with better parking will allow the co-op to become a true full-service grocery store, take advantage of discounts, lower its prices, expand the Community Incubator program that funds local startups, offer more products from local farmers and create a sustainable business model for the next 30 years.

Currently occupying an 1,500 square-foot space at 523 Prince Ave., Daily first began to explore the idea of expanding into a larger space in 2013. Three years later, Daily came close to embarking on a $3.9 million capital campaign to move into the 13,000 square-foot anchor space at the 100 Prince development, but ultimately decided against it. That space was then rumored to become a Piggly-Wiggly, but when the development opened it was occupied by a nail salon. Athens Cooks, in another space within the development, does offer some grocery products—as does Daily, of course, and a couple of carnicerias—but the Prince corridor still lacks a small supermarket. The old Walgreens at 1190 Prince is 5,000 square feet.

Like many local businesses, Daily has struggled financially since the start of the pandemic as more people make purchases online and have them delivered, including groceries. The co-op has started a GoFundMe seeking to raise $150,000 from the community to finance the move. As of this writing, $7,385 from 124 individual donations has been raised in the past three days. 

“We run a tight ship at Daily Groceries, and we manage our finances with great care. We assure you that every dollar raise in this campaign will go directly to the project of getting us set up and ready to open early this summer,” the co-op said.

“The funds that we raise through our community supporters will be used primarily for the security deposit for the new lease, licenses, the physical buildout (coolers are expensive!) and inventory costs. We intend to keep you posted on exactly how the funds are being used so you have confidence that we’re being good stewards of your donation.”

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